Tuesday 23 December 2014

Prevent Bankruptcy with Debt Agreement

A debt agreement serves as an alternative to bankruptcy, thus saving a debtor’s assets. It is an agreement under Part IX of the Bankruptcy Act of 1966, which is legally binding between a debtor and his or her creditors. With the help of this, a person can overcome a temporary financial strain that may cause him to miss out or default on loan repayments and other fixed expenditure. Under the Part IX Debt Agreement, unsecured personal debts or loans such as bills, credit and store cards, overdrafts, personal loans etc. can be covered. It must be understood that secured loans like a home or a car loan are not covered under the debt agreement. In Australia, this is controlled and monitored by the Australian Financial Security Authority (AFSA). This agreement is made with the help of a Debt Agreement Administrator, wherein the amount that can be repaid to the creditors is calculated based on the income and expenditure of the person. The amount that is remaining after the expenditure is offered to the creditors in a formal Debt Agreement Proposal. Creditors have to agree to accept this sum of money to convert this proposal into an agreement. This offers a debt-free consolidation of the outstanding loans and any legal action against the debtor to recover the money becomes null and void. Once this agreement is made, creditors cannot add any more interest payments to the debt. Hence, the debtor needs to repay only the balance of the debt agreement. As per the strict rules enforced by the government with regard to the Part 9 Debt Agreement in Australia, all previous debts will effectively close legally when the debtor has completed all payments and obligations under this agreement.

Repay Personal Loans on Time and Get the Best Out Of It

Modern day finance cannot function without loans. Nowadays, different types of loans are available from banks, financial institutions and credit unions. A consumer loan that is granted for any legitimate purpose such as buying a house or a property, education of a child, wedding expenses and personal reasons like medical expenses or a holiday expenses, can be termed as a personal loan. These loans may be unsecured loans depending on the debtor’s credit history and his or her ability to repay it, or secured loans which are linked to the asset that is purchased or when there is a guarantor, who will take on the responsibility of the loan in case of non-repayment. These loans are usually repaid in fixed monthly installments over a fixed period of time. It is important to study the market and go in for low-rate personal loans so that repayment becomes easy and less problematic. Unsecured personal loans are charged higher rates of interest, which translates into higher equated monthly installments or EMI payments. A secured personal loan is also referred to as a personal bad credit loan, because a person with a bad credit score or history is usually eligible for this type of loan only. The bad credit score may have resulted from missed or late repayments of previous loans or failure to pay off a credit card debt. The secured loan requires some collateral to recover the lent money in the case of default repayments. Whichever the type of loan, a debtor must ensure that it is paid back on time so that loans are available in future without any hassles when emergency situations arise.

Sunday 21 December 2014

Getting Into And Out Of Bad Debts

Debts in one’s life can be the line between contentment and despair. Therefore, controlling and getting rid of debts, if any, brings order to one’s life or business. Debts occur because majority of the companies make sales on credit to their retailers and dealers.  This is done to increase sales since many retailers may not be able to pay the full cash up front to the company. In this process, it is inevitable that some customers have poor credit ratings. However, it is important that creditors seek expert help with bad credit ratings when they deal with debtors. When all attempts to collect a debt become useless, a bad debt occurs. This usually happens when a debtor becomes bankrupt and is unable to repay it or when the cost of pursuing a debt becomes more than what the creditor can actually collect from the debtor. It is advised that the full amount of a bad debt is written off as soon as it is understood that repayment is not possible by the customer. This can be written off by the company as an expense in the company’s accounts. Non-collectable mortgages may also be written off as bad debts. However, the companies that make these credit sales will have a ballpark estimate on the amount that they might lose to bad debt, which will be marked in the allowance for doubtful accounts.  In some situations, after a debt has been written off or classified as a bad debt, it may be recovered wholly or partially, for example, by the sale of the collateral. This is known as bad debt recovery and in such cases, it may produce an income.

Friday 19 December 2014

Consolidate Debts and Repay a Single Loan

Debt from loans may get accumulated because of nonpayment of a student loan, a credit card debt, a personal loan etc. These loans are usually unsecured, which means that they are not linked to any asset. In most cases, the debtor will have many debts to pay off, which indirectly translates into increased monthly outgoings. The minimum monthly payments on credit card debts in Australia will only repay the interest, while the principal amount remains untouched. Exceeding limits and missed payments will mean increase in credit card interest rates. The best way out of this problem is consolidation of these debts into a new and single loan. In Australia, Debt Negotiators offers favorable debt consolidation services to its clients. In debt consolidation loans, the interest rates are fixed such that the principal amounts gets reduced as the loan payments are made. This way, the spiraling debts are kept under control. The number of companies to which a debtor owes money is reduced to a single one, thus making this process more manageable. Though this strategy is very useful in most situations, on the flip side, it may involve extra costs that might make the situation even more precarious than it was before. Therefore it is always advisable to get expert opinion on debt reduction services before taking the plunge. Such loans are of two types. The secured debt consolidation loan secures collateral to back up the loan. Therefore, interest rates are lower as the creditor’s risk is offset by the asset that is pledged.

Settling Credit Card Debt with Proper Guidance

When a client of a credit card company does not repay the money that he has spent using the credit card, a credit card debt gets accrued. This occurs because of the interest and the penalties that the company charges the client for late or missed repayments. Research studies have shown that one of the biggest disadvantages of accumulated credit card debt is the likelihood of forgoing medical care, which may lead to many fatalities and emergencies. To help prevent such extreme situations, it is important to avail the services of credit card debt settlement experts. They help the client to negotiate with the creditors so that a settlement amount can be paid to resolve the debt. This amount is a lump sum that is less than the total amount owed. Each month, a specific amount of money has to be set aside in savings and transferred into different account, which will accumulate to form this lump sum. Ultimately, this can be used to pay the settlement amount that has been decided upon. Debt Negotiators is one of the most prestigious debt collection agencies in Melbourne. This firm also offers help with debt consolidation loans, which is the method of taking a single secured loan to pay off a number of unsecured loans. The interest rate in the former type is lower because an asset such as a property is pledged as collateral. In addition to the lower interest rate, also debt consolidation helps in securing a fixed interest rate as well as in giving the client the convenience of servicing a single loan instead of many loans.