CredAbility, ClearPoint Credit Counseling Announce Merger

""CredAbility"":http://www.credability.org/en/homepage.aspx and ""ClearPoint Credit Counseling Solutions"":http://www.clearpointcreditcounselingsolutions.org/ announced Tuesday that they have agreed to merge the two organizations effective December 31, 2013.

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The name of the new organization will be ClearPoint Credit Counseling Solutions and its headquarters will be in Atlanta. Chris Honenberger, CEO of ClearPoint, will be the CEO of the newly combined organization. Phil Baldwin, CEO of CredAbility, will become president. The board of directors will consist of 30 directors, 15 from each organization.

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The merger will create the second largest nonprofit credit counseling organization in the nation with 50 offices in 15 states. The new organization will have more than 150 credit, housing, and bankruptcy counselors and financial educators. It will also have one of the nation's largest Spanish-speaking staffs of counselors.

""By combining our strengths - ClearPoint's credit card repayment plans with CredAbility's housing and bankruptcy counseling - we have created a stronger, more robust full-service counseling and education organization,"" Honenberger said. ""In addition, with more people seeking financial counseling and education online and by phone, the combination also allows us to invest in new technology more efficiently.""

""This merger provides us with the financial resources to grow, which will help millions of low- and moderate-income households across the nation,"" Baldwin said. ""In addition to helping people in financial distress, we now have the resources to provide people with new services that will help them build financial security.""