Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Secured Debt Consolidation Explained

By William Blake

When you're faced with a large amount of debt, whether on credit cards, department store financing or any other kind of consumer credit, one of the solutions available is to consolidate it into a single loan. Most of the time, these consolidation loans need to be secured by some kind of collateral, such as a car or your home.

You can find consolidation loans in a number of places. There are lenders in most large cities - as well as on the internet - that specialize in debt consolidation loans.

When you're in the early stages and still researching the different options, the internet is a valuable resource. There are lots of websites where you can get in-depth information about debt consolidation and it is easy to compare services when choosing an agency to help.

When you consolidate multiple debts into a single consolidation loan, it means you only need to make a single payment every month instead of one to each of the creditors. The interest is almost always lower on these loans as well, so over the time it takes to pay it off you can save a lot of money in interest costs.

When you start looking for a consolidation loan, your credit score is going to have a bearing on what you can get. A lower credit score generally means you'll have to put up collateral to secure the loan, plus you may wind up with a higher interest rate than someone with a better credit score.

Collateral is usually some type of personal property that has a significant value, equal to or greater than the amount of the loan. Obviously, the value of your collateral will affect the size of consolidation loan you will qualify for.

Once your consolidation loan is in place, all your current credit cards and other creditors will be paid off, leaving you with a single payment to manage every month.

At this point the most important thing is to pay that off as quickly as possible, and not charge up more debt on your credit cards. - 15485

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