I think I may have screwed up. I posted here a few months ago. In a nutshell, I have over $50,000 in pers. CC debt and another $20,000 in biz CC (total about 12 cards). My business and income have taken a big hit over the past 6 months and even though I stayed current on all payments, interest rates had been raised thru the roof and a number of accts. closed. In Oct/Nov, I couldnâ??t do it and I stopped paying on all but the biz CC and began receiving the letters, calls, etc. I want to keep my house and be able to eat and was putting what little resources we have (me and husband) toward that. My income right now is enough to squeek by but things are uncertain as they are for many of us, as to what the biz will bring in and what extra money we might be able to make in coming months. I know some would think I should just declare bankruptcy but that isnâ??t in the cards for me right now. Bottom line, I got really nervous about ruining my credit score so I decided to work with a DMP and they were able to lower rates quit a bit and reduce payments by $800 a month. This helps but I am still nervous about being able to keep up even these payments. I want to keep the 2 biz cards open as I need them for biz credit, but the other cards I donâ??t care about. I was told that if I made several consecutive on time payments thru the DMP that the accts would be reaged, thus, I believe saving my credit score (although one card has already been charged off). It is going to take 5-6 years to payoff the debt as long as I am able to keep up with the payments. I am wondering if I should have just kept with the non-payment and instead, tried to settle at some point. I was getting the calls, and had written a few val letters, but was unsure of how to negotiate and afraid of the possibility of a sheriff showing up at the door. I am in TX so wages canâ??t be garnished. We are a homestead exempt state so house should be okay. My husband has little debt in his name and has maintained his credit so that helps. We donâ??t have much in assets right now. Questions: - Any advice? If I had settlements on my credit report (or charge offs), does that look as bad as a bankruptcy? I am assuming these stay on 7 years so credit would be shot during that time. True? - I say â??I think I screwed upâ? because I realize that by paying the cards this month through the DMP I will start the SOL again if I stop paying. But, thatâ??s 2-3 months at most. - Last, I am wondering about the logistics of trying to settle on 10 different accts. If I could get debt reduced by 40% and have 2-3 years to pay, I would be fine. I donâ??t know if this is realistic though. During the time that I was not paying the cards, it was stressful, but sort of a huge relief not to worry about paying them and having any $$ left over for basics. I just want to get beyond this situation. I am thinking that in 5 years time, there are going to be quit a few of us that had our credit go bad in 2008-2009. Wonder how this will be handledâ?¦
