NEWBIE Debt Settlement questions? Bankruptcy out if the question at $1200 right off the top and $4000 total by completion. Debt Settlement Company not interested in using since it would be $2100 to pay them first and I do not feel secure with their method. They get paid first then will settle my debts after 10 months. Starting with smallest first. I have 5 Credit Cards I have already used hardship with the 2 biggest amount cards in the last 5 years. US Bank & Discover If I use hardship with the other 3 will that ruin my chances of a settlement with them? Should I try to settle with Us Bank & Discover? I. C. Sytem, Inc. has called several times and sent me a letter about US Bank. Do I want to call or write any or those I'd like to settle with? What should my first steps be? I want to stop the phone calls from them all! Sorry for all the questions but I really don't know where to begin even after researching this for a month. I just get more confused. At this time all are behind a month, soon to be 2 months and both US Bank and Discover will be nearing 3 months behind. Discover $6,577 US Bank $5,644 Chase $2,301 Bank of America $954 Providian $1,763
NEWBIE Debt Settlement questions? Your writing style leaves a bit to be desired. I assume you start by metnioning costs of filing bankruptcy. You can file bankruptcy yourself, by the way; you don't need an attorney. I wish this site showed the message to which one is replying in a screen above the reply window, because I'm having a hard time remembering all your questions. Guess I should have cut and pasted. As for collection agencies, you're free to write them a letter advising that you will only deal with the original creditor and to stop calling. Presumably you can send validation request letters, though that's just a stall tactic. I believe there are a number of sample settlement letters, etc. on this site. If you don't have any money, I'm not sure what kind of settlement terms you can offer just yet that the creditors would care about. You aren't that far behind. Are you disabled, or is there some long-term reason you can't catch up??
NEWBIE Debt Settlement questions? If I'm reading your post correctly, you're not in collections but you are behind in payment. You don't want to entertain BK or a debt management company [good for you!] See what you have. What are your expenses? Can you cut anything there? You can live without cable and a possible cell phone. Be tough. Cut down to the bare bones and make those bones sparkle. Do you buy exta coffee out? Lunch? Do you have a telephone land line with all the bells and whistles? Go to a plain old line. List your credit cards, highest to lowest balance due, along with the interest rates. See what's due. Balance this right down to the penny. The fact that you may two credit card being repaid on "hardship" status shouldn't impact working with the other three credit card companies. Credit card companies want to be paid and it's in their interest to work with you. You can contact the other three credit card companies on your own and begin by telephoning. Then confirm the details, in writing, to each office that you talk to in regard to your account. If you're overwhelmed by the prospect of dealing with five credit card companies, or you have particular life issues that may make it difficult to deal with them, or you don't think you can achieve a good result -- you can go to a FCRA/FDCPA attorney. Many do debt re-negotiation as part of their practice and you could find one in your area. [www.naca.net] They will not necessarily list that they do debt re-negotiation but you can certainly telephone each one in your state and ask. Generally speaking, an attorney that did re-negotiation would need copies of your current paper CRA reports that are direct by mail from the CRAs, a list of your accounts, with the current APR you're paying, your payment history (could be the last 6 months...) and any letters that you sent/received in regard to the accounts. Depending on your location, the attorney could charge $400 to $600 to review the accounts, and to see what needed to be accomplished. Don't hesitate to ask what they could do for you, and be frank if you're at a point where you may not have any income available now. Credit card debt and medical debt can be negotiated down and they'll need to know just where you stand. If you have questions for the attorney, and think they can achieve the result you want, don't hesitate to write out your questions before the appointment. Go in prepared and you'll be more in control. It's just another option that might be helpful for you. I would agree that you're not that far behind, but it's evident that you're feeling like the entire situation is getting out-of-control. You can rehabilitate your credit but don't procrastinate. There are options available. In fact, consider this: one woman, as part of personal experiment with her SO, decided not to shop for one year. No non-essentials. No lunch out. No Starbucks. No fresh flowers. Just plain living expenses and while it was an adjustment, one of the results from it was that she paid off her $8,000 credit card bill. In one year. And she wrote a book about her experience, too. There's quite a bit out there that's free especially at the local library.
