SMART CONSUMER CREDIT COUNSELING
Your first credit counseling call, mapped out
Consumer credit counseling means one household, one set of bills, one call. Here's what that first session at our Austin office actually walks through, from what to bring to what you leave with.
Chapter 01
Where the idea comes from
Consumer credit counseling appeared on the scene back in 1951, when the National Foundation for Credit Counseling was founded to give people somewhere to go besides a collection notice. The model has stayed mostly the same since: a private conversation about what's owed, before anything gets decided.
The nonprofit accreditation that grew up around that history, through networks like CCCS, belongs to those specific umbrella organizations. This office isn't part of one of them, and nothing here claims otherwise. What we do carry forward is the format itself: a real conversation instead of a form.
A desk phone and a blank legal pad by a window
What to bring to the first call
You don't need a credit report and you don't need to have made a decision yet. What's useful is your most recent statement for each card or account you're carrying, so the counselor can work from real numbers instead of guesses.
There's no credit check to have this conversation, and owning a home isn't a requirement either. The call is built around what you actually owe, not an application.
Chapter 03
What the call covers
The counselor goes through each balance with you, what it's costing each month, and whether combining everything into one monthly payment is realistic for your income. If it isn't, you'll hear that too. Fees for any program are explained on that same call, so nothing about cost gets left for later.
If a plan does make sense, enrollment happens by phone and email, with paperwork signed electronically. Most people are done in about an hour.
What you leave with
If you enroll, you leave with one monthly payment instead of several, a program that runs month to month with no long-term contract, and no penalty for paying it off early. Every payment shows up on a receipt, from this office and from the creditor it went to.
If you don't enroll, you still leave with a clearer list of what you owe than you had before the call, and that's worth the hour on its own.
DCAT — A+ rated by the Better Business Bureau. Call (512) 501-3955.
Before you dial
What's true about the first call
None of this is a guess about your situation specifically. It's how the call itself works, every time.
- call to start the conversation
1
call to start the conversation
- credit check required
0
credit check required
- typical time to enroll, start to finish
~1 hr
typical time to enroll, start to finish
- fee for paying off early
$0
fee for paying off early
Common questions
What households ask before that first call
If yours isn’t here, ask it on the call itself. That's what it's for.
Ready to see where you actually stand?
Gather your statements and call. Or send a message and a counselor will call you back.