5 Essential Questions You Need To Ask Your Next Credit Counselor

Key takeaway: A good credit counseling agency will explain your options if you miss a payment, and won’t just tell you it isn’t allowed.

Choosing a credit counselor is a big decision, and this article lists five questions to ask before you commit: whether the counselor is certified and the agency is a nonprofit, what results are realistic for your situation, how your monthly payment is split between the agency and your creditors, what happens if you can’t make a payment, and how repayments are prioritized.

Michael McAuliffe, president and founder of Family Credit Management, addresses the fourth question. Life happens, he says, and any good agency accepts that. A counselor should be able to explain your options, whether that means a partial payment, prioritizing certain creditors, or working with you to get back on track. If the only answer you get is that you can’t miss a payment, he would be concerned.

At Family Credit Management, we are a nonprofit credit counseling and debt management organization, and we encourage you to ask us these same questions. Learn about how debt management plans can help you take control of your debt.

Q: What should I ask a credit counselor before starting a debt management plan?
Ask about certification and nonprofit status, realistic results, how your payment is divided, what happens if you miss a payment, and how debts are prioritized.

Read the full article at AOL.com.