Alright, here's my situation. I'm a new nurse fresh out of college and it took me much longer to find a job than planned. This resulted in me going over my limit on my credit card and now I'm in a huge debt mess. My credit card balance is currently 9,733 which is just about 1,000 over my limit. This makes my minimum payment well over 1,000 which i have not been able to pay off for two payments now, not to mention my interest rate is nearly 25%. I spoke with my bank (5/3) about the hardship program and scheduled payments but they seem to be giving me the run around saying I don't have payments scheduled.. thus I schedule more..all payments end up getting taken out..which I can't afford, etc. I spoke with a company yesterday (new beginnings) and I think this may have been a big mistake..it seemed legit at first but the more I think about it, the more it scares me. They essentially try to settle your debt for you by having you halt your payments and negotiating with your credit card company. Should I exit this agreement, is there a better program out there? Thanks, Lindsey
Yes get out of that program.Go into your bank and talk to the manager and try to get this worked out.If you've been with them awile they should help you.If not there are other banks you can bank with.Why bank with somebody that can't help you out of a tight spot>
Go in and speak to someone? I tried speaking with my local bank on the phone, they simply told me to call the general 800 number, who then sends me to collections, who then tells me I owe them over 1,000 right now. You think going in to the bank and directly speaking to someone will be more productive?
Agree with the previous responder. My only warning suggestion is that you immediately change banks to avoid automatic withdrawals, and possibly pay whatever you can afford with money orders.
should i be looking into some sort of debt management program, or just make below minimum payments and eventually try to catch up?
When i said talk to someone i meant in power not a person who has no power.If you want to look into a plan then make sure you don't get screwed over.
If you don't have any luck talking to someone (I agree that this is the place to start), then call or write (by certified mail, return receipt) to the EXECUTIVE OFFICE of the bank. Explain what happened, that you now have a job but it's going to take a while to catch up. Tell them that you don't want to default on the account, but you need some help to work it out. See if they'll reduce the interest rate, at least for a few months, to give you some breathing room. If you can get another credit card (you may not be able to, given the circumstances), try to get one that you can transfer at least part of the balance to. Then you'll have two cards, but both below the credit limit, hopefully with more manageable payments.
