Debt Settlement and Negotiation:

Bankruptcy Alternative:

Bankruptcy is a legally declared inability or impairment of ability of an individual or organization to pay their creditors. In most cases personal bankruptcy is initiated by the bankrupt individual. Bankruptcy is a legal process that discharges most debts, but has the disadvantage of making it more difficult for an individual to borrow in the future. To avoid the negative impacts of personal bankruptcy, individuals in debt have a number of bankruptcy alternatives.

Source: Wikipedia

Collection Agency:

A collection agency is a business that pursues payments on debts owed by individuals or businesses. Most collection agencies operate as agents of creditors and collect debts for a fee or percentage of the total amount owed. [1] Some agencies, sometimes referred to as "debt buyers", purchase debts from creditors for a fraction of the value of the debt and pursue the debtor for the full balance.[2] Creditors typically send debts to a collection agency in order to remove them from their accounts receivable records; the difference between the amount collected and the full value of the debt is then written off as a loss.[citation needed]

In many countries, collection agencies are governed by laws that prohibit certain abusive practices. Failure to adhere to such laws may result in lawsuits or government regulatory actions.

Source: Wikipedia

Consumer Debt:

Consumer debt is consumer credit which is outstanding. In macroeconomic terms, it is debt which is used to fund consumption rather than investment.

Source: Wikipedia

Credit Card Debt:

Credit Card Debt is an example of unsecured consumer debt, accessed through ISO 7810 plastic credit cards.
Debt results when a client of a credit card company purchases an item or service through the card system. Debt accumulates and increases via interest and penalties when the consumer does not pay the company for the money he or she has spent.

The results of not paying this debt on time are that the company will charge a late payment penalty (generally in the US from $10 to $40) and report the late payment to credit rating agencies. Being late on a payment is sometimes referred to as being in "default". The late payment penalty itself increases the amount of debt the consumer has.

When a consumer has been late on a payment, it is possible that other creditors, even creditors the consumer was not late in paying, may increase the interest rates the consumer is paying.

Source: Wikipedia

Credit Counseling:

Credit counseling (known in the United Kingdom as debt counselling) is a process offering education to consumers about how to avoid incurring debts that cannot be repaid. This process is actually more debt counseling than a function of credit education.

Credit counseling often involves negotiating with creditors to establish a debt management plan (DMP) for a consumer. A DMP may help the debtor repay his or her debt by working out a repayment plan with the creditor. DMPs, set up by credit counselors, usually offer reduced payments, fees and interest rates to the client. Credit counselors refer to the terms dictated by the creditors to determine payments or interest reductions offered to consumers in a debt management plan.

Source: Wikipedia

A creditor

is a party (e.g. person, organization, company, or government) that has a claim to the services of a second party. The first party, in general, has provided some property or service to the second party under the assumption (usually enforced by contract) that the second party will return an equivalent property or service. The second party is frequently called a debtor or borrower. The term creditor is frequently used in the financial world, especially in reference to short term loans, long term bonds, and mortgages. In law, a person who has a money judgment entered in their favor by a court is called a judgement creditor. The term creditor derives from the notion of credit. In modern America, credit refers to a rating which indicates the likelihood a borrower will pay back his or her loan. In earlier times, credit also referred to reputation or trustworthiness.

Source: Wikipedia

Debt

is that which is owed; usually referencing assets owed, but the term can cover other obligations. In the case of assets, debt is a means of using future purchasing power in the present before a summation has been earned. Some companies and corporations use debt as a part of their overall corporate finance strategy.

A debt is created when a creditor agrees to lend a sum of assets to a debtor. In modern society, debt is usually granted with expected repayment; in many cases, plus interest. Historically, debt was responsible for the creation of indentured servants.

Source: Wikipedia

Debt Arbitration

is the industry created around the practice of debt settlement. Debt arbitrators are third-party institutions that work on behalf of their clients to negotiate out-of-court settlements for old bills, invoices, lawsuits, liens, medical bills, utility bills, judgements, and other types of significant debt. Typically, debt arbitrators are in lieu of credit counseling as a way to avoid bankruptcy.

Source: Wikipedia

Debt Consolidation

entails taking out one loan to pay off many others. This is often done to secure a lower interest rate, secure a fixed interest rate or for the convenience of servicing only one loan.

Debt consolidation can simply be from a number of unsecured loans into another unsecured loan, but more often it involves a secured loan against an asset that serves as collateral, most commonly a house. In this case, a mortgage is secured against the house. The collateralization of the loan allows a lower interest rate than without it, because by collateralizing, the asset owner agrees to allow the forced sale (foreclosure) of the asset to pay back the loan. The risk to the lender is reduced so the interest rate offered is lower.
Debt consolidation entails taking out one loan to pay off many others. This is often done to secure a lower interest rate, secure a fixed interest rate or for the convenience of servicing only one loan.

Debt consolidation can simply be from a number of unsecured loans into another unsecured loan, but more often it involves a secured loan against an asset that serves as collateral, most commonly a house. In this case, a mortgage is secured against the house. The collateralization of the loan allows a lower interest rate than without it, because by collateralizing, the asset owner agrees to allow the forced sale (foreclosure) of the asset to pay back the loan. The risk to the lender is reduced so the interest rate offered is lower.

Source: Wikipedia

Debt Negotiation:

is the process of negotiating with a creditor to pay off a percentage of a balance owed on old bills, invoices, lawsuits, liens, medical bills, utility bills, and judgments. This process is commonly used in debt settlement and debt arbitration. Since 30% of the 1.6 million bankruptcies filed in 2005[citation needed] occurred on debt that was current, it is often in the best interest of creditors to negotiate management debt repayment schedules with debtors experiencing hardship. They do this through their own programs, promoted through credit counseling, or through independent debt arbitrators using debt negotiation.

Source: Wikipedia

A Debt Management

Plan (DMP) is a method used in various countries for paying personal unsecured debts (which typically are out of control in the sense that payments are late and those due are taking too large a portion of income, or even exceeding it) that involves noting all the debts, assessing income and budget, and re-negotiating interest rates and payments with the lenders, based upon evidence that the result will be a higher likelihood of collection by the lenders due to the debtors more realistic monthly repayment.

Source: Wikipedia

Debt Relief

is the partial or total forgiveness of debt, or the slowing or stopping of debt growth, owed by individuals, corporations, or nations. It concerns in particular the Third World debt, which started exploding with the Latin American debt crisis (Mexico 1982, etc.).

Debt relief for heavily indebted and underdeveloped developing countries was the subject in the 1990s of a campaign by a broad coalition of development NGOs, Christian organizations and others, under the banner of Jubilee 2000. This campaign, involving, for example, demonstrations at the 1998 G8 meeting in Birmingham, was successful in pushing debt relief onto the agenda of Western governments and international organizations such as the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. Ultimately the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative was launched to provide systematic debt relief for the poorest countries, whilst trying to ensure the money would be spent on poverty reduction.

The HIPC programme has been subject to conditionalities similar to those often attached to IMF and World Bank loans, requiring structural adjustment reforms, sometimes including the privatisation of public utilities, including water and electricity. To qualify for irrevocable debt relief, countries must also maintain macroeconomic stability and implement a Poverty Reduction Strategy satisfactorily for at least one year. Under the goal of reducing inflation, some countries have been pressured to reduce spending in the health and education sectors.

The Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI) is an extension of HIPC. The MDRI was agreed following the G8's Gleneagles meeting in July 2005. It offers 100% cancellation of multilateral debts owed by HIPC countries to the World Bank, IMF and African Development Bank.

Source: Wikipedia

Debt Settlement

Debt settlement, also known as debt arbitration or debt negotiation, is an approach to debt reduction in which the debtor and creditor agree on a reduced balance that will be regarded as payment in full.[1]

As long as consumers continue to make minimum monthly payments, creditors will not negotiate a reduced balance. However, when payments stop, balances continue to grow because of late fees and ongoing interest.[1]

Consumers can arrange their own settlements by using advice found on web sites, hire a lawyer to act for them, or use debt settlement companies.[1] Some settlement companies may charge a large fee up front; or take a monthly fee from customer bank accounts for their service, possibly reducing the incentive to settle with creditors quickly. One expert advises consumers to look for companies that charge only after a settlement is made, and charge about 20 percent of the amount by which the outstanding balance is reduced.

Source: Wikipedia

Medical Debt

refers to debt incurred due to health care costs and expenses.

Many people accumulate medical debt when they do not have health insurance to cover the costs of necessary medications, treatments, or procedures. Individuals who have health insurance, however, are not immune to medical debt. Health insurance plans rarely cover any and all health-related expenses; for insured people, the gap between insurance coverage and the affordability of health care manifests as medical debt.

As with any type of debt, medical debt can lead to an array of personal and financial problems.[citation needed] Medical debt is different from other forms of debt, however, because it is usually incurred accidentally or faultlessly; people do not plan to fall ill or hurt themselves, and health care remedies are often unavoidable.[citation needed] It has been suggested that uninsured people or minimally insured people should not seek medical attention as the cost of treatment and the associated financial hardships will lower their quality of life more than simply suffering through their affliction. This is especially true for minorities and immigrants who are accustomed to a poor standard of living and lack of physical comforts.

Medical debt is often masked by other forms of debt including credit card debt.

Source: Wikipedia

Student Loan:

While included in the term "financial aid" higher education loans differ from scholarships and grants in that they must be paid back. They come in several varieties in the United States:

* Federal student loans made to students directly: No payments while enrolled in at least half time status. If a student drops below half time status, the account will go into its 6 month grace period. If the student re-enrolls in at least half time status, the loans will be deferred, but when they drop below half time again they will no longer have their grace period. Amounts are quite limited as well.
* Federal student loans made to parents: Much higher limit, but payments start immediately
* Private student loans made to students or parents: Higher limits and no payments until after graduation, although interest will start to accrue immediately. Private loans may be used for any education related expenses such as tuition, room and board, books, computers, and past due balances. Private loans can also be used to supplement federal student loans, when federal loans, grants and other forms of financial aid are not sufficient to cover the full cost of higher education.

Source: Wikipedia

Unsecure Debt:

In finance, unsecured debt refers to any type of debt or general obligation that is not collateralized by a lien on specific assets of the borrower in a bankruptcy or liquidation.

In the event of the bankruptcy of the borrower, the unsecured creditors will have a general claim on the assets of the borrower after the specific pledged assets have been assigned to the secured creditors.

Although in a liquidation the unsecured creditors will usually realize a smaller proportion of their claims than secured creditors.

In some legal systems, unsecured creditors who are also indebted to the insolvent debtor are able (and in some jurisdictions, must) set-off the debts, which actually puts the unsecured creditor with a matured liability to the debtor in a pre-preferential position.

Source: Wikipedia