Have you seen or heard the ads promising “debt consolidation” to help you get out of debt? Or ads promising to “fix your credit” overnight for a fee?

Many of these programs are scams, out to take advantage of you when you are weak and despairing.

But take heart; there are legitimate places to get help.

While the ‘fix your credit overnight’ just doesn’t exist, there are things you can do that will build your credit back up over time. But you do have to pay your bills to do it.

If you have decided to enlist the aid of a “debt consolidation” service, then what you want is a legitimate non-profit organization that won’t charge you a large up-front fee (scams typically ask for $95 to $200 to do an evaluation of your credit,) or in many cases, won’t charge you a fee at all.

How do you find these organizations?

You can Google “non-profit debt consolidation,” ask your bank, or even ask your church for advice on where to go.

One very good commercial source is LifeLine Debt Solutions and comes highly rated. In some cases the commercial sources can be more effective than the non-profits, if for no other reason than they are able to throw more money into hiring the best people and getting the greatest number of quality resources.

One of the main things to keep in mind is, what is the company’s reputation that you are considering? Do your due diligence and check them out.  Call the Better Business Bureau; Google them and see if there are complaints; and ask them if they are licensed and bonded and if so, can they provide proof? How long have they been in business?  What is their refund policy?  How do they handle complaints?

Above all else, don’t be too quick to give them your personal information, especially if you found them on the web but they don’t have a local address or a toll free number.   Some of the worst scam sites look the most professional, often with pages and pages of information that sounds good but really don’t do much for you.

By being careful and checking out the debt consolidation services thoroughly, you can come up with the help you need to get back on track.

You can also go for “credit counseling” where they don’t consolidate your debt, but instead work with what you already have to figure out the best way to pay your bills and keep from getting into more debt.

I’ll have more on credit counseling later.