Night owls see the commercials more than others. For debt-consolidation companies: the answer to prayers for financial rescue and stability. Many companies are perfectly legitimate and caring, no doubt.
But the reality is, "There are a lot of charlatans out there," as Mark Peterson, the outgoing president and CEO of Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota, told the News Tribune Opinion page last week. His nonprofit's well-known financial counseling service is based in Duluth with a call center here and 30 counselors at the ready.
"Imagine the courage it takes to make that call, to say, 'I need help.' We are eager for folks to make that call," Peterson said while in Duluth on a farewell/hello tour of the state with his replacement, Jodi Harpstead. "We want to be that call instead of the charlatans looking to rip people off."
Credit card debt is an especially relevant issue in the Twin Ports, which tied for third in the nation in terms of the percentage of income its residents owe credit card companies. Equifax, one of three companies that tabulates people's credit ratings, found residents of Duluth, Superior and the Iron Range owe 16.72 percent of their income to credit card companies. Tied with Toledo, Ohio, the Twin Ports trail only Wilmington, N.C., and
Canton-Massillon, Ohio, among 366 metropolitan areas, as the News Tribune has reported.
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Help is available. Legitimate help. Including Community Action Duluth's common-sense money class. And the Lutheran Social Service Financial Counseling Service, where the first call is free; after that, fees are affordably rolled into three- to five-year debt-
elimination plans.
Despite the stigma of indebtedness, some 620 families from Duluth reached out to Lutheran Social Service last year. Those families faced an average of $21,906 in credit card debt and owed a combined $1.97 million.
Our propensity for debt makes the Twin Ports particularly susceptible for scams, unsavory characters -- and charlatans. A simple phone call can begin to ease a financially beleaguered person's burden. As long as they're careful about whom they call.
