HFC - HSBC member  - Great customer service;  - Mediocre rates;  - Fast processing times.
	E-Loan  - Smaller online provider, rates quite    sensitive to bad credit;  - Poor customer service;  - Very fast processing times.
	Credit.com - Debt Counseling  - Consumer oriented debt counseling    service;  - Offers great deals for consolidating debt;  - Small debt amounts accepted;  - No credit checks.

With the increase and ease of obtaining credit facilities for almost every purchase made, we find that there are an ever increasing number of people experiencing financial trouble facing bankruptcy if things are left unchanged. The worrying fact is that many people do not recognize that they are in trouble soon enough before things really get messy. Debt has a sneaky way of crawling its way up and raring its ugly head in the form of increasing monthly obligations without much warning.

To counter this many financial consulting companies and lenders have introduced debt counseling services that customers can sign-up for. These debt counseling services provide a finance professional to look through your finances and help you determine the best way forward. They will normally ask you to table all you financial data so that a comprehensive picture of your financial health can be determined. It is normally at this stage where the client fully appreciates the troubles they are headed for.

The next steps involved in debt counseling services is to devise a plan in which you can effectively try attempt to reduce the amount of debt that you carry. This is done by analyzing your monthly cash flow number then setting aside an appropriate amount to keep the debt monster at bay and slowly but surely reducing your debt figures.

It should be noted that debt counseling services is simply an advisory service where the finance professional will advise you on how best to address your problem of mounting debt. It is different from a debt consolidation service where-by the finance professional is more hands-on when it comes to the management of your finances. Debt consolidation services are more expensive and attempt to negotiate with your debtors to get better rates and even provide debt consolidation loans to their clients if necessary.

There are a few things to look out for when searching for companies searching for debt counseling services. The first and most important thing to recognize is that there are companies out there are that pedaling products and use debt counseling services as a cover for selling the products. Although it is almost impossible for the first time customer to determine which company is providing a real service or one that is trying to sell a product there are associations such as the “Association of Independent Consumer Credit Counseling Agencies” or the “National Foundation for Credit Counseling” which actually accredit the services provided by such companies. It is advised that people looking for debt counseling services seriously consider choosing debt counseling companies that have actually been accredited by these associations.