Independence

The Debt Dispatch is editorially independent. No debt settlement company, lender, credit counseling agency or law firm pays for coverage, reviews our drafts before publication, or has any influence over what we cover or how we cover it. When a piece of writing is paid for, sponsored or part of an affiliate relationship, that disclosure appears at the top of the article in the same typeface as the byline — never in a footnote.

Sourcing

Claims of fact in our articles are tied to primary sources whenever possible — federal and state regulator filings, court dockets, lender rate sheets, BBB complaint logs, peer-reviewed research, and direct statements from companies we cover. Each article ends with a Sources & Further Reading block listing every external source cited.

Statistics that cannot be linked to a primary source are not used. Industry averages and "consumer surveys" published by debt relief companies are not treated as independent data; they are labeled and attributed as marketing material.

News, analysis and opinion

Every article carries a section kicker that identifies what kind of piece it is: Primer for explainer journalism, Reviewsfor evaluative coverage of companies and products, Investigationsfor original reporting with named accountability, Analysis for interpretation of policy or markets, and Survey & Data for reader research. Opinion pieces are labeled as such and bylined by an individual contributor, not the Editorial Board.

Bylines and credentials

Every article carries a named human byline that links to a public contributor profile listing the writer's title, credentials and full bibliography. We do not publish anonymously and we do not use generic "staff" or "desk" bylines.

Where a piece touches on regulated activity — bankruptcy filing, licensed credit counseling, tax treatment of forgiven debt — the bylined writer either holds the relevant credential or the article quotes someone who does, named and on the record.

Reviews methodology

Company reviews use a documented scoring rubric that weights five factors: average percentage settled, fee structure transparency, accreditation status, complaint rate per 1,000 enrolled clients, and dedicated-account structure. The full methodology, including the weights and primary sources, is published alongside each review issue.

Conflicts of interest

Contributors disclose any financial relationship with a company they write about — current or in the prior 24 months — and recuse themselves from coverage where that relationship would create a real or apparent conflict. The Editorial Board reviews disclosures quarterly.

What we are not

The Debt Dispatch publishes journalism. It is not legal advice, not tax advice, not financial advice, and not a substitute for a consultation with a licensed attorney, credit counselor or certified public accountant. Readers acting on information published here do so at their own discretion.

Corrections

Articles in our archive are permanent. We do not silently rewrite published work. When a piece needs to change, the change is logged as a tracked revision at the bottom of the article and aggregated in the public corrections feed. See the corrections policy for the four kinds of revisions we issue and how we decide between them.

Contact

To raise a factual concern, request a correction, or notify us of a conflict of interest, write to the Editorial Board. Substantive concerns are acknowledged within two business days and resolved on the public record.