Most of what you find when you search for help with debt is a sales page wearing an article's clothes. These are not that. Each one explains what an option really does, what it costs, who it suits, and when you are better off doing nothing at all.
Four different things get sold under the word 'relief'. Here is what each one actually does to your balance, your credit and your monthly payment — and who each is genuinely for.
What the options actually are when the minimum payments stop working, and what each one costs you.
Four different things get sold under the word 'relief'. Here is what each one actually does to your balance, your credit and your monthly payment — and who each is genuinely for.
Print this, keep it next to the phone, and make them answer all twelve. A good provider will not mind. That is rather the point.
The honest version: what gets reported, when, how long it lasts, and what recovery realistically looks like afterwards.
Notices, payment plans, penalty relief, and what the IRS will and will not agree to.
CP14, CP501, CP504, LT11, CP90 — what each one is, what the deadline actually is, and which ones mean you need to act this week.
Short-term plans, installment agreements, partial-pay arrangements and hardship status — what each one is, who qualifies, and the cases where a provider genuinely earns their fee.
The IRS settles tax debt for less than the full amount, but the decision comes out of a formula, not a negotiation. Here is the formula, and how to work out your own number before anyone quotes you a fee.
Merchant cash advances, daily draws, and what a business owner can do when revenue will not cover them.
Stacked advances, daily ACH debits, confessions of judgment and personal guarantees — what a business owner's actual options are once revenue will not cover the draws.
How to read an offer, what drives the rate you are shown, and when borrowing is the wrong tool.
APR, origination fees, term length and prepayment terms — the four numbers that decide what an offer really costs, and the one number lenders would rather you looked at instead.
How to tell a real provider from a bad one, what your rights are, and where to get free help.
Nine signals that separate a legitimate provider from an operation that will take your money — plus exactly where to check a company and where to report one.
We would rather send you somewhere free than take a fee for a bad fit. All of these are genuinely free, and none of them pay us anything.
Answer a few questions and we'll tell you honestly whether a provider can help — or whether one of the free routes above is the better move.