Think of all the people who enjoyed the days of cheap credit prior to the Great Recession. Credit cards were coming in the mail without you having to even apply. Credit lines of $5,000 would arrive daily. Sometimes they were as high as $10,000. It was near impossible to turn them down. Banks expanded and offered you credit from all over the United States.People were taking out mortgages that they were not qualified for to purchase homes that were more expensive than they were worth. Some people resisted these temptations, maintaining their credit ratings, only to be laid off through no fault of their own. Are you one of the people who know finds themselves crushed under a mountain of debt? Have you done all your research and have decided that you need a consolidation loan to help your bad credit?Consolidation loans for bad debt sounds simple. Pay off multiple high interest debt by securing a consolidation loan. One loan to pay off instead of all the others. Lower interest rates than your once unsolicited credit cards charge.Do you know what services or products exist that you can take advantage of in order to help your bad credit improve? You need to do your homework because there are choices out there. Not all choices are correct for everyone. You need to research the options and find the one that fits you best.A big business has sprung up around debt consolidation. Credit card delinquency is close to 6.5 percent. Prior to the Great Recession, credit card delinquency ran at 3.97 percent. Residential mortgage delinquency has risen from 1.38 percent to 7.91 percent. When new markets open up, especially markets serviced primarily on the internet, scammers come out to prey on the people who are unwary victims.Another industry that is feeding off of the bad debt of others is the payday loan industry. They seem reasonable; after all they offer quick cash for emergencies. However they should never be used to repay other debt. Payday loans can charge you up to 500 percent interest for those 14 days.There are companies that will help you consolidate your debt. But they can charge fees that you will have to pay in advance. Be aware that it is against the law for a company to promise a loan in exchange for an upfront fee. They must give you the loan before assessing the fees. The fees should be deducted from the loan advance.One of the great advantages of an online loan company is that not only can you receive their response within a few hours; you can also get the money at the same time as the approval. It generally will be directly deposited into your designated bank account. This will save you energy, time as well as money. An online loan application is usually simpler than the application you would fill out with a traditional lender.A legitimate lender will never make promises or guarantees of loan application acceptance. They will always go through a loan application process. This is especially true for people who have bad credit.Be wary of identification theft. Never, ever give out personal information to any company without being certain that they are reputable. If you do not do your homework, you could be giving your Social Security number, bank account information, credit card information and other personal information to a scammer.Always do the math when it comes to interest rates. Make sure that any consolidation loan for bad debt you obtain actually has a lower interest rate than the debt you are paying off. Read the loan agreement so you are aware of what conditions will trigger higher payments.