What Kind Of Solutions Are Available To Me?

Get In Touch With Your Creditors
By contacting your creditors you may be able to adjust the interest rate you are paying or have the payments lowered.

Debt Consolidation Loan
You may wish to speak to a loans officer at a financial institution to combine all of your debts into one loan. The bank will give you sufficient money to pay all of your debts and then each month you will make a payment to the loan until the balance is paid off.

Orderly Payment Of Debt Program
You may wish to contact Credit Counselling Services of Alberta (CCSA) to arrange for a "Consolidation Order". The general scheme is to make one payment to CCSA and they in turn will distribute the funds to your creditors. You are also protected from wage garnishees and creditors calling to harass you. The interest rate is lower than most banks and you keep all of your assets. The time line for completing your orderly payment of debt program cannot exceed four years. (In special circumstances this time can be increased)

Consumer Proposals
The Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act provides for individuals to offer their creditors a settlement or Proposal. As an alternative to bankruptcy, you may ask the creditors to reduce the amounts owing to them or request more time to pay the amounts due. Read more about Proposals in the section entitled CONSUMER PROPOSALS INFORMATION.

Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal process which provides you with protection from your creditors and immediate relief from most legal actions. It is intended to provide you, the honest debtor, with the ability to start over by eliminating most, if not all, of your debts. It should also be considered as a last resort if none of the other above listed options is available to you. See more about Bankruptcies in the section entitled BANKRUPTCY INFORMATION.