A debt consolidation service knows that you are short on cash.
You would not be there otherwise.
They can assume you may have bad or decreasing credit as well.
In fact, most consolidators have probably seen it all and know exactly what situation you are in.
Still, despite the understanding and willingness to go all out and help, the business still needs to make a profit.
They also need to protect themselves from different potential types of liabilities and damages.
For these reasons, it is necessary to qualify for the use of their services.
The most basic requirement will be an asset.
An asset is anything that you own that can be sold for cash.
Specifically, it is something of about the same, or greater, value than the consolidation loan will be.
The lender will require that, should you default on the loan, they will take possession of your agreed upon assets and try to recoup the money that was lost.
This is most often a house, but can also be a car or jewelry depending on the circumstances.
This is done to ensure that the business will not have a total loss on money loaned.
There is such a thing as an unsecured loan, where no assets are required, but these are rare and very hard to get.
Another qualification may be household income.
Companies will not take on a case where the amount of debt in arrears is so great that the time frame for repayment of the loan is unreasonably long.
If you find yourself in a situation like this, bankruptcy or debt settlement may be far better options.
All consolidation services will have this one common requirement, though.
That is a willingness to change the spending habits, and possibly lifestyle choices, that caused the debt to accrue in the first place.
Without the strong desire to change, debt consolidation is simply a brief pause before total bankruptcy.