There are so many folks in debt in the United States that some debt relief companies have been taking advantage of people. This is why the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) has stepped in to make new rules and guidelines for the way they operate.

One of the problems with SOME debt settlement companies is that they have been known to prey upon the very people they claim to be helping. Charging fees at every step, some customers never get results and end up owing all sorts of fees. These customers are the same ones that are having debt problems in the first place and they end up owing more than they started with!

But things are now going to change because beginning on October 27 2010, any company that is in the business of selling debt relief services over the phone cannot charge any fees before they actually do what they promise: settle or reduce the debt of the customer. You can read more about it here at the FTC website.

The bottom line is that no debt settlement company can guarantee you that they can settle your debt or lessen it. No company can make a guarantee to you that they can get you debt relief grants or any other kind of grants they may be promising. They can try to help you, but there is no way they can be 100% sure that they will be successful.

The new regulations make sure that you won’t be charged ahead of time for promises made that may or may not be able to be fulfilled. It covers companies that engage in credit counseling, debt negotiation, and debt relief. Non-profit companies are exempt.

BEWARE OF THIS FALSE ADVERTISING

On a side note, beware of advertisements online that are made to look like newspaper reports but are not. They look like real news sites on the Internet but everything is fake including the reporter, the weather reports, the pictures, and the comments. You can see an example here.

These are called “advertorials” and they are just advertisements that are made to look like real news stories so that you will think they are legitimate. But they are not legitimate and that should tell you to avoid what they are selling as well. They can be trying to get you to buy Obama debt relief services, work from home kits, and even Acai berries for weight loss.

To protect consumers, the FTC has just come out with some new rules that will be put into effect on October 27, 2010. The FTC believes that some debt relief companies are a bit less than honest when they charge people up front for services and promises that they might not be able to deliver on. This new ruling will be there to protect people from those advance fees and false promises.

Although there is nothing officially called “Obama debt relief”, the FTC is trying to help the many people who are already deep in debt and looking for debt reduction, debt counseling, and debt consolidation. These are the people that already have nothing and some companies are trying to lure them in with promises of being able to reduce much of their credit card debt and then not delivering on that promise. However, if you have already paid, it is near impossible to get your money back.

The new ruling will not allow any upfront fees or payments and you can only be charged AFTER they have successfully provided their service to you. These rules apply to for-profit debt relief companies and not to ones that are non profit and you can read about it here: FTC ruling.

People are in all sorts of financial trouble right now with credit card debt, foreclosures, loss of jobs, school debt, and little hope for the immediate future. They are looking for Obama stimulus grants, Obama back to school grants, and any other kind of Obama grants they can find.

At least now they won’t have to worry about being taken to the cleaners by any company that makes debt relief promises that seem too good to be true.

The country is mired in debt and people are having an increasing difficulty in paying it off. This has both been a symptom and cause of the horrible economic situation that stands before us. Credit card companies, needing more money too, have resorted to adding all sorts of fees and charges as well as changing the contracts and interest rates of their cardholders.

One way credit card issuers make money, besides the extremely high interest rates they charge, are to assess penalties on late payments and to raise rates on those that are delinquent. The way things have been is that those folks who have problems paying are most likely just going to get into more trouble as they get slammed with other fees and charges levied on them by their card companies. So, it is clear that some Obama debt relief is needed but is that what we are getting?

The Obama credit card debt relief reform has halfway kicked in now in an attempt to give people a fighting chance against their creditors. Starting in August 2009, some changes were made that will make things a bit better for consumers. Additional measures will also begin in February 2010 that will lay down a few more new rules. The question is though, are these new reforms really enough?

Right now, instead of the 30 day notice credit card issuers had to give before they changed your contract and raised your rates, they now have to give you 45 days notice with these new laws that just started. If you don’t want to sign a new contract with a higher interest rate you don’t have to and you will automatically have 5 years to pay off your balance at your old rate. If you refuse to sign the new contract though, you will have your credit card terminated.

Another new thing that has gone into effect with Obama’s credit card debt relief program is that you will be getting your bill sooner than you did before. Creditors must put their bills in the mail 21 days before the due date instead of the old 14 days and this will give consumers more time to get their payments in on time. Hopefully this will cut down on those late payments and those extra charges that credit card companies love to hand out.

Starting in February of 2010 there will be even more rules that the credit card companies have to comply with. No longer will they be permitted to raise interest rates on existing balances of their customers unless it is an account that is more than 60 days late paying or it is specifically written into the contract. This is beneficial to the masses out there who are concerned that their credit card issuers might raise their interest on the balances they have outstanding which would be devastating to some.

So, those are some of the changes that have and will result from the new Obama credit card relief reforms that have been pushed through Congress. There is no doubt that they will help some, but are these measures really enough and do they address the real problem? It seems the real problem is the outrageously high interest rates these credit card companies are charging.

While we the regular people are getting bank CD and Treasury bill interest rates of 1% to 3%, these credit companies are charging anywhere from 18% to 30%. It is almost like a license to steal and the people it hurts the most is the poor people who have no money to begin with! It is a difficult situation because it is rarely a good idea to have government regulation and the free market should always prevail. But if you really want to get to the root of many people’s problems, it is these high interest rates that are driving them to bankruptcy.

Obama’s credit card debt relief measures seem to skirt around the real issue of these high rates that would make many loan sharks happy. All the creditors are going to do with these regulations now are to change their contracts so that anything going forward will specifically lay out that rates can be changed. It seems like this new legislation is meant in the right spirit but like most things the government does, it doesn’t fix the problem. The people who really are in trouble will remain in trouble and they will continue to search for anyway out including Obama stimulus grants. At least that’s my take on the subject.

People are obviously in a world of hurt right now and many are looking for stimulus debt relief and any other kind of financial aid. With jobs being lost, the value of homes going down, and the stock market performing so poorly, people who are in debt are in more trouble than ever before. Debt collectors are being especially annoying right now as everyone needs money, including the companies people owe debt to.

Unfortunately there is nothing like government debt relief grants from Obama but there are places you can go to get debt help. Debt Negotiator matches consumers who have $10,000 or more of credit card debt, with counselors who will help them resolve their debt.

1) They will help you legally reduce your credit card debt and other kinds of debt.
2) They will help you reduce the amount of your monthly payments.

Debt Negotiator is a step you can take to learn more about what you need to do to reduce your debt and start turning your ship around. But if you are looking for free money and free debt relief, you should know that it does not exist.

Obama debt relief grants from the government are a fantasy because they just don’t exist. Some people might be looking for them because they have heard of the stimulus bill and all the money that is being thrown around by the goverment. That money is mostly going to companies and local governments and it is NOT going to individuals.