Who needs credit counseling?

Obviously, all these outfits are finding plenty of eager customers. Americans' debt loads have been running at record levels, and bankruptcies are high.

It's hard to get an accurate bead on how many people signed up for debt repayment plans through credit-counseling services. Of those in debt repayment plans, said Lydia Sermons-Ward, spokeswoman for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, about half were expected to successfully complete their plans. The other half were expected to drop out, with some of those filing for bankruptcy.

Typically, counseling services negotiate lower payments with credit-card companies and other lenders, then make the payments using a check or electronic funds transfer sent to them by the consumer each month.

Most of the counseling services' fees are paid by the lenders themselves, which send back to the services a portion of the payments received. This has led some critics to charge that credit counseling is just a tool of the lending industry.

The payment system, known as "fair share," has certainly encouraged the growth of credit counseling services. And some agencies, driven by competition, are now openly courting consumers who haven't fallen behind on their debts by promising lower interest rates. This development has angered credit-card companies and often hurts consumers, who may find out too late that such plans can hurt their credit ratings and are often unnecessary.