Want debt relief fast? Here's how to qualify for a debt management plan this May — and what to do if you can't.

These debt relief features may feel counterintuitive, but they can actually help you regain your financial freedom.

To enroll in a credit card hardship program, contact your credit card issuer and ask if it offers one. Many major issuers ...

But a debt management plan (or DMP) is a much more organized plan of attack. You usually enroll in a DMP through a credit counseling agency, where a credit counselor works with your creditors to ...

Debt settlement, aka debt relief, debt resolution or debt negotiation, means contacting your creditors and asking them to ...

Before enrolling in a program this May, though, you'll want to understand a few important facts about how they work. When you enroll in a debt management program, the credit counseling agency will ...

The goal of a debt management program is to lower your current debt and move toward eliminating it, while a debt settlement company works to wipe out your debt by negotiating with your creditors ...

A debt management plan can negatively impact your credit score at first, but your score can improve over time with responsible financial habits. In the second half of 2024, the average consumer ...

The 42-year-old said she wound up racking up a balance of about $20,000. "It got to the point where I didn't have enough in ...