This question of credit counseling has come up several times on my coupons. I did it but never had problems with credit rating after doing it. Several people say it messes up your credit. I just checked on line and in your credit rating it does not report if you were in credit counseling. In credit counseling you pay the credit cards etc off. Sometimes there is no interest but most of the time it is a lower interest rate. If you claim bankrucy, you do not pay back the credit cards etc. (correct me if I am wrong) Either way it takes 7 years to clear your credit history. After 5 years (when I had mine paid off) I started getting credit card and other loan inquires. Four years ago we refinance our mortage at 4.8% and 15 years. Then about 2 1/2 years ago we took a second on our house to fix some things in the house (also because the price of homes in our area went up alot) Again we had no problems. I would check into both a make a decision. I was always under the impression that bankrupcy was a last step and should only be done in extreme cases. Both my husband and I have high credit ratings.