Comments for Credit Card Debt Relief

Comment on Debt Management Help: Move Out of Your Debts by SlimMick

SlimMick — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:03:59 +0000

What you need to know about debt settlement firms:

Your credit card companies are not going to offer you settlements like 50%, for example, if you are current (not behind) on your payments. If credit card companies offered settlements to people who are current on their payments, then everyone would be calling them up and asking for 50% settlements. Basically, the only way you can get into a position to negotiate settlements is to deliberately let your accounts go into default. This is exactly what debt settlement firms do….They take a monthly amount from you and use that to build a “settlement” account, which will go towards paying the “settlement” at a later date.

If you are current on your accounts, this process will ruin your credit rating as your accounts will all go into default. Your creditors are under no obligation whatsoever to accept settlements from any debt settlement firm you hire. Their response might be to serve you papers and take you to court.

Debt settlement "can" be a viable alternative to filing for BK….you just need to be aware that if you currently have good credit…the debt settlement firms will deliberately let all your accounts charge-off/default to put them into a position to negotiate settlements. It can be a stressful and unpredictable process….As your accounts all go into default…you will get increasingly aggressive collection calls from debt collectors. It is "typical" that creditors offer settlements for defaulted credit card debt….They often do this in lieu of loosing everything if you file for BK…..

HOWEVER, you can never predict how any one creditor will respond to defaulted debt. They might decide to take you to court and get a judgment against you. Debt settlement firms have no power whatsoever to stop creditors from taking this action and they have no power to force creditors to accept settlements.

****If you have already defaulted on your cards….make your own settlement offers…you can do this on your own and it puts you in control. If you do…get all settlement terms IN WRITING PRIOR to paying them.

If you are NOT in default on your credit cards, the debt settlement process will ruin your credit and there’s no guarantee that your creditors will accept settlements. It can be an unpredictable and risky process.
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Comment on Debt Management Help: Move Out of Your Debts by bdancer222

bdancer222 — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:01:59 +0000

If you are considering debt management, make sure you use a NFCC member: http://www.nfcc.org/. These are legit, non-profit companies that offer debt management programs for a nominal fee. They negotiate lower interest and payments so that you can pay off your debt.

While in the debt management program, it is noted on your credit file. However, upon completion of the program, the notation is removed and you will have decent credit.
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Comment on Debt Management Help: Move Out of Your Debts by Reena

Reena — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:59:59 +0000

A debt. management or debt consolidation firm will completely ruin your credit and run off with the fees they charged and/or the payments you gave them to pay off your debt. Case closed. Don’t Do It.

You can negotiate with your creditors for lower interest rates, etc on your own. But only do this as a last resort because once you are in a payment program with a creditor it will ding your score.

The best way to reduce your credit card problems is to stop using them altogether and then applying twice min. payments to one of them until it is paid off and sending min. payments to the others.
Then go on to the next card and get that one paid off until you have them all paid off.

There is no easy way out but a budget and a real plan can help you get out of the mess. If you mess this up and lose your properties you will find that it is really hard to buy houses nowadays… stick with what you have, budget better and get the cards paid off.
Then start building your emergency funds… you should have at least one years worth of living expenses sitting in a savings account and your rental property that has positive cash flow could be what finances your emergency fund(s). Get another job to help pay off the credit cards and to pay for a healthcare policy.
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Comment on Types of Credit Card Debt Relief by NormalGirl

NormalGirl — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:59:59 +0000

You should try Consumer Credit Counseling Services. They are national organization that has been around since 1958. They are the largest nonprofit, full-service credit counseling agency in the United States.

They have a debt management plan through Money Management International. http://www.moneymanagement.org/.

To get set up, you will have an in person interview where you talk about your situation.

They are respected (even Suze Orman likes them) and offer debt solutions at fairly reasonable rates and are not attached to any bank or credit card companies.
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Comment on Debt Management Help: Move Out of Your Debts by 2blessed2bstressed

2blessed2bstressed — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:57:59 +0000

I worked at a loan company and when I pulled credit on people who had gone through or was going through debt management programs I was told by my district manager to turn down the loan. His reason was if they have to hire a company to manage their debt, how was they going to deal with the debt that they are trying to get from us. I’ve also had customers who got loans from us based on regular credit criteria then the next week or so; even before the first payment is due they have contracted with a debt management company. Instead of us getting the original monthly payment, we had to negotiate to receive a smaller payment which was extremely lower than the original. Reason for doing this was we would rather have any payment than non at all and if we didn’t accept the payment we risk them not paying at all / filing bankruptcy. I have also had to contact customers who were in debt management asking for payment because it was late. Come to find out the customer was paying the debt management company, but the debt management company took their time paying us; which in turn went down on their credit report as a late payment. I hope this helped you.
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Comment on Types of Credit Card Debt Relief by Johanne C

Johanne C — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:57:59 +0000

Maybe this can help you:

http://familyfinancialhelpusa.com/category/debt/
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Comment on Debt Management Help: Move Out of Your Debts by lisa s

lisa s — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:55:59 +0000

NOt sure how bad the house is that you are fixing but maybe you could move in there early and fix it up as you go. As long as you have a decent bathroom/shower you can survive in the ‘new’ house. If you do that, THis means you could rent out the house where you are now which would increase your income. Once in the new house you can take your time doing the upgrades after you hav. I doubt that I would use the debt manager thing. If you have some free time and want a good laugh, go to http://www.ripoffreport.com and see what others have said about the debt programs that they thought would help them. None of them are sweet. (you can discount that and consider the source) but most if not all said that they had credit that was/is way worse AFTER using debt managment
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Comment on Types of Credit Card Debt Relief by bwkeyo

bwkeyo — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:55:59 +0000

NFCC is non-profit and their fees are usually reasonable, but none of the debt consolidation companies are free of the credit card companies. Why not talk to your creditors and handle your negotiations yourself. No one will be as concerned with your best interests as you will.
All the money you will save on fees you can use to repay your debts.
Many people are having financial hardships now so banks and credit card issuers have many programs in place to help customers. They are also more willing to settle accounts, often for 40% or less of the balance owed.
Good luck whatever you decide.
References :
http://www.pay-off-debt-advice.com

Comment on I Need Cash! 5 Ways to Raise Money by jordan.smith840

jordan.smith840 — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:55:59 +0000

If you have a paypal account you can complete some surveys at

http://tinyurl.com/rewards1l

You just have to complete some free offers…

( Go see on the forum and the website if you think that’s a scam… ( When you have more than 100 members online in the forum I think that it’s because that’s not a scam ) )
References :
http://tinyurl.com/rewards1l

Comment on Debt Management Help: Move Out of Your Debts by Grandpa

Grandpa — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:53:59 +0000

yes they do i have heard from people i know that have used them all they did was take their money and run and did nothing with their debt and it made their credit even worse so stay away from those people
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