There is a debt widget called the debt settlement calculator designed by the Debt Alternative Center to aid both companies who are affiliates of the Debt Alternative Center as well as their clients. This debt settlement calculator helps to give an overview of how much commission the affiliates will be making. It is also very helpful for clients who want to compare the debt settlement programs offered by the Debt Alternative Center and other programs. This article will cover the brief overview of the debt widget called the “Debt Settlement Calculator” by the Debt Alternative Center.

This debt widget is a must for affiliates and sales representative of the Debt Alternative Center to show prospective clients how much they will be saving through the debt settlement program offered by the Debt Alternative Center. There will be a clear table of comparison for the clients to compare between the program offered by the Debt Alternative Center, and other popular debt settlement programs such as taking a consolidation loan, going for credit counseling and Do Nothing. This clear comparison will give insight to clients on how much they will be able to save in the long run if they choose to use the debt settlement program offered by the Debt Alternative Center as opposed to the other traditional alternatives.

All the affiliate needs to do to use the debt settlement calculator is to enter in the total amount of the unsecured debt, the average interest rate and the desired program length into the respective fields and click on ‘calculate’ to be presented with graphs that shows the total amount paid, the total interest paid, the monthly payment and the months to pay off. Right below the four graphs, a clear table is present to show the differences between the program offered by the Debt Alternative Center against Do Nothing, credit counseling and consolidation loan. This gives the client a clear view on how the Debt Alternative Center settlement program could really help them to save a lot.

Affiliates and sales representatives of the Debt Alternative Center will definitely benefit from this debt widget if they install it on their website. It is easy to download this debt widget and install it on your own website. This will help to pull in more clients, as this debt settlement calculator puts them into the light of the clear advantage of using the programs offered by the Debt Alternative Center.

A debt settlement affiliate that has a file in a red state, or a file that was previously denied has the opportunity to get paid 5% upfront of a debt enrolled within the first three months of the client draft. This means our investors will buy a $45,000 file in WA for $2,250 within the first three months. This is a great alternative to the performance model because those enrolled in our debt settlement affiliate program get paid first while the investor waits until the accounts within the file get settled to get paid,” explained a company spokesperson.

According to the company, DAC affiliates can help individuals and families during the current economic crisis while creating a new debt settlement business opportunity and new revenue stream.

“6% of Americans, or 14 million, are still paying off credit card bills from last Christmas and overall purchases using credit have increased more than 7%,” added the spokesperson.

The Debt Alternative Center provides support and debt settlement back end processing to its affiliates, plus provides solutions in cases like default student loan, debt management plan, assistance in improving credit scores by removing negative or outdated information from consumers’ credit reports, support for analyzing state tax or IRS debt, and support for affiliates with clients facing bankruptcy.

The Debt Alternative Center also provides debt settlement back end processing, debt settlement training, and more making it one of the top debt settlement processing companies.

Find out more about the debt settlement affiliate program by calling, in the US, 1-877-282-0555 or visit Debt Alternative Center website.

Are you deep in debt and planning for declaring bankruptcy? Wait a moment and think hundred times before you actually take a step ahead towards filing bankruptcy. It is perhaps the easiest option that helps you get rid of all outstanding debts. You can file bankruptcy in the court, at any time. However, make sure you are well informed about the cons of filing a bankruptcy lawsuit.

Bankruptcy can severely damage your credit score. Your credit score is likely to experience a drop like a stone, after you declare bankruptcy. Bad credit score can cease your ability to get any new loan. You may even face difficulties in getting a job, if you have declared bankruptcy. In a nutshell, filing bankruptcy can cause unforeseen financial distress for you as well as your family. Therefore, you must think about some good alternatives such as debt settlement, credit counseling or debt consolidation, to bankruptcy.

Alternatives to bankruptcy

Nowadays, millions of Americans are filing bankruptcy for several reasons; but it should not be the only option to get rid of debts, rather it should be the last option. To avoid bankruptcy, you can choose any of the alternatives discussed below as per your requirement and situation.

• Debt settlement – This is one of the best and most effective options that can help you get rid of huge financial burden. There are a number of debt settlement companies that work for people like you for minimum fees. You can seek their help or do it by yourself. This alternative helps you negotiate with your creditors and settle down your unsecured loans including credit card loans, for an amount lesser than what you actually owe.

• Credit counseling – If you feel uncomfortable to talk to the creditor, then you can get help of a credit counseling agency. Credit counseling agencies play important role to avoid bankruptcy. These agencies negotiate with the creditor, on behalf of the debtor to lessen the rate of interest. At the same time, the credit counselor helps by jotting down a repayment plan approved by both you (debtor) and your creditor.

• Debt consolidation – This is another good alternative to bankruptcy. This method helps you consolidate your entire outstanding debts into a single manageable debt. This unique technique is much effective to prevent bankruptcy. The actual purpose of this program is to lower your financial burden of paying off delinquent loans by reducing the rate of interest.

Debt settlement, debt consolidation and credit counseling are most useful methods to prevent bankruptcy. However, if the above-mentioned options fail to help you, then you can declare bankruptcy.

When you are not able to manage your medical bills, credit cards, payday loans or other bills, only a debt relief program can help you. There are numerous options debt consolidation, debt settlement and debt management. To determine what suits you best, you can opt for a no-obligation counseling, that’s free of charge. This will give you an idea on how to proceed. Here’s a look at the top few debt relief options:

Five Different Debt Relief Options and How to Determine what’s Best:

Listed below are five emergency debt relief options. A brief outline will help you understand each option and makes it easy for determining what’s best.

Consolidation programs: If you are a person intending to minimize interest rates and make just one payment against loan, then debt consolidation will be your best bet. There are many Debt Relief companies that offer such programs. Here’s a list of the benefits when going with a debt consolidation company, besides they negotiating on your behalf:

• Reduction in Interest Rates
• Reduced Monthly Installments
• Reduction / Waiver on the Late Fees
• One Monthly Payment
• Absolutely no calls harassing for repayment from different creditors.

Debt Consolidation payment is chosen, for solving two purposes:

Credit card consolidation: When you are not able to manage different credit cards and make individual payments for each, credit card consolidation can be ideal. Opting for credit card debt relief programs, it is possible to consolidate different credit cards into one payment towards repayment, every month. You can choose a debt relief USA company to get this done for you.

Bill consolidation: If pending bills on medicines or utility is your problem, then choosing bill consolidation will help with handling the same. It could be any bill, including credit cards, store cards or even personal loans. You could include it to debt relief plans or programs.

Debt settlement: This is another option where you hire a settlement company to negotiate you’re your creditors and reduce the outstanding debt. Settlement is just one way to get credit card debt relief and more useful when you have multiple card and can’t manage minimum monthly installments.

The advantages of choosing Debt Settlement include:

• One monthly Payment
• Avert lawsuits / wage garnishment
• Single monthly payment
• Harassing calls from creditors will come to a stop
• Avert Bankruptcy filing

Debt management: This is another debt relief USA program, for which your debt will be analyzed by a credit counseling agency, along with your financial situation. Based on this, they negotiate with your creditors, to help you with promptly paying off bills. When opting for this method, you don’t send your repayment to creditors, but rather, send them to the credit counselor. This is then distributed amongst your creditors.

Advantages of Debt management:

• Reduction in Monthly Interest
• Reduced Monthly Installment
• Waiver on late / extra charges
• Creditor / collection calls will be curbed

Self repayment plan: This is an option where you get to manage your own funds, without help from professional debt relief USA programs. In this method, you come up with a list of expenses, debts and other priorities and then, prepare a budget according to which, you can pay all your bills and manage the funds, wisely.

Advantages of self-repayment:

• Pay off your bills without professional help
• No obligation to pay for the services of a third party
• You learn to better manage your money and expenses

Bankruptcy: You can choose between Chapter 7 & 13, to file a Bankruptcy when other debt relief programs don’t help you get out of debt. In such a scenario, Bankruptcy gets you relief through the court and is your last and only hope! However, this also ruins all your credit history and it is really difficult to qualify for loans post Bankruptcy. It is ideal to forget Bankruptcy and try other debt relief USA programs.

In today’s economy, many people are reaching the point where they feel their personal finances are out of control, and there is no hope of recovering from the financial mayhem. With jobs lost, mortgages underwater, and retirement accounts still on life-support, this feeling of hopelessness is understandable.

But there are steps you can take now that will put you in a better financial position. Each tip in the following list can be implemented at little or no cost, and put you on the road to solid financial ground.

1. Live within your means. Don’t spend more than you make. To accomplish this, put the credit cards away. Many well-meaning people resort to living off of credit when facing a financial crisis, digging an even deeper financial hole. Instead, try living on a cash basis. People who do this typically spend 20 percent less, and they don’t spend as frivolously.

2. Get financially organized. Sometimes people become so overwhelmed that they bury their head in the financial sand. They neglect paying their bills on time and don’t even open the monthly credit card statements. Such habits result in late fees, a tarnished credit report, and a lower credit score. Become financially organized by creating a cash-flow calendar where you record each payday for everyone in the home who earns money. Next, write down which bills are to be paid out of each check. Get into the habit of keeping all bills in one location so that you can easily put your hands on them.

3. Don’t overdraft your checking account. Even if you have overdraft protection, this is a habit that speaks of a deeper problem that should be addressed. Write down each deposit and withdrawal in your check register, including all debit and ATM transactions. Regularly balance your checkbook, and reconcile your bank statement within one week of its arrival.

4. Know where your money goes. Have everyone in your household who spends money track their spending for 30 days. At the end of the month, come together to review the findings and determine where the leaks are. Make adjustments so that your budget reflects exactly how you want your hard-earned money to be spent.

5. Create a rainy-day fund. Many people say they can’t afford to save. Neither can they afford to be ill-prepared for the inevitable money-gobbling emergency. Now that you’ve tracked your spending and are allocating where your money goes, be sure to include a savings category with money ear-marked for that purpose each month.

6. Improve your tarnished credit. If recent events have made your credit report less than stellar, work on improving it. Review the damage by obtaining a free copy of your credit report from AnnualCreditReport.com. Look for what’s doing you the most harm, things such as accounts that have gone into collections, or old credit card bills that you’ve forgotten about. Create a plan to begin repaying these debts, even if it’s a small amount each month. A past-due bill that has been paid is less damaging than a past-due bill that remains unpaid. Further, recent activity has a stronger influence on your credit score than things that happened in the past, so taking positive steps now will likely result in an improved score down the road.

7. Slowly reenter the world of credit. Most people will need a thick and positive credit file to obtain the credit necessary to buy a big-ticket item such as a house or a car. If you are not currently a candidate for more traditional forms of credit, you may want to consider applying for a secured credit card. You will be required to place a pre-determined amount of money up as collateral on the account. Your spending limit will be equal to this amount. Make sure that the secured card you select reports your activity to each of the credit bureaus and doesn’t have unreasonable fees.

Homeowners in financial trouble aren’t getting a lot of great news these days. But 450,177 of them will be getting a check in the mail that represents their share of the FTC’s $108 million settlement with mortgage giant Countrywide. And companies that take advantage of Americans struggling to pay the bills will be getting a little something, too: a strong message from the FTC that unfair or deceptive practices targeting cash-strapped consumers won’t be tolerated.

Last year, the FTC announced a settlement with Countrywide Home Loans and BAC Home Loans Servicing, which formerly did business as Countrywide Home Loans Servicing. Court papers filed by the FTC tell an intriguing story of hidden fees, deceptive claims in bankruptcy servicing, and sweetheart deals with corporate subsidiaries. For example, when homeowners default, it’s understandable that lenders will have to spend some money to protect their interest in a property — things like inspections, lawn mowing, etc. But who did Countrywide hire to perform these duties? A national lawn care company? A local landscaper? Jimmy from down the block? No, Countrywide hired, well, itself — in the form of subsidiaries that contracted with other companies, allegedly jacked up the price of these routine services by 100% or more, and then passed on their exorbitant bills to people already struggling to keep their heads above water.

Just an isolated instance? Not likely. According to the FTC’s lawsuit, the company’s strategy at the time was to profit from default-related services. In its complaint, the FTC quoted Countrywide Financial Corporation’s President and COO:
•”Now, we are frequently asked what the impact of our servicing costs and earnings will be from increased delinquencies and [loss] mitigation efforts, and what happens to costs. And what we point out is, as I will now, is that increased operating expenses in times like this tend to be fully offset by increases in ancillary income in our servicing operation, greater fee income from items like late charges, and importantly from in-sourced vendor functions that represent part of our diversification strategy, a counter-cyclical diversification strategy such as our businesses involved in foreclosure trustee and default title services and property inspection services.”

As a result, said the FTC, even as the mortgage market collapsed and more homeowners fell into delinquency, Countrywide earned big bucks by funneling default-related services through subsidiaries set up solely to generate revenue. The company may have characterized it as a “counter-cyclical diversification strategy,” but the FTC called the company’s marked-up fees something else: deceptive and unfair practices in violation of Section 5 of the FTC Act.

Also, in servicing loans for people trying to save their homes in Chapter 13 bankruptcy, the FTC’s complaint alleged that Countrywide made false or unsupported claims about how much they owed, added fees and escrow charges without notice, and engaged in other deceptive practices.

In addition to $108 million for consumers, the FTC’s settlement prohibits Countrywide — which has been acquired by Bank of America — from taking advantage of borrowers who’ve fallen behind on their payments and bars it from a host of misleading practices.

People who receive the checks — which vary from less than $500 to as much as several thousand bucks and will hit the mail later this month — should cash them by September 19, 2011. Former Countrywide customers with questions should call the redress administrator, Gilardi & Company, at 1-888-230-3196 or visit the FTC’s Countrywide settlement webpage available in English and Spanish.

(BTW, if you know a homeowner who might be affected by the settlement, remind them that the FTC never asks for money before sending refunds. And share Money Matters, the FTC’s one-stop financial site with tips and resources for consumers.)

These latest figures represent a somewhat deeper drop in bankruptcy filings than I had expected based on my earlier forecast of a 5-10% decline for all of 2011. With the past four months showing year-over-year declines of 10% or higher, it is beginning to look like the annual decline in the bankruptcy filing rate will be above 10%.

In recent years, the last third of the year has seen, not surprisingly, about one-third of the bankruptcy filings for the year. Assuming that pattern continues, there will be between 1.41 and 1.43 million bankruptcy filings for all of 2011.
For those who like to look for economic indicators in the bankruptcy filings, you can stop right now. On a per capita basis, the U.S. bankruptcy filing rate is down 12.5% from 2004. Today, we are experiencing about 4.7 bankruptcy filings per 1,000 persons as compared to 2004 when there were 5.5 bankruptcy filings per 1,000 persons. Also, you probably can’t attribute all or even most of the drop in bankruptcy filings today to the 2005 bankruptcy law. In 2009 and 2010, we were very close to the 2004 per capita bankruptcy filing rate, suggesting the currently low rate stems from other forces, most likely the ups and downs in the availability of consumer credit.

article from USDR

TASC concerned that many debt settlement companies will be unable to continue providing services.

TORRANCE, CA, April 23, 2011:  The Debt Alternative Center or DAC (www.debtalternativecenter.com), an established leader in the Debt Settlement Affiliate business, announces the launch of two new FTC Telemarketing Sales Rule, TSR, and compliant business models. The former business model already complied with the new TSR law that took effect in October of 2010; however, the new models are geared more toward overcoming the shortfalls that other companies see when trying to make a profit in the start up phase of a new debt settlement business. The new business models offer all of the same services as the former programs with Debt Settlement, tax settlement, College Loan and DMP services available for the DAC Affiliate’s clients. The new models, attorney based and the no advanced fee model use a unique system to produce income for startup affiliates while continuing to provide the necessary services that clients need for financial relief in this difficult economic time.

The attorney based model provided by the DAC allows an actual Attorney to be assigned to a client and provides immediate protection against unfairly collected debts. The attorney assigned is an individual that provides attention to each client and takes offensive action against Creditors and also requests account and balance verification from the creditors halting any other filings by these companies. These services are available in 48 states with a total of 207 attorneys available to provide services, which mean that they are not assigned to a large firm that cycles clients through a huge system and multiple gatekeepers with no answers. Better actual service, FTC and FDCPA, and increased ability to create streams of income have improved the actual business model while still being in compliance with the TSR ruling.

The second No Advanced Fees model for Debt Settlement focuses on Tax settlement as the compensation for starting up. By moving in this direction Tax settlement fees can be collected after 60 days in full. Once these tax settlement fees are collected and the other Debt Settlements are being negotiated multiple streams of income are being created simultaneously and thus increasing the success of a new business or even enhancing an already established Debt Settlement company that is trying to compensate for the new TSR regulations.

The Attorney Based and No Advanced Fee Models provide Debt services for:

– Debt Settlement

– Debt Management Program

– Tax Settlement

– Student Loan Default

– Bankruptcy

What does the FTC TSR Amendment mean?

The new amendment in TSR is intended to curb deceptive and abusive practices in the telemarketing of debt relief services. The rule includes many provisions governing the traditional practices followed by debt settlement companies. Most debt settlement professionals as well as companies are unable to make out whether they will remain in business or not. They are doubtful about the existence of the whole industry.

About the Debt Alternative Center (DAC)

The Debt Alternative Center (DAC) is the 1st choice for entrepreneurs looking to get into the business and the 1st choice for existing debt settlement companies, by offering national back end processing. The company has been offering all of the traditional debt settlement processing services to its affiliates for over 25 years. Now, the company takes pride in announcing a new TSR model that will help its affiliates produce more client settlements than ever.

Debt settlement reduces the debt but never eliminates it-

If you are in debt muddles, and can find no ways to cope up with the situation, concerning a debt settlement agency would be the ideal option. The debt settlement company acts as an intermediary party that takes the initiative to liaison with the lending corporation or Credit Company on behalf of the borrower and negotiates to restructure a repayment scheme to make it affordable for the debtor. In a nut shell, by applying for a debt settlement one can reduce his total outstanding debt but cannot eliminate it altogether. As a part of debt reduction procedure, the settlement can also advice to apply for  a debt consolidation plan to chip away the amount of a debtor’s monthly installment.

Bankruptcy can discharge most of the debts but it seizes the property-

By filing bankruptcy, one can discharge his unpaid debt liability and refresh his financial status. Bankruptcy procedure is undertaken by bankruptcy court in the presence of bankruptcy lawyers and the debtor. In chapter 7 bankruptcy all the non-exempt properties of the debtor are liquidated to recover the losses of the creditor.  Most of the debts are dis-chargeable in Chapter 7 bankruptcy except a few like student loan, alimony, child care etc.

Chapter 13 bankruptcy is a rearrangement of the loan term which may look much like a debt settlement program. The difference is that here a court appointed trustee is  empowered to conduct all monetary transaction between the debtor and the creditors.

Settlement hurts the credit score but can be recovered later-

Debt settlement with creditors may bring down the credit score temporarily. But with regular payment the score gradually improves. Finally when the account status is written as ‘paid’ by the creditor, it hikes the credit score of the debtor.

Bankruptcy damages the credit score that is almost irretrievable-

The worst possible damage that may happen in bankruptcy is the damage on credit score. The scar on credit report stays for almost 10 long years even after the debt obligation is fulfilled. It destroys the creditworthiness of a person and hampers his chances of getting further credit in future from potential lenders.

Collection calls may not stop after settlement-

When a consumer enroll with a debt settlement agency, the agency urges the creditors to contact them instead of contacting the debtor directly. Although, the debt settlement company does not guarantee a debtor that it would stop or protect him from any kind of collection harassment. They only offer a partial protection.

Bankruptcy can stop it forever-

On the contrary, filing bankruptcy immediately invokes an ‘automatic stay order’ on the debtor, preventing the creditor or collection agency to continue in their collection effort.

Safety and security is a vital concern regarding debt settlement –

Often debt settlement companies turn out to be frauds. They do not pay the creditors regularly; rather they deduct the payment of their client debtor as their service charge. Sometimes they ask for non-refundable consultancy charge at every month but can not bring any improvement to the debt status of a debtor. Finally, the debtor has to leave in the mid way, losing their money and increasing more debts.

Transparency is maintained in bankruptcy court-

Filing bankruptcy exempts a person from such hassles as legal procedure is involved here.

However, which one is suitable for any debtor depends upon his individual circumstances of the debtor.

If a collection agency continuously violates the FDCPA rules and guidelines, then these agencies can be black listed by the Federal Trade Commission or red flagged by the state Attorney General. After sending a certified letter to the collection agency to cease communication, if it still tries to contact the debtor, it’s against the law.

The debtor should ensure that he is legally responsible to the amount that he will pay to the collection agency. At times, these collection agencies raise the amount and insist the defaulter to pay it off immediately. These unethical debt collectors even pose as law officers threatening to file a lawsuit against the debtors. This is a punishable offense as they are misleading the debtors with forged information.

The debtors should be aware of the state law. The collection agencies have to stop collecting debts that have exceeded the statue of limitations. But the statute of limitation varies from state to state; therefore keep a check on it.

The FTC considers that if the victims lodge complaints against the illegal practices of the collection agencies this helps them to get an overview of the situation. But it is only possible if the consumer is aware of their own consumer rights.

A consumer group known as UCAN or the United Consumer Advocacy Network guides the clients enrolled into a debt settlement program. They put an end to the illegal collection practices by giving consumer education and the consumers can even consult the FDCPA attorney.

Therefore, a consumer can breathe a sigh of relief after they are well aware of their rights , bestowed on them by the FDCP Act. This Act is beneficial for the victims to safeguard them from creditor harassment.