I’ve been vocal on credit counselling for some time now.  My article titled “Credit Counselling, What You Need To Know Before Signing Up” breaks it all down.

There are two camps on Credit Counselling.  Those that trust in it, and those that don’t.  I can honestly say that the services a good bankruptcy trustee or debt settlement company offer by far trump the debt help services of credit counseling.  The only time I would refer someone to a credit counselor, is if the consumer had less than $10,000 in debt and needed a break on the interest.

My biggest issue with credit counselors is the notion that they are just kinder, and slightly more friendlier collection agency for the banks.  I see a conflict of interest in what they do and how they get paid.

Let me explain by posing this question: How can a service provider claim that they are there to help you with your debt you when they are clearly in bed with banks?  Let me provide this example here on the RBC website.  Laurie Campbell is the executive director of Credit Canada, a not for profit credit counselling agency.   If you look at the “about us” page on their website here and scroll down to the bottom, you can see that there are a number of directors influencing what they do, the list includes Royal Bank, CIBC, Captial One, Citibank and other financial institutions to name a few.

I’m fortunate enough to have an employee here that used to work at a non-profit credit counselling agency in Toronto for several years, he started as a credit counsellor then moved on to negotiating settlements for the credit counselling agency.  Here’s my conversation with Carl Bondi in my office.

I also had an opportunity to chat with Bankruptcy Trustee Doug Hoyes about Credit Counselling; here is the Skype call we had where we talked about credit counselors and the debt management people that tend to advertise debt relief then charge a large up front fee and walk them over to a trustee in bankruptcy.

I think its interesting that creditors sometimes tell people drowning in debt that they don’t deal with “for profit” companies like mine or that we aren’t on their list of “recognized providers” and that non profit credit counselors are on their list..  I wonder why they tell people that?

I’m not saying non profit credit counselors are bad guys, I’m saying peel back the layers and learn the facts, and decide for yourself what they are.  They certainly do some good community work to support low income folks and family services, and that’s something I commend.

Everything has a cost, and money is not the root of all evil, some of the best services you can receive are in fact for profit, and can cost considerably less than you expect when you factor in the total cost.

Total Debt Freedom is all about creating raving fans out of people drowning in debt, if you would like a free consultation to consider your options, click here and ask for one today!