To choose the best non-profit debt relief company, you should initially do a lot of research on all companies you are considering. It's also a good idea to call various debt relief companies directly to ask them a variety of questions, such as how much your fee will be in addition to your monthly payment for participation in their debt consolidation programs. You might also want to choose a non-profit debt relief company that explains in detail how your monthly payment will be applied to your various creditors. Many people mistakenly believe that non-profit companies offering debt relief plans are legitimate because they are non-profit, but this is not necessarily true, so you should stay on your guard until you have gathered enough information to feel confident in choosing a specific company.
When you begin your search for the best non-profit debt relief company, you should probably get the contact information for several different companies and start doing some research. The Internet is generally a good place to start your research because people who have been ripped off by any of the companies you have listed might have shared their experiences online. It could also benefit you to ask people you know who have gone through various non-profit debt relief companies to help consolidate their bills about the companies they used. You will probably feel better about choosing specific companies for your own debt relief needs if you know that a trusted family member or friend has had a good experience with a specific company.
After you have narrowed your list down to a few companies that you feel certain are legitimate, you should contact all of them and ask lots of questions about their debt relief programs. Most non-profit debt relief organizations require a monthly fee in addition to your monthly payment, which is supposed to help them with the costs of running their organizations. Different debt relief companies charge different amounts, so you might want to go with the company that charges the least. You should also ask many other questions about how the program works and how your monthly payment would be applied.
If any of the non-profit debt relief companies you call are very vague with details and claim that they can help you in ways that may not be possible, you might want to stay away. There are some non-profit debt relief organizations that claim to be able to improve your credit rating, and this is not something that any organization can actually do. You should also be wary of companies that claim to be able to cut the amount you are paying monthly in bills down to an extremely low amount without actually knowing how much your payments are. Another thing that should make you suspicious of various non-profit debt relief programs are requests for fees upfront. Many of these companies do ask for fees upfront before you can begin their programs, but companies that are legitimate usually do not request extremely large amounts.