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Understanding the Role of Consumer Credit Counseling

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Understanding the Role of Consumer Credit Counseling Understanding the Role of Consumer Credit Counseling There are dozens of nonprofit providers of can disclose more information to the counselor consumer credit counseling in Wisconsin. Some are compared to the lender. This results in fuller picture local agencies, others part of a national network. of the household balance sheet and budget and Some credit counselors work on 24 hour hotlines, makes developing options more effective. A more others hold office counseling over regular business honest and detailed accounting of income and hours. Regardless of the format, however, financial expenses as part of a budgeting exercise can make educators need to understand the role of lenders and the consumer better off by reassuring counselors as a complement to traditional the lender that any negotiated settlement of debt educational programming. Counselors can help was the best deal possible given the borrower's people manage acute problems and manage credit ability to pay. appropriately, including the use of specialized repayment strategies. Outgrowth of regional credit bureaus Many consumer credit counseling agencies started Functions of Credit Counseling as community nonprofits with names such as CCCS Credit counselors help lenders get over the so- of "your town". CCCS stands for Consumer Credit called "creditor’s dilemma" especially for Counseling Service and many agencies still use consumers with multiple credit cards. Each creditor these names. As the name implies the agencies would likely benefit if they all the creditors could provide services related to budgeting and advice to agreed to work out a debt repayment solution. people in trouble. These agencies began as Failure to come up with alternative payment outgrowth of local credit bureaus. Just as local options means it is likely all the creditors will lose bureaus have consolidated into large national more money. But no one lender has the incentive to agencies, CCCS agencies have also consolidated. offer a workout--the one lender who does make a Many have become national in scope and a few deal will take a loss, while the other lenders will be have even changed from nonprofit structures to for- more likely to be paid since the borrower has less to profit enterprises. pay now. So every lender waits for the others to make a deal first. Credit counselors introduce a National Foundation for Credit Counseling neutral third party who has proven credible for all (NFCC), Inc. the lenders involved. That counselor can negotiate a Founded in 1951 the NFCC is a national 'fair' deal for all the lenders collectively, making all membership organization that connects qualified lenders better off. The counseling agency develops nonprofit credit counseling agencies who are a trusted relationship with creditors through invited to become a member. NFCC is both a repeated interactions where they prove their platform to connect nonprofit credit counseling reliability. agencies as a network and also a credentialing body which provides training and certification to agencies For the consumer the counselor may also be a and individual counselors. Currently there are about more trusted intermediary relative to the 100 NFCC member agencies with 850 offices in the lender/creditor. The consumer may not be able to U.S. These agencies served over 3 million reveal their full budget and ability to pay to the consumers last year. lender for fear of provoking the lender to impose higher repayments. The consumer may feel they Each NFCC member agency is identified by the NFCC the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and a series of member public education materials.i seal: This shift in the industry and resulting 'clean up' of credit counseling agencies with poor practices also helped accelerate consolidations of CCCS agencies, as well as many agencies renaming themselves and moving toward regional and national scale. NFCC maintains agency accreditation procedures and databases as well as a counselor certification Critiques of Credit Counseling program. NFCC is based in Silver Spring, MD and While millions of borrowers have received help can be reached at (800) 388-2227, or at from credit counseling and the use of DMPs, the www.debtadvice.org. industry is not without dogged critics. Legal observers note that the DMP is a voluntary In addition to NFCC credentials other designations agreement and much less stringent than a agencies may have counseling certification from the consumer might receive through legal proceeding Association for Financial Counseling Planning and or bankruptcy. Counselors also fail to explore the Education (AFCPE) www.afcpe.org, NeighborWorks root causes of the creation of the debt and are America (www.nw.org), the Council on unlikely to detect or report issues of lender Accreditation (COA) or the International Standards exploitation or fraud. One study shows that just 6 Organization (ISO). percent of credit counseling clients are referred to legal assistance while 35 percent are enrolled in a Debt Management Plans debt management plan (Michelle White, 1998). The primary tool of the credit counselor has More recently agencies have been accused of historically been the voluntary debt management engaging in overly aggressive marketing, including plan or DMP. This is the classic program designed to costly television advertisements. The costs of this help a borrower organize multiple debts across marketing ultimately results in more direct to multiple lenders to work out a repayment solution. consumer fees or pressure to serve more clients Historically the counselor could re-negotiate bills with fewer program resources. due and result in a lower monthly payment and accelerated settlement of back debts. Some DMP A report by the Consumer Federation of America plans involve the consumer making payments suggested that another issue is counseling agencies directly to the counselor each month--one simple are too focused on DMPs, saying ‘‘multi-service check. Then the counseling agency divides the agencies are a dying breed... The multi-service payment among creditors according to the initial agencies are struggling to keep affordable DMP schedule. counseling services for those consumers who are not enrolled in DMPs.’’ As counseling agencies focus The counseling agency receives a share of the on fee generation and DMPs they may be less likely repayment funds as compensation. Creditors used to offer general consumer education. to return to the credit counselor about 12 percent of debt payments it helped to facilitate through In recent years there has been a rise in debt DMPs. In recent years “fair share” payments have settlement companies offering fee-based services. declined dramatically and are now as low as 3 These agencies are not nonprofits and the percent. Meanwhile the costs of services have companies aggressively advertise. This competition increased leaving agencies in a financial bind. Some has spurred some counseling agencies to also spend credit counselors have suffered from issues of more on advertising resulting in less differentiation fraudulent use of funds. This triggered actions by between non-profits and for profit firms. Credit card issuers have exacerbated problems by working Page 2 of 4 with fewer large scale agencies, and referring only Bankruptcy the borrowers with whom they have the least prospect of finding a resolution. Critics suggest Chapter 7: most unsecured debts written off, but agencies too quickly push clients into poorly design have to sell some property. repayment plans. As fewer consumers successfully complete DMPs or similar voluntary plans the value Chapter 13: a three- to five-year plan to repay of counseling is weakened debts with little or no debt written off. Debt Settlement Debt-management plans pay off owed balances in Homebuyer Education – HUD Certification full, but with lower interest rates and lower cost Since the explosion of foreclosures in the late terms. An alternative is to reduce the amount 2000s, there has been a large increase in mortgage owed--typically through bankruptcy. But there is default counseling. This has resulted in a blurring of another option: debt settlement. the lines between traditional credit counseling and housing counseling focused on mortgage debt. Debt settlement companies are generally for profit Most consumer credit counseling agencies have enterprises that negotiate debt workouts on behalf entered the housing counseling field and in fact of consumers. These firms are controversial. The many have provided housing counseling for years, goal is less related to counseling and more toward but at a smaller scale. Since the 1970s the US writing off debt, often for a hefty fee. Some Housing and Urban Development department companies charge a percentage of the total debt, (HUD) has supported counseling for consumers of others charge a percentage of the debt savings and rental and owner-occupied housing.1 HUD support most incur an start-up fees and monthly charges. covers only a portion of costs and there are many After set up clients pay a negotiated amount for restrictions on the use of HUD funds for counseling. years into an escrow account that the debt- settlement company manages. Firms may One of the biggest networks of HUD housing encourage tactics such as intentionally not paying counseling is NeighborWorks America (nw.org) some current bills to force negotiations with which provides training support and certification for creditors. However, creditors will continue agencies. HUD-approved counseling agencies often collections calls as debt settlement has no legal engage in the same budgeting and credit reviews protections. Lenders can even sue the client for that consumer credit counseling will perform. owed amounts and seek a judgment. Often debt- Agencies will typically refer clients to work with a settlement companies offer no legal advice leaving mortgage lender or in some cases work the client to deal with the court alone. collaboratively with the client and lender. Housing counselors may recommend credit counseling but In the last 5 years the Federal Trade Commission will usually not set up a DMP at the same time as a has begun cracking down on settlement companies, mortgage default session.
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