1. What is a Debt Consolidation Program?
A Debt Consolidation Program (sometimes known as a debt management plan) allows a person to make a lump sum payment which then gets distributed to your creditors. In exchange for this service, a set-up fee and monthly fee may be charged. The Debt Consolidation Program is not available in all states and is subject to creditor participation.

2. What benefits can Express Consolidation offer?
We encourage you to seek personalized advice from our counselors regarding your individual situation and how a Debt Consolidation Program may be appropriate for you. Depending upon your unique debt situation and your creditors’ acceptance of the Debt Consolidation Program we can help you to pay more the principal of the real debt (as opposed to just the interest) and, therefore, get out of debt in a much shorter period of time than it would currently take by continuing to make minimum payments.

Express Consolidation can help place you in a Debt Consolidation Program that can generally include the following benefits (depending on the creditor and your debt circumstances): reduced interest rates (sometimes to 0%); waived account fees (such as late charges or over limit fees); re-aging of accounts (after you have developed on time payment history in the Debt Consolidation Program with your creditors for three or more consecutive months); and a single, consolidated monthly payment that is generally much lower than the total of what all of your creditors are asking for now.

You need to be aware that if payments to your participating creditors through the Debt Consolidation Program are not made on time, you could lose the progress you’ve made on paying down your debt, or the benefits of being in a Debt Consolidation Program, including lower interest rates and fee waivers, if applicable. Although creditors may have forgiven late payments that you made before you began the Debt Consolidation Program, the creditors may be unwilling or unable to do so if payments are late after you have enrolled in a Debt Consolidation Program.

3. Does Express Consolidation loan me money?
No. We do not ask you to sign up for a loan that may make your current situation even worse. We simply make arrangements with your creditors for payments that you can handle. We also offer all available benefits to help make those payments really cut down the debt.

4. What is the difference between bankruptcy and the Debt Consolidation Program?
Anyone who is considering bankruptcy needs to fully understand the process and the laws surrounding bankruptcy. Questions about bankruptcy should be addressed by a licensed bankruptcy attorney. Depending upon your personal financial situation debt consolidation may be a potential alternative to bankruptcy. It allows you to stay out of court and pay off your debts at a pace you can handle. The two most common options for filing bankruptcy are a chapter 7, and chapter 13. Chapter 7 is known as the liquidation chapter. If you qualify to file under this chapter most of your debt is discharged, but some assets that are not exempt or excludable may be sold to pay your creditors. Chapter 13 involves a plan where you pay certain creditors back over a period of 3-5 years. This is usually the method people choose when they want to keep their home and pay.

Bankruptcy information can be reported up to 10 years. Express Consolidation is not an approved provider of bankruptcy credit counseling and debtor education.

5. What about home equity loans?
Beware! Many companies offer home equity loans to promote what they call debt consolidation. Usually these loans only add to your total debt, in addition to the fact that you can lose your home if you have trouble paying! That will never happen with a Debt Consolidation Program. If you are considering a home equity loan to pay off your debts, think twice. Currently, if you are unable to pay your unsecured debts your home is not at risk. If you receive a home equity loan and are unable to pay, the lender can foreclose and take your home. The safest way to consolidate your unsecured debts is through a service like a Debt Consolidation Program. That way, your home will never be at risk for credit card debt.

6. Can I pay more than my consolidated monthly payment?
Absolutely, the more you send in, the sooner we can help you to become debt free.

7. Will I still receive harassing phone calls?
Once your creditors receive your first payment made through Express Consolidation, generally you should stop receiving collection calls from those creditors. Not all Credit grantors/debt collectors comply with this requirement, and may still call you even after arrangements have been made on your behalf.

8. How does Debt Consolidation affect my credit rating?
Creditors may place a notation on your credit report stating that you are participating in a debt management plan, and some lenders may view such a mark negatively. Although a “credit counseling” notation is a neutral notation for FICO purposes, some creditors may not use this notation and instead use a notation with a negative connotation. Additionally, some lenders may view a credit counseling notation negatively despite the FICO treatment. Therefore, enrolling in a Debt Consolidation Program may have a negative effect on your credit.

You have a right to dispute inaccurate information in your credit report by contacting the credit bureau directly. However, neither you nor a credit repair company or credit repair organization has the right to have accurate, current and verifiable information removed from your credit report. The credit bureau must remove accurate, negative information from your report only if it is over 7 years old. For more information see Consumer Credit File Rights Under State and Federal Law.

Express Consolidation will not and does not provide credit repair to assist a consumer in improving their credit score before, during, or after participating in a Debt Consolidation Program. Under the law you are entitled to one free annual credit report. For more information visit: http://www.annualcreditreport.com

9. How do I get started?
To get started, fill out our "Contact Us" Form. Once complete, your information is submitted over a secure server to our office. We will review your information and contact you within 2 business days. There is no cost and no obligation to call and speak to one of our representatives - either to get additional information, or to inquire how to join the Program.

10. I need more information. How do I reach you?

• You can reach us via e-mail at:
  contactus@expressco.org
• You can write to us at:
  Express Consolidation, Inc.
  413 NE 3rd St.
  Delray Beach, FL 33483