If you have spent any time watching daytime or late-night television in recent years, you have probably encountered one of the hundreds of advertisements for debt reduction agencies. Also known as debt settlement companies, these firms often offer viewers a slew of too-good-to-be-true claims and promises about fast and easy debt reduction, credit repair, and cost savings. Although these claims have proven to be irresistible to the thousands of well-meaning American consumers who have entered into contracts with debt reduction agencies, the promises often prove to be more fact than fiction. In fact, across the United States, a number of state attorney generals' offices have initiated investigations into the veracity and accuracy of the claims made by the advertisements for debt reduction agencies, and the Federal Trade Commission and several other federal agencies have recently followed suit. Although debt settlement may be beneficial for some debt-ridden consumers, most would probably be better served by undertaking the negotiation process on their own behalf.