There are Attorney's offices all over the internet offering debt arbitration, "debt settlement" or "debt negotiation".

It is extremely important to understand the difference between these services and DEBT CONSOLIDATION. Debt arbitration is negotiating a LUMP SUM settlement for less than the total amount owed to the creditor. When creditors accept let's say $5000 for a $10,000 debt or 50 cents on the dollar, the $5000 that they let you off the hook on is a tax write off for them which means that YOU end up with an additional $5000 of taxable income for the year. This is often not explained by debt arbitrators until after the fact.

Another fact that is often not disclosed by debt arbitrators is the fact that the account that the creditor gave you a $5000 break on gets reported to the credit bureau's as a PAID CHARGE OFF or R-9 which stays on your report for seven years. Debt arbitration can be the proper strategy in the case of someone who had accounts already charged off and already reported as R-9's. In a case like that negotiating a settlement would make sense and a qualified arbitrator would also negotiate with the creditors to remove the R-9's however, keep in mind that the client would have to be prepared to make LUMP SUM payments to settle the debts.