Does anybody know if participating in a debt counseling/consolidation program lower your credit scores? I've been told to stay away from them by a mortgage guy yet the debt counselor guy swears to his mother's grave that it won't hurt my credit. The debt counselor dude did show me a website that said it won't hurt my credit, yet the other dude showed me a site that says it will. I have no clue about who to believe. Can anybody help?