Glossary
Credit Counselor Terms & Vocabulary
15 essential credit counselor terms with plain-English definitions: the vocabulary you’ll hear in training and on day one.
Key credit counselor vocabulary
These 15 terms come up constantly in credit counselor training, on the job and in interviews. Knowing them helps you follow instructions, document accurately and sound prepared.
- Bankruptcy counseling
- Required pre-filing session.
- Budget
- Plan for income and spending.
- Chapter 13
- Repayment plan bankruptcy.
- Chapter 7
- Liquidation bankruptcy.
- Charge-off
- Debt written off by a lender.
- Collections
- Debt sent to collectors.
- Credit report
- History of borrowing.
- Credit score
- Number rating credit risk.
- Debt management plan
- Agency-arranged repayment plan.
- Debt-to-income ratio
- Debt payments compared to income.
- Emergency fund
- Savings for surprises.
- FCRA
- Fair Credit Reporting Act.
- FDCPA
- Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
- Foreclosure
- Losing a home to the lender.
- HUD
- Housing and Urban Development.
Practice these terms
Test yourself with the free Credit Counselor practice test: it includes vocabulary questions built from this list. For a complete course, see Credit Counselor training.
Browse terms from every career in our career glossary.