www.smart-debt-solutions.com – If you’ve been through a financially rough time in the last year or two you aren’t alone. With the bursting of the housing market bubble in the United States and the subsequent domino topple of the credit market and insurance companies that underwrote those credit vendors, life took an unexpectedly ugly turn for many Americans. While your financial health might appear in disarray at the moment, you needn’t despair. As bad as things might look from where you are, debt settlement programs are a possible option for you if you have serious concerns about your liquidity. A debt settlement program is a way of negotiating a debt settlement in which the creditors (lending agencies) in consonance with you (the borrower) agree on reducing the amount owed and regard the reduced balance as a full payment of the debt. It may seem counter-intuitive for lenders to do that, but by debt settlement they at least assure a partial recovery of the loan, as opposed to losing all the money in case that the debtors file for Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy. There are many debt settlement programs around in the market — both free and paid for. But before you consider them, it is well advised to keep a few things in mind. Here are some common pitfalls to avoid 1. Talk to your creditor: Before getting into a debt settlement program, see if you are eligible for it. If you owe a debt with attached security (like a house or a car), there is barely any sense in getting …