It's not often that I get a question from a reader that I haven't heard before. The email I received this morning was a real first:

Hi Emily. A friend of mine recently told me something bizarre that she was told by a credit counselor.  He told her that when she made her monthly payments to her accounts, she should write "Apply to Principal Only" on the check.  Is this legal and and correct? If so, what happens to the finance charges that are due? I greatly appreciate your time and response on this matter.

Absolutely not true. Creditors and lenders will not pay any attention to what you write on your check's memo line. They will apply your payment toward the blend of interest and principal set for your debt at that specific time.

Imagine if you wrote "paid in full" on your check. Do you think that the lender would accept your $200 payment to pay off a $2,000 debt just because you wrote it down? Writing a note on your check is meaningless.

This is a good example of why you need to be so careful when working with credit counselors. Remember, these counselors often have little to no training and usually not one whit of experience in the credit industry.

Working with a counselor to come up with a budget or a debt management plan makes sense. But please take their credit advice with a grain of salt. If you have a credit or personal finance question, feel free to email our team of experts for a straight answer.

Emily Davidson – Credit.com's Communication Director and former TransUnion credit expert. Emily writes about credit reports, credit cards, loans and personal finance as the CreditBloggers.com moderator.