American Financial Solutions

Since 1999, American Financial Solutions has helped over 400,000 people eliminate $8 billion in debt. The company’s debt management and consolidation plans are accredited, as well as its debt counselors.

Additionally, American Financial is accredited by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling.

We recommend checking out the best debt management companies.

AFS also holds accreditation with COA.

After the initial assessment, a certified credit counselor will provide options to help consumers realize their financial goals. Within the list of options, the company offers a debt management plan which will consolidate monthly payments into one affordable monthly installment.

Because American Financial is not a credit consolidation company, clients are not required to take out a debt payoff loan. Instead, the company works directly with each client to uncover the best solution to resolve creditor debt. Tools have been designed to help consumers under the unbearable weight of unsecured debt such as credit cards, department store cards, medical bills, and other unsecured types of debt.

Best Debt Management Companies

When you sign up with one of these companies, you should be able to lower the annual percentage rate on what you owe. American Financial Solutions promises to get you a better rate but does not say how much better.

We would prefer that American Financial be a little more transparent about what rates it can secure for its customers.

It also makes it challenging for us to rank and compare the company to others in the industry.

Having more employees allows a company like Freedom Debt Relief to take on more projects and clients.

American Financial Services is on great terms with its customers.

The company also offers a number of great services at relatively low cost to help consumers manage their debt. One of the big things we didn’t like is that the company is not transparent about what interest rates it can secure for customers or exactly how low the monthly fees can be.

We recommend working with a more transparent debt consolidation company and viewing our top debt consolidation companies.

American Financial Solutions provides actual debt consolidation through provides credit counseling and debt management plans for their customers. American Financial Solutions debt management plans allow customers to consolidate their bills into one monthly payment, while also lowering the overall interest rate on that debt without having to apply for a loan.

For one customer, American Financial Solutions was able to help a customer pay off $123,000 of unsecured consumer debt in four years. American Financial Solutions also offers counseling services for credit, housing, and bankruptcy.

The company offers free financial education classes, which includes eight chapters of educational material on borrowing, investing, and budgeting.

The monthly prices are undisclosed at this time. The up-front fees are undisclosed at this time.

A “get help now” button on their website leads to a form for a free consultation, which can also be obtained through a phone call.

The online form asks for basic personal information, like your name, physical address, e-mail address, and phone number.

There is a comments section in the form where you can put details about how you ended up in your current financial situation, what your financial goals are, and whether or not you are behind in your debts.

Reps also ask for your bank account information, including who the primary owner of the account is and the account’s balance. Information about your monthly payment to your creditors is also required.

After this information is filled out and submitted, you will get a call from one of AFS’s counselors.

AFS is a non-profit organization, and because of this the programs they offer to consumers are not bound by contracts or written agreements. This means you can cancel your plan with AFS at any time.

They offer debt management, credit counseling and debt consolidation services.

Many of their counseling services about debt, foreclosure, buying a home, and bankruptcy are free. Once you have enrolled in AFS’s debt management program, the counselor you work with helps you come up with a month-to-month repayment plan. AFS says that under their plans, you should be completely free of debt within five years or less.

One of the main focuses is on education. They offer free information through a blog, a resource center, and a budgeting template, and even online classes.

Once you register for a class, you will take quizzes and earn a certificate when you finish. The classes are all short (30 minutes to an hour), and they cover basic topics like investing, borrowing, budgeting, understanding credit, working with banks, and avoiding identity theft.

There are a couple special classes for young adults and families who want to help their kids understand budgeting. Aside from the free classes, AFS also offers workshops in western Washington State where people can get together in person to discuss the same topics covered in the online classes.

Another educational resource they offer is found under the “Know Your Rights” section of the website. This section briefly details major laws and policies regarding credit and lending.

It also talks specifically about how these laws and policies affect you, and what you should do if you think you have been wronged under one or more of these laws. Lastly under the education section, AFS has its own little bookstore where you can find reads on retirement, personal finance, debt management, and other topics.

The bookstore also offers books for kids and young adults to help build a good financial foundation.

You have the option to stop participating in the programs without fear of fines or fees, but they do not offer a money-back guarantee.

This means all the payments you make, including the one-time enrollment fee and the monthly service fees, are non-refundable.

The minimum debt they accept is $100 per account, but they also pointed out that in some cases, this figure depends on the creditor.

A representative can help you figure out whether or not you qualify for their programs, based on the amount of debt you are working with.

American Financial Solutions’ counselors are certified by the Association for Financial Counseling and Planning Education. Counselors must complete additional training and education to maintain their certification each year.

AFS is not ISO certified, however, it is certified by the National Foundation of Credit Counseling (NFCC).