Thursday, September 13, 2018

Oshawa Consumer Proposal Pays Your Unsecured Debts

For many people struggling with debt and finding an alternative to personal bankruptcy, filing an Oshawa consumer proposal may be the right solution. It can allow you to reduce your debts and pay them off while allowing you to keep your assets.


A consumer proposal is a settlement offer to your creditors that you pay them a certain percentage of the total amount that you owe them and that they will forgive the balance. The offer involves a debt repayment plan of making equal monthly payments over time, usually a period between three and five years, whichever is manageable for you and fair to your creditors.


A licensed insolvency trustee or LIT will negotiate with all your creditors to reduce the total amount of debt you owe. The LIT will also negotiate that you will not be charged for interest charges or any additional fees. You pay the fixed monthly payment to your LIT every month who will then distribute the money to creditors that are included in the proposal.


A consumer proposal allows you to pay for your unsecured debts only. This may include:



  • credit card debt,
  • lines of credit,
  • payday loans,
  • personal loans,
  • income taxes, and
  • student loans that you are still paying after you’ve been out of school for more than 7 years.


Secured debts, such as your mortgage or car loan, cannot be included in your consumer proposal offer.


A consumer proposal is one of the legal options provided by the government to give relief from significant debt problems. The other legal option is a personal bankruptcy. The most remarkable feature of both options is a legal stay of proceedings. This is an automatic feature that immediately takes effect once it is filed and requires creditors to stop with their collection efforts made towards you, which includes harassing collection calls, wage garnishments, frozen bank accounts, lawsuits and other legal actions being taken against you.


Both options can only be administered by a Licensed Insolvency Trustee. A LIT will review your financial situation to determine if a consumer proposal is an appropriate solution for you. In general, it may be the right choice if you meet the following requirements:



  • Your total unsecured debt is less than $250,000.
  • You have the ability to repay your debts but just need more time to pay them back so that is is more manageable for you and your family.
  • You want to stop the accumulation of interest charges which can easily balloon your debt.
  • You want relief from the harassment of collection calls, the embarrassment of wage garnishments and frozen bank accounts and the stress and anxiety of lawsuits.
  • You want to keep assets that you might likely lose in a bankruptcy.


As you can see, a consumer proposal is a very flexible solution. You get to pay your debts at a lower amount agreed by your creditors. In turn, your creditors get more than they would receive when you file a bankruptcy.


If you've been turned down for a consolidation loan, and credit counseling is just not the right fit for you, the next best debt relief solution could be an Oshawa consumer proposal to help you get back on track financially. Talk to a licensed insolvency trustee in your area to know if this is the right step to take and to find out all your options.

Tuesday, September 11, 2018

Tips to Make Debt Consolidation Mississauga Work for You


Debt problems are very real for many residents of Mississauga, but consumers are fortunate to have many options that can help make it possible for them to get out of debt. Debt consolidation Mississauga is one of the simplest ways that is why more people are turning to it to help them manage their existing debt.


Debt consolidation is a debt relief solution that helps you pay off multiple unsecured debts such as credit card debt, payday loans, utility bills, unsecured lines of credit using one new loan. When you consolidate your debt, you only have one payment to make instead of several payments with different creditors. In addition, it reduces the monthly amount and interest charges that you would have to pay to settle the debt. .


It’s a simple, straightforward solution with some benefits:



  • You have only one payment to make instead of multiple payments.
  • You pay at a lower interest rate.
  • You pay one creditor with a single due date instead of multiple creditors with multiple payment deadlines.
  • You get to repay many of your debts.


But, can it really be this simple and easy?


Remember that when you are consolidating debt, you are simply getting a new loan to pay off your old debts. You are not reducing the amount of your debt, your debt level remains the same. Nothing has changed essentially. You are only restructuring your debt and refinancing with a new loan to pay off some of your debts.


If you can combine all of your credit cards, line of credit and other loans into a lump sum and you can pay this off with at a lower interest rate and with a monthly payment that’s manageable, then debt consolidation can be a godsend. But if you don’t know how to consolidate your debts the right way, you could be worse off.


Getting out of debt through debt consolidation can be a real possibility if you keep in mind some of these tips.


Get a new loan with a low-interest rate


Interest rates are the real culprit here. They can really let your debt balloon, so reducing the amount of interest you pay should be one of the first things you need to work on. Try to negotiate with your existing credit card providers and ask them to lower your interest rate. If your credit rating is reasonable, they may help you to avail of one of their low-rate cards. You can also ask your bank or credit union for a term loan which usually come with lower interest rates than most credit cards.


Research your options before consolidating


There are many ways to consolidate debt. In Canada, your options include:


Unsecured loan - A loan that is not tied to any asset.

Secured loan - A loan that requires collateral as security for repayment.

Balance transfer - Where you transfer your outstanding debt to a low interest or zero interest credit card for a certain promotional period or a new or existing line of credit.

Debt settlement - Where you stop making payments and then negotiate with creditors to accept a smaller amount as full payment.

Debt management plans or DMP - A payment plan where you pay a specified monthly payment to a credit counseling agency who disburses this to your creditors.

Using a home equity loan / refinance mortgage / second mortgage - A loan that you take out against the portion of your home that you own.


The right type of consolidation loan will allow you to pay off your debts at a lower interest rate and a payment plan that is manageable.


Be mindful of taking a debt consolidation in Mississauga only if it is the best option for you and your family. Talk to a Licensed insolvency Trustee before making any final decision so you can weigh in all the options you have to help you find the right solution.