Debt Counseling and Coaching

There are no charges for a GreenPath debt counseling and coaching session. It is a chance for you to receive free, impartial advice from an experienced, professional credit counselor without a sales pitch.

For your initial debt counseling session, it helps to have your creditor statements and other documents handy, as well as a copy of your credit report. If you don't have one, we can provide one for a nominal cost.

Your counselor will thoroughly assess your household income and expenses, find places for you to save, and develop a customized budget and action plan for achieving your financial goals.  The initial debt counseling session usually lasts 60 to 90 minutes and can be done over the phone or in person, whichever you prefer. 

If you qualify, your counselor will also discuss a debt management program.  Sometimes called debt consolidation, this program consolidates your debt payments into convenient deposits to us.  GreenPath pays your creditors on your behalf and works with them to stop collection calls, lower interest, bring your accounts current and waive late and overlimit fees. 

Frequently asked questions about debt counseling and debt management.

NOTE: Debt consolidation is a term that is often misunderstood. When companies advertise debt consolidation, they want to loan you money — with interest, of course — to consolidate your debts into one loan payment. This approach actually increases the amount of your debt.

At GreenPath, debt consolidation is a strategy for combining all of your creditor payments into one periodic deposit to your debt management program.

Debt settlement is another frequently misunderstood term.  Debt settlement refers to paying a creditor less than the principal balance.  This option is usually only available for charged off unsecured debts and requires you to pay taxes on the amount of principal forgiven.  Debt settlement companies often charge very high fees for something that you can do yourself for free.