Before signing up to work with a consumer credit counseling business you should really be asking yourself a few pertinent questions. This is because the consumer credit counseling business industry is just full of scam artists, identity thieves and incompetent types who will either take your money and run (while ruining your credit rating in the process) or steal your identity after asking for your financial information.

The first thing you should look for is whether or not the consumer credit counseling business is accredited. If it isn't don't bother with it. It should be affiliated with the National Foundation for Credit Counseling or the Association of Independent Consumer Credit Counseling Agencies or you can't trust it.

The second thing you need to not is whether or not it is a business that is regulated in your state or province. If not you need to be more wary about it. To find out all you need to do is make one call to your Better Business Bureau and the other to your state attorney. Ask how many consumer complaints have been leveled against the particular consumer credit counseling business that you are thinking of dealing with. This should clear up any mysteries about the company's reputation fast.

The third thing you need to determine is how fast and how much of your money will be directly paid out to your credits once your loan is consolidated. If the company is vague about this in anyway you can also forget about dealing with them.

Another way to tell if a consumer credit counseling business is legitimate is to see how much they charge. Legitimate credit counselors charge about $50 to help you set up a repayment plan and to explain how you can restructure your own. If you are asked to pay any more you are probably dealing with some kind of rip off artist.

Tiffany Walker is an author who works for various financial publications online. Read her most recent articles here: Consumer Credit Counseling Business.

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