debt consolidation loan

Hi bellagiraffe , welcome to the boards many will be glad to help you here and will post an answer for your shortly. Myself I have no CLUE what you are referring to so i will pass this to the others to answer

You will have to make the payments on the loan every month.

When you are ready to the monthly payments, why not consider other options without taking a new loan. When you take a loan, security is to be pledged before the loans are given.

There is no need to pledge anything if you go for a debt consolidation program. Your debts are unsecured, so that can be combined under one payment plan. You will get the same benefits that you want, but under a different debt management program. Talk to a counselor about this.