People often refer to debt consolidation and loan consolidation in one breathes without realizing that these two are completely different things. A debt consolidation is the process of consolidating several debts into one and the payment would thereafter be only one premium per month.  

Debt consolidation loan offered by various consolidation agencies is different. If you are not careful, they may end up as mere bill consolidation resulting in a second mortgage for you. Your home or such collateral will have a second loan burden with interest on it and you will end up paying not one but two monthly premiums, one for the consolidated multiple loans you had outstanding against you earlier and another for the new loan obtained. The process neither reduces your loan burden nor your problems of multiple payments. 

Since in such offers the second mortgage is often your home, you run the serious risk of losing it in case of your inability to pay the dues either in time or as per the terms and conditions. Getting debt help in such cases does not help you much. If you take a look on the long run, you may find yourself ending on the receiving end. The worst part of it is that such debt consolidation loan may carry you to a point where you may not qualify for any further loans.