This question has been asked recently and we've found it to be very interesting. There are many alternatives offered under the title "debt relief" and there is no particular one that best describes it. Debt relief can be any financial product or process that provides liberation from debt or aid in the process of eliminating it. Let's see which alternatives in the financial industry provide debt relief:

As explained, there is no unique financial product or process that provides debt relief. There are many alternative solutions to debt problems that are more or less efficient according to the nature of the debts involved. Some of the solutions available are: Credit Counseling, Consolidation Loans, Debt Settlement, Money Management and last but not means least: Bankruptcy.

 

Credit Counseling

Credit Counseling is probably the first option that you should consider when seeking debt relief. Credit counseling is advice provided by professionals with expertise in the financial field given to inform consumers about how to responsibly use credit and financial products so as to keep debt at bay and get out of serious debt problems when your repayment capacity is reduced. There are non-profit organizations that will provide this advice for free, but there are others that will charge a small fee.

 

Consolidation Loans

Consolidation loans are a form of debt relief because the money obtained from a consolidation loan is used to repay outstanding debt. What consolidation loans help you obtain is a reduction of your debt exposure by postponing the repayment of your debt and by reducing the amount of money you spend on interests and principal every month. With a consolidation loan you replace expensive debt with a single loan that features lower and affordable monthly payments.

 

Debt Settlement

Debt settlement is a process with which the debtor obtains aid from an agent or professional negotiator that agrees with his creditors new repayment programs, cuts on the particular debts and better terms so as to make debt more affordable and easier to pay off. The process puts the debtor's financial life in order but restricts the ability to obtain finance even with credit cards or personal loan products for a short period of time. Once debt is settled the debtor's credit score will start recovering slowly but uninterruptedly.

 

Money Management

Money management are a series of techniques that are thought to the debtor so as to aid him in effectively manage his income and expenses. These techniques tend to reduce the client's debt exposure and income to debt ratio so as to make payments more affordable but also help him to budget all spending and manage money more efficiently so as to avoid late or missed payments.

 

Bankruptcy

Last (and we should say "least"), bankruptcy is also an option to bring debt relief to your finances. There are two separate processes but the main idea is to resort to a legal debt elimination system where the debtor's assets are sold and the creditors collect their money up to the available limit and almost all debts are then cancelled. If at all possible, a repayment alternative with debt reductions is agreed so creditors can collect a higher amount by offering a longer and affordable repayment plan. Otherwise, they have to agree to receive whatever is available and lose the rest of their credit balance.