Debt negotiation is a great debt relief alternative

Posted in Credit, Debt, Finance on June 12th, 2008

Hello my name is John Turtle and I am working with people that are in debt with their unsecured credit card debts for a considerable amount of time and realize the effect it has on people’s lives. When you have credit card debt and believe that the situation is no longer in your hands, you need to make a decision and make it quick. You should not put it off until it is too late. As many of you must already know is that the debt collectors are not co-operative when you contact them with issues regarding you statement. It’s extremely remarkable the way it works because when you first get the card they are the politest people when you are speaking to them on the phone. Then if you contact them to complain about a past due or over limit charge and try to have it waived enough to try and maintain payments with 10% or even the 7.9 % interest that they are charging on your accounts. How are you suppose to cover the new payments now? It was bad enough to manage before the interest was raised. This is the reason U.S. citizens are seeking out other options such as credit card debt settlement vs. credit counseling, or bankruptcy. If you are not familiar with any of your options then I will offer you a little information on them.

Bankruptcy

Prior to 2005 bankruptcy was to be used for families who were having serious financial troubles. Regrettably it was mistreated by far too many consumers who were trying to avoid paying their debts. They did not want to be accountable for their actions. The credit card companies were fed up with this so they petitioned to have the laws changed. It is now referred to as the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection act of 2005. This would make it harder for most debtors to file for bankruptcy. Bankruptcy should only be considered as your last resort option after you have explored every conceivable option. Also you should think of the consequences that might come back later down the road. You would have to hire a lawyer, go to court and that would run you a substantial amount of your hard earned income. There is also the matter of it being on your credit history anywhere from 7 to 10 years. When you are signing any important application or document you by law have to answer yes when asked the question about bankruptcy, so this does have a long lasting effect on your credit.

Consumer Credit Counseling

Everywhere you look, either it is advertised on the radio or television, you will hear about consumer credit counseling. A credit counseling organization will try to get the credit card companies to reduce the interest on your credit cards. You then make one monthly payment to the consumer credit counseling organization and they then pay each one of your creditors for you. The downside to this choice is even though they reduce the interest on your credit card balances you might still pay back as much as 135% of what you actually owe.

This is because on this kind of plan you will still be paying back what the full original balance was plus some of the interest for around possibly five years or more. Almost 50% of the debtors that are in these programs don’t finish the program for missing as much as one payment. Another draw back to credit counseling is that if you have a income problem and are short on your monthly payment they will kick you out of the program at once. They will also increase your interest back up and the creditor could keep you off the program for around one year and sometimes even longer. This will put you right back to where you started from, if not in a tougher situation.

Credit Card Debt Negotiation (also known as debt settlement)

This is the avenue which can save you the largest amount of money. A reputable debt settlement company will save you at least 40% of what you are said to have to payback. The 40% should include all of their fees. The same with consumer credit counseling, you will hear a lot of TV and radio advertisements very frequently. These companies are opening up all over America. Some of these companies try to make it seem like they have a magical button and are going to make all your debt disappear out of nowhere.

There are even many companies that try to use religion to attain the trust of consumers. No matter what organization you are speaking to it is your responsibility to do research on them. You can always start with the BBB (Better Business bureau). You will be able to discover a lot about a company from the BBB. If you realize that a company has only been in operating for a little while and has a slew of complaints against them, then you must avoid them. One more thing to look for is how long has the company been around. Some companies only survive a couple of years before they get shut down or get caught ripping people off. Then some of them only stay around to make as much as possible and close shop just to open up a few miles awaywith a different name] and will continue to do this over and over.

You need to feel confident with the person you are dealing with as well as the debt settlement organization. If they are extremely pushy and trying to get you to sign a contract within the first few minutes of the conversation you need to watch out. This is not a financial decision you want to jump into head first. Really, how can a company be sure they can help you out without going over your situation first? There are far too many companies out there that only tell you all the positive things about debt settlement. They tell you not to worry about a thing. This is a extremely simple process and nothing bad will ever happen to you. That is a crock of you know what. It is not a extremely simple process and it is not right for every consumer. Some debtors still get duped by them because that company sugar coated everything and did not offer them full disclosure. For a lot of consumers debt settlement can really get you back on your feet and out of debt in three years or less, while saving you thousands of dollars off what you owe.

One more aspect to consider is a majority companies make all their money within the first year and a half of the the program. Now I will ask you this question, what incentive will that company have to negotiate the best possible deal on your behalf if they know that they are not going to make any more money off of you? There is none! So you see, if an organization knows that why would they keep working on trying to get you a better settlement. This happens all the time. They really could care less at that point. They take whatever your collectors’ offer, in turn meaning you pay more You need to seek out a company that earns its money the old fashion way, by earning it. Make sure they answer all your debt settlement inquries. I hope this has given you a good understanding of the various options you have to becoming debt free. Thanks and have a good [night.

John Turtle is a debt analyst and research assistant with the US Consumer Advocate, which primarily practices in credit card debt relief.