Debt Relief Bankruptcy

How does a debt relief program work, and is it a good choose verses bankruptcy?

I went into “consumer credit counseling” and they claim to pay your bills for you. You send one monthly payment to them and they are supposed to mail out your bills. They were sending mine late so i was getting hit with late fees. Also, when I applied for a mortgage to buy a house, I was told that these programs are looked at in the same way as bankruptcy and I had to stop the program in order to be approved for a mortgage. Bankruptcy might not be a better option, but I never noticed any big change in my payments or interest rates with the debt relief program.