Know the Difference Between Debt Counseling and Debt Settlement - Ep.23

Financially Empowering Women

As a nation, Americans owe billions on outstanding credit cards and the average U.S. household with at least one credit card owes over $15,000 in credit-card debt. Many Americans are in trouble as they endure harassment from debt collectors, yet only a fraction of people seek aid from a credit counselor.

Many people confuse credit-counseling agencies with debt-settlement companies, who are often fraudulent organizations who make promises they can’t keep. Credit counselors advise people on how to make better budget and lifestyle decisions and develop a debt-management plan to pay back their creditors. Many counseling sessions are minimal in cost. Meanwhile, debt-settlement companies offer to negotiate with a person's creditors to reduce the amount of debt they own—and they usually charge a very large fee for their services.

These debt-settlement organizations have deterred many people from getting good advice from credit counselors who can be trusted. The National Foundation for Credit Counseling® (NFCC®), founded in 1951, is the nation’s largest and longest-serving non-profit financial counseling organization. The NFCC’s mission is to promote the national agenda for financially responsible behavior, and build capacity for its members to deliver the highest-quality financial education and counseling services.

Regina Poznansky is a Certified Senior Counselor and Trainer with Consumer Credit Counseling Service of New Jersey, Inc. She is also a Certified Housing Counselor. Her background and experience include 10 years of teaching Physical Science, and over 6 years with Beneficial Data Processing Corporation as Assistant Vice President, where her responsibilities included: finance, training, special projects and human resources. In addition, she worked in various corporate consulting positions where her analytical and problem solving skills were utilized.

Her work with Consumer Credit Counseling Services over the past 15 years marries her past experiences and expertise. It includes developing and presenting training programs, financial reviews, referring clients to appropriate resources, credit report reviews and developing partnerships with various non-profit and for-profit organizations.

Regina W. Poznansky

Consumer Credit Counseling Service of New Jersey,lnc.

185 Ridgedale Avenue Cedar Knolls, NJ 07927

Phone [phone]

Fax: [phone]

Web: www.CCCSNJ.org