Alan Lim asked:




People elect to take out a debt consolidation loan for many reasons. These should be carefully reviewed to determine if this financial choice is right for your situation. If you just want to be able to increase your credit availability, a debt consolidation loan is not a good way to go. A good procedure is to make a list of all the outstanding debts and the interest rates that apply to each one. Calculate how long it would take before the debts could be cleared using the existing minimum balances and terms. Compare that with the cost of a loan to clear the smaller amounts or to roll them into a larger loan.

One monthly payment to keep track of

When you select a debt consolidation loan, you have a better chance of ending the process with just one payment to make each month. You can usually structure the due date on the payment to take advantage of the pay dates in your household. It may even be possible to arrange for an electronic withdrawal from an account that you can manage online. In this way, you can transfer funds into the account just prior to the due date so that you will never be in danger of missing a payment or incurring overdraft fees.

Lower Interest rates

If you shop carefully for a debt consolidation loan, you may be able to get a loan that has a lower interest rate on the loan. This is not always possible, because credit card debt, for example tends to be very high interest and the consolidation loan may not gain much in the area of interest, particularly when there are often loan origination fees and closing costs on the loan. Make certain to carefully review the loan document so that you know exactly what you are agreeing to.

Tax benefits

If your debt consolidation loan is tied to the equity in your home, you may be able to gain tax benefits from the interest on the loan. Since this type of loan features interest rates that are typically lower than those of credit card debt, you can make a double savings. However, you should keep in mind that although the interest rate is lower, it may take longer to pay off the debt so your loan can actually end up costing you more. Again, the decision will depend on your particular situation.

Stress reduction

Probably the most commonly reported benefit after obtaining a debt consolidation loan is that of being able to reduce worry about how the bills are going to be paid. When you are faced with many minimum payments on numerous credit card bills, it can seem as if you will never be able to get ahead. When you have only one structured payment of a set amount, you can plan ahead, you know it will fit within your current budget so you no longer need be frantic about the danger of being unable to meet all your financial obligations.

Pauline

James Taylor asked:


Vexed by the large number of defaults and arrears that continue creating roadblocks in the form of refusals of loans, many borrowers take up debt consolidation loans at whatever terms offered. What these borrowers are unaware of is that loan providers have designed a debt consolidation loan that is particularly suited to borrowers with bad credit. They are known as bad credit debt consolidation loans or bad debt loans in short.

Before going on to describe the bad debt loans, let us first discuss the reasons behind the use of a specialised debt consolidation loan. Why can a borrower not use regular debt consolidation loans? Regular debt consolidation loans and the regular lenders will be very cautious in lending. Playing safe ensures that they do not incur a very large risk. In the process of playing safe, borrowers are ripped of larger rate of interest for a relatively small amount of loan sanctioned.

The lenders who offer bad debt loans or specialised bad credit debt consolidation loans are not as cautious about dealing with borrowers with bad credit. It isn’t though that these lenders are not concerned about the safety of their investments. However, experience of working in the sub-prime market has shown them that taking moderate risks will always be fruitful. Moreover, borrowers with bad credit are not as lax in making payments as the credit record would have us believe. There are certain borrowers who fell into the trap of bad credit all of a sudden; and would certainly not repeat the thing again because of the good effect that bad debt loans have on their credit history.

Bad debt loans have been the result of this moderate risk taking. Bad debt loans are offered with terms slightly different from the regular debt consolidation loans. The difference in terms will not be as stark as when regular lenders undertake to lend for debt consolidation loans.

How does a borrower proceed once he gets the loan proceeds? This is the most common question put forth by the debtors. Settling debts on their own seems to be an uphill task. Debtor’s ability to undertake debt settlement on his own is clearly visible through the present mismanaged state of his financial affairs.

It is again the loan provider who comes to help. Through its experts, loan providers will try to find the exact nature of borrowers’ debts. Many important questions get answered once the nature of debts on debtor is unearthed. It is on this finding that reputable lenders base their decision of bad debt loan to be used. The amount of bad debt loan to be drawn can best be known through this method. For instance, if unsecured debts hold reign among borrowers debts, then loan provider will recommend loan lesser than the debts in total. This is because loan providers can easily induce unsecured debtors into reducing the debt balance.

This leads us to the point of negotiation. Negotiation forms an important part of the debt settlement process. There are several debts that carry a large interest; still others have a larger unpaid balance. All these debts can be worked upon to bring the debt balance to a manageable limit. This speaks much of the negotiation skills of the lender. If it has been decided in advance that the services of loan experts is to be employed in debt settlement and debt negotiation, then borrowers must start looking for these skills in the lenders during the lender selection stage itself.

Would borrowers have been able to settle their debts had there been no bad debt loans? Past experience of borrowers trying to pay debts on their own resulted into failures. While they were able to pay the interest, the principal continued. Bad debt loans start by clearing whatever debt is on the borrower. Many of the debts cleared include the high interest debts. Instead of debts owed to several creditors, the borrowers now owe to the loan provider only. Bad debt loan providers do not haggle for loan repayments as the creditors. They will sit with the borrower and devise a repayment schedule for the successful amortisation of bad debt loans.



Erik

Cassidy S asked:


I am trying to consolidate my credit card debt because the payments are too high each month. If I could get a home loan this would be perfect. I am having difficulty making all the payments and I don’t want to completely ruin my credit. Any reliable consolidation advice would be apprecitated!

Robin

Ivan S asked:


Not credit counseling, but debt consolidation loan. Can’t find any good info on the web, so your educated opinion would be helpful. What are credit requirements, home equity requirement, debt service ratio and other factors?

If you know a good resource that would be very helpful as well!!

Thanks.

Jonathan