to get out of debt. Debt consolidation is not a
quick fix. Debt Consolidation can take years to
pay off your debt. Plus, in some cases debt
consolidation may make your future creditors look
at your credit application with a lot more
scrutiny. Ask yourself these questions before
you consider debt consolidation.1. Who is reporting negative but inaccurate
information on your credit report? Most likely, if you re considering debt
consolidation, it s because you are looking to
make a major purchase that you can t afford to
pay for with cash. Or you trying to polish up
your credit report to get a better credit score.
Before you go putting all of your debt in the
consolidation basket, check to see who is
reporting negative but inaccurate information
about you on your credit report. You can get a free copy of your credit report
every 12 months by logging onto www.annualcreditreport.com . Looking at all three of
your credit reports from the Big Three Credit
Bureaus will show you just how good or bad your
credit is. Negative but accurate information will usually
drop off of your credit report seven years from
the date of the last activity (D.O.L.A.) with the
original creditor. 2. How old is your debt? That contact that you signed ten years ago may not
be able to be legally collected on anymore.
Check the statue of limitations in your state to
see when the debt is going to fall off your
credit report. If the Date of Last Activity on
the account has surpassed the Statue of
Limitations, for the state in which you signed
the contract, but a Collections Agency is still
reporting the debt, dispute the debt with the
Collections Agency as well as the Big Three
Credit Bureaus.3. How many debts do you have with high interest
rates? If the majority of your debts have interest rates
above10%, you may want to attempt to consolidate
your debt yourself. You may be able to take out
a home equity loan at a low fixed interest rate
that will cut your interest f without giving up
control over how and when the debt is repaid.
You also may be able to transfer a high interest
bearing credit card to one with a lower interest
rate.If you intend to consolidate your debt, try to
consolidate your debt yourself first.
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