THE START OF IT ALL

Certainty? In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes.
~ Benjamin Franklin

This quote was true then and it is true now; however, I think that it may use, as so many of our things today, an upgrade. In this world nothing is certain but death, taxes and debt. In the Menshealth.com article titled, "Is Your City a Debt Trap?" The writer grades the cities of the USA depending on their indebtedness status, from F to A. This is no surprise, start up credit card consolidation companies and debt management companies are on the rise, ironically so is fraud. Many of these companies do not deliver on their promise, well at least not to the consumer.

The process of debt consolidation and management woks something like this: the consumer contacts the debt management company and explains to them their situation of how much they owe and to whom. The company in turn tells the consumer to stop making minimum payments (if they were making them at all) and to make a one lump sum monthly payment to the debt management company, which will negotiate a resolution for a reduced amount with each of the creditors. Six month later, the consumer is sued by his creditors. The problem is that there is no guarantee that the debt management company will be able to negotiate with the creditor and even though they warn the consumers of the possibility of a lawsuit the consumers are not savvy enough to see that rather than a possibility it is more of a certainty. Meanwhile the debt management company makes its profit and moves on. I do want to say that there are a few consolidation and management companies out there that are very good and legit - do your homework.

By now you must be asking your self for an alternative. Well, there is and was. That alternative is mediation. Mediation is a process in which a neutral third-party is asked to help and negotiate a resolution to a dispute, in this case debt collection. It is proven that by using a non-biased third-party person to manage the negotiation conflict in a confidential and private manner allows both parties to the dispute to find resolution through mutual understanding. To put it simply, the mediator is able to convey each side's point in a more understandable and acceptable way thus resulting in a mutually acceptable agreement.

American Mediation was started in 1993 by Patrick Kienel. Patrick started the company in San Diego, CA, but later moved it to St. Augustine, FL. After I accidentally discovered American Mediation I knew that I had to make it a part of the Right Triangle Mediation arsenal. Ever since the implementation of debt resolution mediation services I have resolved numerous cases and maintained the firms average of 97% success rate. Right Triangle Mediation still performs all other types of mediation services, but the use of the virtual debt mediation and default prevention has given the company what it needed - a true way to help consumers.