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The downside of the debt snowball approach is that the non-paid accounts go delinquent. Additionally, many “self-help” agencies have turned out to be shady operations that take people’s money and do nothing in terms of help much less pay anything. At the least, these agencies also charge a fee that does nothing toward eliminating any debt.

Finally, while they may say the can stop lenders from harassing you and act as your agent, nothing a debt help agency does can bar a lender or debt collector from seeking collection against you. Only paying off the debt itself or a bankruptcy filing approved in court can do that.

Other debt help agencies focus on assisting you in personal finance management and again, not providing any kind of consolidation lending per se. Their role is more as a counseling service or an advisor, intending to provide you information only.