Welcome to the website of the IAPDA, North America’s leading training and certification program for individual Debt Settlement Professionals.

 

We have over 2200 IAPDA members, and would love to add you (or your employees) to our ranks of certified debt settlement professionals.


 

Debt settlement / debt arbitration is one of 2010’s top-rated career & business opportunities. And our training and certification program allows you to take full advantage of this by becoming a certified debt settlement professional.

 

 

• Who we are: The International Association of Professional Debt Arbitrators

 

• What we do: Provide online training for individuals to become certified debt settlement specialists. IAPDA membership is granted for lifetime, and all future course upgrades and additional education are included with no further costs – ever!

 

• Who we serve: You – whether you are an individual looking to start your own debt settlement business (one where you can work at home), or you are managing a debt settlement company and would like all of your employees certified, we’re here to help.

 

 

»» Individuals looking to become trained and certified, click here.

 

»» Companies looking to certify multiple people, click here.

 

Or simply read on to learn more about what we do and why you want to be involved.

   

The Debt Settlement industry is growing very rapidly... and it’s time for you to get involved.

 

We all know consumer debt is out of control. Recent changes in Bankruptcy laws have made more difficult for consumers to clear debts, and housing prices are dropping causing a decrease in available cash for consumers. American consumers are over $2.56 Trillion in Debt, mostly with credit card and other unsecured debt. 

 

 

People need help, and those who can help them are poised to succeed – and that’s where we come in.

IAPDA membership is comprised of independent business professionals. Our membership includes individual entrepreneurs who wanted to start their own debt settlement business, and employees of debt settlement firms of all sizes - from small (fewer than 5 staff members) to many of North America's leading and largest Debt Arbitration & Settlement firms. We are the only Certification Program that is focused on Certifying individual Debt Arbitration & Settlement Professionals. Hence, we can serve anyone – from training and certifying one individual to 1,000 (and more). See our Member Links page for firms with individual IAPDA Certified members.
 

Training and Certification are the keys.

 

 IAPDA Certified Debt Specialists are trained using industry standard training programs, and when you complete our program, you can call yourself a Certified Debt Specialist (CDS), which means you are a skilled debt arbitration & debt settlement professional (with the certification to prove it.) Our members are current with the laws pertaining to debt, credit and collection, and are able to represent their client's best interests during sensitive debt negotiations with creditors and collectors. IAPDA members are thoroughly trained and have learned negotiation skills to arbitrate debt settlements with creditors, collectors, and attorneys on behalf of their debtor clients.


Certification can mean so much to you and/or your company. States and provinces are rapidly adopting legislation like the Uniform Debt Management Services Act that will limit who can call themselves (and practice as) debt arbitration and settlement professionals. IAPDA is fully recognized in by states that have adopted the UDMSA, and is on track to be recognized by those states with pending legislation.  


Consumer and Business Debt Arbitration/Negotiation and Settlement is one of North America's fastest growing industries, and is among the Top Rated Career Opportunities of the New Millennium.

 

 

You can start today...

 

You can start right now – click here to join us and start your online training and certification program

 

Our program is fully online, and you can learn at your own pace. Plus, membership is for life – once you are certified, all upgrades and further education are free.

 

 

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Our Featured Question & Answer of the Day For Wednesday

 

Q. How does Debt Settlement hurt my credit?

 

A: How Debt Settlement affects your credit depends on many factors. The primary factor has to do with how your credit rating is now.

 

 If you have perfect credit, or even slow credit, Debt Settlement will derogatorily affect your credit. If however, you already have accounts that are over 4, 5 or 6 months past due, it may not affect your credit any worse than it already is. 

 

When a revolving account becomes past due, typically over 180 days, the account is “written to profit and loss” by the creditor. This is lender lingo for what is also known as a “charged-off account” or “charge-off”. This profit and loss status or charge off status is reported to the 3 credit bureaus. 

 

It doesn’t matter if the “charge off” occurred prior to enrolling into a settlement program or occurs after enrolling into the program, a charge off is a charge off no matter how you cut it.  

 

The delinquent status and subsequent charge status will be reported on your credit file, in either case.  

 

Creditors report monthly payment history using number – it is a little confusing because one credit bureau uses 1 as current and paid as agreed, while another uses 0 as paid as agree.  

 

Depending on the bureau, the numbers used to report account payment history is commonly 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 9. A Charge off is reported on your credit file as a “9” on your credit file.  

 

Over 60, 90, 120, 150 and 180days, charge-offs and written to profit and loss, are all considered derogatory credit remarks and will remain on your credit file for up to 7 years.

 

 If all these next statements are true, then debt settlement may not be the right course for you: 

 

1) Good credit is important to you

 

2) You have the means to pay off your debt in full by making required monthly minimum payments

 

3) You can afford the high interest charges associated with paying off unsecured debt. 

 

While debt settlement will adversely affect your credit score, there are many factors that influence your overall credit. In addition to your credit fico score (a number between 350 and 900) another major factor in determining your credit worthiness is your debt to income ratio. If you are maxed out on your credit lines and your debt to income ratio is out of sight, you are most likely not bankable – therefore, in many cases, even having a great credit score is not as valuable as it may seem. Therefore, you must liquidate your debt in order to get your debt to income ratios in line. Either way, you may have credit problems. So the question might be, how do you want to resolve the problem?