Regulators with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency began pressuring card issuers to raise minimum monthly payments. The new law for minimum payments went into effect at the end of 2005, and several credit card companies have already doubled their minimum monthly payments from 2% to 4%. If you are a homeowner, you may want to consider a debt consolidation loan through a mortgage refinance or home equity loan (second mortgage) because it will not only reduce your debt, but you also may get a 100% tax deduction on the interest you pay on your loan.

An optimum program for the settlement of debt aims not only at getting the debtor out of his predicament but also keeps him out of the ditch hopefully for the rest of his life. Most debt settlement agencies can do the former, but not all will do the latter. What is the use of helping someone in his settlement to get out of debt, only to return to it a few years later?