How to Settle Credit Card Debt
Credit card debt is a reality in millions of households across the country and can often be crippling to their way of life and ability to survive financially. When you are looking for a way to settle your credit card debt in a way that is beneficial to both you and the credit company it can often be difficult to know what to do. Credit card debt consolidation is one of the best ways to deal with this type of debt without all the negative effects you experience when you are barely making the minimums or have defaulted all together.
When it comes time to learn how to settle credit card debts, there are options to suit, and there are ways to get rid of the burden of debt fast. If you’ve ever been one of those who had more payments than they did money, then you’ll understand how important it becomes to relieve that debt. In this article I want to give you four methods to get rid of your debts.
The “credit counselors” don’t settle your debt – they sometimes can get your interest rates reduced (something you can do with one phone call). But, they can’t usually get your balances reduced. The legitimate counselors have a debt management plan where you write one big check to the credit counseling company, then they pay your individual creditors. At least the reputable ones do.
The general consensus of industry professionals and insiders I know tell me overall, “doing-it-yourself,” consumers settle credit card debt on their own for about 75% on average. My close friends who are pros and found themselves in financial hardship recently, have achieved 10% settlements on many of their own personal credit card accounts — but this is only because they were willing to go the extreme distance and knew exactly what they were doing. These folks are the exception.
A legitimate relief company will ask for a fee equal to a certain percentage of what they help you save. In other words, the better job they do in the negotiations, the better they will be paid. It is in their best interest to represent your best interest.
In most cases you can find a professional that will help you with no up front coast at all. You will fill out a little form for free and they can take you from owing a lot of money and getting harassing phone calls to paying off your debt in a short amount of time.
Remember that you always want to settle debt when you can because when you ignore it it will get worse. If you feel like it is a difficult task for you to handle on your own then you should get the free help that you deserve now.
Also, such a company will negotiate in a professional manner. They know the laws perfectly, as well as the loopholes. They can take advantage of their position to obtain you the best deal possible in the given situation. Unless very experienced in the negotiation field, with a good knowledge of financial methods and with good nerves, an average client will not do as good a job like the settlement company will do on his behalf.
The process of settling is not that complicated. After you fall for or five months behind on your credit card payments, your creditors will be anxious to minimize their losses before they have to charge off your account. They would rather take a small percentage of your debt instead of losing the entire amount. You make an offer and they will make a counteroffer and then you make a counteroffer until you both find an agreeable amount you can live with.
Some of these agencies can also help those people who are in dire straits. For people with enormous debts, a number of these will create a specific plan for you to pay down your outstanding balance. Normally, these plans require you to make regular monthly payments to the agency. The agency then will distribute all of the money that they receive from you to your creditors.
So if you’re looking at settling your credit card debt without destroying your credit, then this is the best way. It is better to get this taken care of right now while you have a chance rather than waiting until your credit is in such bad shape that hard to get approved for a loan. So, do know that you do not always have to file bankruptcy on credit card debt because much of it can be erased if you have a large amount that you owe.