Freedom Debt Relief is one of the leading companies in the debt relief industry and they manage more than $1 billion in consumer debt. Many people are interested in using this service, but they are unsure of how it will impact them in the long term. This program can help you get out of debt, but it may negatively affect your credit.
Function
Freedom Debt Relief is a program that is designed to help consumers get out of debt quickly. This is one of the quickest ways to get out of debt that is currently available. With this program, you will typically have to agree to make payments to Freedom Debt Relief for about three years, depending on how much debt you have. At the end of the three years, you will have your debts eliminated.
Reputation
One of the drawbacks of the debt relief industry is that there are many scams. Many people have fallen victim to the scams and have been conned out of thousands of dollars. Freedom Debt Relief is known for being a quality company that has a good reputation in the industry. They are a member of the Better Business Bureau and they have good customer service overall. This is not a scam company and they do what they say they will do.
Debt Elimination
There are different types of debt relief programs available on the market. Some of them are a debt management plan that helps you lower your interest rate and pay off your debt over a long period of time. Other plans are debt settlement companies. These companies actually negotiate a settlement for your debt which eliminates much of your debt without actually paying it off. Freedom Debt Relief is a debt settlement company that helps you eliminate your debt quickly.
Credit Impact
One of the big drawbacks of using Freedom Debt Relief is that it can negatively impact your credit. Anytime that you use debt settlement to eliminate your debts, it will hurt your credit score. This process can also hurt your credit because you will not be paying your creditors during the program. This could cause your creditors to post late payments on your account which can severely hurt your credit score over the long term.
Fees
Another potential drawback of using Freedom Debt Relief is that you have to pay them a fee for their service. While they do earn their fee, you could potentially do the same thing by yourself. There is no rule that you cannot negotiate directly with your creditors without the help of a debt relief company. Freedom Debt Relief makes their money because they are experienced in the industry and they handle the process for you.
References
- Bills.com: Freedom Debt Relief Review
- MSN: 5 Ways to Kill Your Credit Scores
- Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. "Consumer Credit - G.19." Accessed May 26, 2020.
- Better Business Bureau. "New Era Debt Solutions." Accessed June 1, 2020.
- Federal Trade Commission. "Settling Credit Card Debt." Accessed May 27, 2020.
- NFCC. "Top Creditors Responses to COVID-19, Coronavirus Pandemic." Accessed May 27, 2020.
- myFICO.com. "What's In My FICO Scores?" Accessed May 27, 2020.
Writer Bio
Luke Arthur has been writing professionally since 2004 on a number of different subjects. In addition to writing informative articles, he published a book, "Modern Day Parables," in 2008. Arthur holds a Bachelor of Science in business from Missouri State University.