Few people who are in financial trouble realize that there is hope for debt negotiation with their creditors. However, that is quickly changing because so many credit counseling and debt settlement programs are advertising their services today. The problem is, once people hear of this seeming "light at the end of the tunnel," they don't often stop to think that the service may not be fully accredited or even primarily interested in helping the debtor. The problem is, most creditors aren't willing to enter into debt negotiation until the consumer is far behind on their payments. By then, their credit rating is damaged and it takes serious adjustments to begin the recovery process. A company that encourages you to get behind in your payments if you don't have to doesn't have your best interests at heart. They may end up "advising" you into even greater debt and a worse credit score, when attempting to work with your creditors on your own may have been just as successful, and the fees for a consumer lawyer may have been less than for the debt negotiation service.