Debt Consolidation TV ads

by Paul Staley
Tuesday, 19 August 2008 01:05

Been seeing those TV ads for debt consolidation outfits that promise "You have the right to settle your debt's for...", or something like that. These advertisers seem to be blatantly misleading their audience. Have I missed something? The borrower makes a deal with the lender and promises to repay. There is no automatic "right" to a discount triggered by reaching a certain level of debt. Indeed, these ads make it sound like it's positively awesome to have at least enough debt to trigger this fantastic "right". Maybe it's all in that really, really fine print at the bottom of the ad, which appears and disappears so quickly none of us can actually read it. Don't file bankruptcy, they proclaim. Why? It should be obvious: they aren't (usually) attorneys, aren't providing legal services, and therefore wouldn't be able to separate you from your money.