The Three Hidden Traps of Getting a Debt Reduction Loan (and How You Can Avoid Them) | Debts

The Three Hidden Traps of Getting a Debt Reduction Loan (and How You Can Avoid Them)

Written by Sean Payne

Tuesday, 29 September 2009 19:53

by SeanPayne

If you've got a large amount of debt, then you've probably received a lot of phone calls from telemarketers offering you a debt reduction loan. At first glance, this type of loan sounds great. After all, who wouldn't want to consolidate all of their debts into one loan with a lower interest rate?

As the saying goes, there's no such thing as a free ride. This absolutely applies to getting a debt consolidation loan. These loans can be full of pitfalls that can easily get you in more trouble than you might think possible. Off the top of my head, here are the top three pitfalls that you will probably find when getting a debt reduction loan:

Trap #1: You're putting a band-aid on the symptom, not solving the problem.

You may think that you're curing the problem of being in debt, but debt reduction loans actually only treat the "symptom" of being in debt. These loans just put a band-aid on the problem, but don't address the behaviors that caused you to be in debt in the first place. And, once you've lumped all your debts into one huge loan, you'll eventually start to accumulate new debts when you, once again, spend more money than you make.

Statistics will tell you that people who use these loans to pay off their debts will likely end up with the same level of debt, and probably more, in two years or less. This is on top of the consolidation loan that they're making payments on.

Trap #2: Turning an unsecured debt into a secured debt.

If you have credit card debt, you should know that it is what is called "unsecured debt". This means that the loan is not backed up by a tangible object, such as your home. Most consolidation loans are what is known as "secured debt", or debt that is backed up by something valuable, most often the house that you live in.

The main problem with this is that when you can't pay off your loan (and this is not uncommon), the creditor has the ability to foreclose on your home. On the original debt, the only thing the creditor could do was sue you in a court of law. They couldn't take your home from you.

What you've done to yourself by taking out a secured loan (also known as a "home equity loan") is to make your home vulnerable to foreclosure. Not too smart of you, was it?

Trap #3: Now you're paying higher interest rates.

Even if you choose not to take out a secured loan, and get an unsecured loan instead, you're probably still going to get smacked, this time with higher interest rates. Your high debt load, coupled with the fact that you're having trouble paying off your debts, means that you're a credit risk. This means that anybody who will give you credit is going to offset their additional risk by charging you a higher interest rate.

They may change the loan in different ways, including a longer loan term, in order to offer you lower monthly payments than you're making right now. However, this means that you will still pay more in the long run for your debts. As somebody who is already in debt, you probably can't afford to do this.

So, how do you avoid these traps?

You can avoid each of these traps by taking the bold step of managing your own debt. Unless you're on the brink of bankruptcy, you do have the ability to get out of debt without the assistance of some lender or credit counselor. It may take some radical changes in your lifestyle, but once you make those changes you'll be curing the behaviors that got you into debt in the first place.

DISCLAIMER: This article is provided as information only and is not to be taken as financial advice.

Sean Payne has been studying personal finance and how to get out of debt for over 10 years. To get more information about how to get out of debt without a debt consolidation loan, check out Sean's excellent free course on how to pay off your debt quickly.