Debt Management Company: Genesis Financial Management, Inc

A Credit Article Contributed by Brandie King

Debt Management Company: Genesis Financial Management, Inc

There are a lot of different debt management companies out there, but this article covers only Genesis Financial Management, Inc. They are a non profit credit counseling organization located in Tampa, Florida and you can access their website at http://www.genesisfinancialmanagement.com/default.asp.

Genesis Debt Management: Their Mission and Focus

Genesis is more than just a simple credit counseling agency. They also provide educational programs, services, and literature to better educate the public with regards to their financial lives and how to better manage their finances to prevent getting into debt in the first place. They focus on preventative education, as well as financial distress intervention and financial planning after becoming debt free.

This makes them one of the few companies that will teach you how to stay out of debt in the first place, help you get out of debt if you are already there, and then help you with financial planning after you get out of debt.

What Does Genesis Claim to Do with Their Debt Management Program?

Genesis claims that, by working with your creditors, they can reduce your monthly payment, reduce the amount of overall interest on your debts, and decrease the amount of time it will take you to pay off all of your debts. The basic idea behind their program is to eliminate debt through debt consolidation. Only unsecured debts, such as credit card and department store accounts, personal loans, and unpaid medical and legal bills are eligible to be included in the debt management program.

This means that you will have to continue making payments on secured debts, such as mortgage payments or car payments, completely separate from the monthly payment worked out for you in the debt management program Added benefits of using their debt management program are that accounts that currently showing as delinquent will cease to show that, late fees and over the limit fees should stop being charged to your accounts, and you should stop receiving collection calls.

What are the Requirements to Sign up for the Genesis Debt Management Program?

On their website, Genesis states that there are three requirements that you have to meet to be able to qualify for their debt management program. The first requirement is that you must have a minimum of $2,500 in debts that are unsecured. The second requirement is that you have to have two accounts. The third is that one of the two required accounts has to be a credit card or line of credit that is not only active, but is also not in collections.

Additional Information

There is a law that was put into effect by the Federal Trade Commission that protects you from unfair and unscrupulous practices by credit repair companies. Debt management and credit counseling companies fall under credit repair companies. The law is called the Credit Repair Organizations Act and can be read at http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/croa/croa.htm. It covers what your rights are as well as what credit repair companies have to do.