If you are a consumer who has more than your fair share of debt, it may be beneficial to seek out the help of a debt negotiation service to help you develop an action plan and get back on track. However, before you make a decision, it is important to understand the differences between the various services that are available to help consumers get out of debt. Non-profit credit counseling services are a type of charitable organization that exist solely to provide advice to cash-strapped consumers. Although they may charge a nominal fee for their services, these fees are typically small. Additionally, credit-counseling services do not seek to eliminate your debt through settlements; rather, they may contact your creditors to try to reduce interest rates, push back due dates, and decrease minimum payments. Debt settlement companies, on the other hand, are typically for-profit entities that seek to reduce the amount that you owe on your unsecured credit accounts by negotiating with creditors. However, critics have called the effectiveness of these firms into question, and the industry remains mired in controversy.