The Maze of Debt Relief Options

You see them all the time. Ads for debt consolidation loans are everywhere. On TV, the radio, in magazines, and even in your mail. It seems like the answer to all your problems, but you should really think twice before you act impulsively.

Look at the facts. You are swimming in debt. You have 4 credit cards maxed out, a car loan, a consumer loan, and a house payment. Simply making the minimum payments is causing your distress and certainly not getting you out of debt.

What should you do?

I'm sure you've seen the advertisements of smiling people who have chosen to take a consolidation loan. They seem to have had the weight of the world lifted off their shoulders.

1. The average citizen of the USA pays 11 different creditors every month. Making one single payment seems much easier than figuring out who should get paid how much and when.

2. Since the most common type of debt consolidation loan is the home equity loan, also called a second mortgage, the interest rates will be lower than most consumer debt interest rates. Your mortgage is a secured debt. This means that they have something they can take from you if you do not make your payment. Credit cards are unsecured loans.

3. Since the interest rate is lower and because you have one payment vs many, the amount you have to pay per month is typically decreased significantly.

4. With a consolidated loan, you only have one creditor to deal with. If there are any problems or issues, you will only have to make one call instead of several. Once again, this simply makes controlling your finances much easier.

5. Interest paid to a credit card is money down the drain. Interest paid to a mortgage can be used as a tax write-off.

Sounds great, doesn't it? Before you run out and get a debt consolidation loan, let's look at the other side of the coin.

With an easier load to bear and more money left over at the end of the month, it might be easy to start using your credit cards again or continuing spending habits that got you into such credit card debt in the first place. Now your home is on the line. You can't pay, the bank forecloses on your property.

Most mortgages are the 10 to 30 year variety. This means that rather than spend a couple of years getting out of credit card debt, you will be spending the length of your mortgage getting out of debt. Even though the interest rate is less, if you take the loan out over a 30 year period, you may end up spending more than you would have if you had kept each individual loan.

And, most important of all, and it bears repeating!

You can lose everything!

Again, Consolidation loans are secured loans. If you didn't pay an unsecured credit card loan, it would give you a bad rating but your home would still be secure. If you do not pay a secured loan, they will take away whatever secured the loan. In most cases, this is your home.

As you can see, consolidated loans are not for everyone. Before you make a decision, you must realistically look at the pros and cons to determine if this is the right decision for you.