If you have credit card debt you have two important options- enlisting the aid of credit card counseling services or bankruptcy. Bankruptcy is the equivalent of giving up and can be quite costly to you in other ways in the long run. For instance after declaring bankruptcy it may be difficult for you to rent an apartment and you won't be able to take out any credit of your own for seven years.

Filing for bankruptcy is one of the most damaging thing you can do to your credit but at least if you enlist the aid of credit card counseling services there is still some hope for you. Unless you are prepared to live almost an entire decade without credit and also with the surety that you will be charged high rates for any kind of insurance because of your bankruptcy then the bankruptcy option is likely not for you.

However it is a mistake to think that working with credit card counseling services won't hurt your score as well. You will get a negative comment as well as a noticeable drop in your credit card scores for the entire duration of your credit card counseling services. The good news is that these black marks are temporary and removed as soon as your session is over. However while you are actually being given advice by one of these companies you are off limits for being provided credit by additional lenders and credit card companies.

The other drawback of working with credit card counseling services is that such a company may get your interest rate reduced, your minimum payment reduced and delayed and may even get your credit limit raised for you! Unfortunately this just encourages most people to immediately take advantage of the new available credit that they have just received and they continue to spend -- which is what caused them to get into debt in the first place!

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

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