If you are overpowered by the weight of your debts, and are looking for an easy and fast escape you surely came across some options that they claim to be the best and which they require a substantial down payment, then you have met one of many fake companies which have the sole purpose to rip you off.
The ever growing popularity of debt settlement made it a good place of fake companies to flourish.
Even if bankruptcy can't be faked and this risk does not exist if you chose this option, it is not better than debt settlement.
The large number of fake companies online is, I think, the only disadvantage when opt for this alternative to bankruptcy.
Bankruptcy is a legal process in which you declare your inability to pay debt due to bad financial state.
This will take you almost a year and can cause you a bigger hole in your wallet; and you won't be able to fix that hole due to your inability to take loans for a big period which will be an effect to your low credit score.
Even though debt relief options were available in the past, people chose bankruptcy as a way to clear debt.
The large number of bankruptcy filings had a great and bad reaction to the economy, causing the economical recession and leaving many without jobs and money.
Debt settlement is also a legal way and even an ethical one which can help you with your debt by simply clearing half of it and letting you pay the rest at lower interest rates in a separate account.
This is made possible with the help of expert negotiations and by using bankruptcy as threatening tool.
The creditors are quite greedy and will try to take as much as possible from you over time, but if the possibility that they might get nothing appears, they will start to accept certain negotiations that will make the debt affordable.
Debt settlement is also replacing bankruptcy due to the new government regulations which state that more paperwork and higher costs are required to legally declare yourself bankrupt.