There is tons of advertising for credit debt consolidation programs and services. Even if you're in debt up to your eyeballs and haven't kept up with your payments for months, these companies say that they can help you consolidate your debt despite your bad credit. After they have worked their magic, you'll be left with, only one monthly payment to make.

There are two types of debt consolidation companies, the first kind legitimately want to help people with bad credit. The others have much worse intentions and try to take advantage of people deep in debt by making outrageous promises. Sadly, the latter kinds of debt consolidation companies are more common than the former.

The main difference is that the professional and legitimate companies will charge fair prices and in the end produce an actual result. While the disreputable companies will price gouge even though in most cases they provide no real results and leave their customers with just as much debt.

In essence debt consolidation companies will talk to your creditors and try to lower your interest rates and monthly payments. Once they have reached an arrangement with your creditors, they will tell you the total amount you owe per month. You will then send this money to the debt consolidation company, and the debt consolidation company will distribute the money to your creditors.

That is the plan that the decent companies stick to. If you happen to sign up for the services of a bad debt consolidation company your experience may be a nightmare. The companies running scams often keep much of the money you send them for various fees. This means that your creditors, who aren't receiving the money you send, will continue to harass you and report your account as unpaid to the credit reporting agencies.

This is why it is very important to research any debt company that you wish to work with. The companies that send you emails and advertise on late night television in most cases are not the ones you want to work with. Some of your other options include trying to obtain an unsecured loan through a bank or refinancing your house or car to pay off debt. Talk to your bank or mortgage broker. You may also want to visit with a financial planner to assess your budget and find ways to stay out of debt in the future.

Another approach that may work for some people is to apply for a zero or low interest credit card and transfer all your debt on to it. This approach, however, has a few setbacks. If your credit is truly terrible the credit card company might raise your interest rate unexpectedly. Also, you need to do something with the rest of your credit cards like getting rid of them to avoid the temptation of starting new balances.

You also need to be able to make the minimum payments on that card or even pay as much as you can in order to pay off your debt as quickly as possible. Overall if you have bad credit, debt consolidation is possible, but make sure you're working with a reputable company that really does want to help you get out of debt. Remember to run a thorough internet background check on any company that you work with to weed out any potential scammers.