“Dear Steve,
I recently took a pay cut, however I am more happy with my job. I also no longer have a roommate so I’m looking to combine all my outstanding debt into one lump sum in order to save me money.
I need to consolidate my credit card debt and am wondering what are my best options? I do have a bankruptcy on my credit report, however this was over 5 years ago and my credit score is good (698 -705). Nothing else is negative on my report. I however recently applied for an unsecured loan (b/c I do not have enough equity in my home to refinance or cash out) and was denied because of my debt to income ratio, number of revolving credit lines and recent borrowings and/or pyramiding of indebtedness.
I do not want to apply for another loan risking another inquiry on my credit report unless I know I have a good chance of actually obtaining a consolidation loan. Any advice you could give me would be greatly apprecited. This is the only option I can think of to help reduce my monthly payments.
Amie”
Dear Amie,
Awesome debt consolidation options may be limited. The most likely would be a debt consolidation loan through a peer-to-peer lending network like LendingClub.com or Prosper.com. These loans are not made by banks, but by people like you and me. However, you will still face some eligibility requirements and while your credit score isn’t horrible, it’s not wonderful either.
You should take a look at my How to Get Out of Debt Calculator and review the pros and cons for different options that may be available to you.
If you do decide the peer-to-peer debt consolidation route makes sense to you I would strongly suggest that you get a copy of your consolidated credit report and review it to make sure there are not incorrect items being reported about you which may bring your score down needlessly. If you find an error, the instructions for dealing with it will be found on the consolidated credit report. You can deal with that before you apply.
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