Debt Settlement

• One way to achieve debt relief is by receiving a partial or total reduction in your debt. Call your creditors and let them know you want to settle the outstanding balances. Sometimes you can reduce the balances by as much as 50 percent. This will lower the monthly payments.
  
  

Debt Management

• Any type of cancellation, rescheduling or reorganization of your debts is debt relief. If you call upon the services of a debt management company it will help you obtain debt relief by contacting your creditors to get a lower monthly payment and lower interest rates. This also stops you from receiving late fees.
  
  

Reschedule

• If you have a mortgage that is past due, sometimes your loan can be restructured. Every so often mortgage companies will take the amount of your loan that is past due and push it to the end of the loan, which increases the term of the loan. This takes the burden off of having to catch up to date.
  
  

Bankruptcy

• If you are insolvent or if your debts or liabilities exceed your assets, you may have to file a petition for bankruptcy protection. This stops all creditors from contacting you and you may not have to repay a portion of your unsecured debt. Any secured debts such as an automobile loan will require the debtor to sign a reaffirmation agreement if he wants to keep the car.
  
  

Refinance

• When you refinance your mortgage to get a lower interest rate this is a form of debt relief. A lower interest rate will give you lower payments especially if you receive a longer repayment term. Over the life of the loan you can pay less in finance charges.
  
  

Consolidate Debts

• Consolidating your debts is also debt relief. A consolidation of your debts can help you lower your monthly payments by paying off high-interest credit cards. This is a form of reorganizing debt. Sometimes your next payment is not due for 30 to 45 days after the consolidation loan is completed. This gives you an additional break.