Bankruptcy or Debt Settlement Plans

What is debt management plan?

A debt management plan is a service provided by the Ontario Association of Credit Counselors. These are non-profit agencies created to help individuals experiencing financial distress.

The concept behind a debt management plan is this: you can afford to make a monthly payment, you just need some help negotiating with your creditors and a little breathing space to get back on top of things.

Debt management plans are best suited to persons with a limited number of creditors (5 or less) and under $5,000 in debts. The advantages of a debt management plan are:

	Maximum period to repay is 4 years;
	Interest relief may be possible; and
	Some debt may be forgiven.

A debt management plan is not a legal procedure – it is a voluntary agreement between you and your creditors. As such, a debt management plan does not need to include all of your creditors, nor is it binding on your creditors. A debt management plan also does not have the ability to automatically stop a garnishment order – the creditor must agree to lift the garnishment.

If you think a debt management plan would work for you, look under Credit Counselling in the Yellow pages or check moneyproblems.ca for an credit counsellor in your area. For more on debt settlement/consolidation and bankruptcy loans, contact a bankruptcy Hamilton trustee.