How do you find a good debt settlement company?
I’m out of options I need to get rid of my debt does anyone know of a good debt settlement company? I’m looking to do a settlement not a consolidation.
Great question R Ross. I’ve been asking this question for over eight years helping consumers solve their debt problems, after learning how to solve my own.
There are a few good responses here, but most are not considering the following facts about your situation from what I can tell:
If you cannot make your minimum payments or are suffering from a legitimate financial hardship, then your credit is already damaged or soon will be.
If you cannot keep up with your current payments, then there is probably not an easy way to cut expenses and increase your income in order to pay even more than the minimums (accelerated pay off plan), although this would be ideal.
Bankruptcy causes much more damage than having late payments or charge-offs on your credit reports as you may already have or would have going through debt settlement.
Many people have moral objection to filing bankruptcy and want to pay off their debts, but simply cannot afford to pay the full balance and all of the (insane amounts of) interest, fees, etc on top of the balances, which continue to grow 24-7-365 until you eliminate the debt.
Very few people qualify for chapter 7 bankruptcy these days since the new laws were passed October 2005 (causing bankruptcy filings to drop 80% the following year). The result has been bankruptcy attorney’s promising relief through bankruptcy only to sell consumers on filing a chapter 13 bankruptcy (repayment plan) which usually has a total of twelve years of major damage to your credit (5 year average repayment period plus seven years on credit after date of discharge). Also, many chapter 13, court-ordered repayment plans cost consumers as much or more than bankruptcy. See this example: http://ezinearticles.com/?Debt-Settlement—How-Nicole,-a-School-Teacher-With-$55k-in-Credit-Card-Debt,-Avoided-Bankruptcy&id=1521598
Yes, there are MANY shady companies offering debt settlement these days, to say the least. Which is why I relate to your question because I have searched and scoured the debt settlement industry for over eight years now to keep on top of the changes and always have trusted, proven debt settlement programs to refer my clients to.
I would strongly recommend ONLY going through a law firm these days for debt settlement.
Here is a wealth of information on debt settlement, including audios and videos on attorney-based debt settlement available to Kansas residents as well as "do it yourself" information and resources:
http://www.debtgotoguy.com/debt-relief-guide/debt-settlement.php
Best wishes becoming debt free!
Debt settlement companies are a joke. First they make you screw up your credit, then they screw it up for you no matter who they are they all screw the credit report up.
I would recommend that you talk to an attorney for a free debt consultation.
References :
Do you have cash to settle with? If you don’t then you should just file bankruptcy because with debt settlement you will make payments for a while to build up money (while not making payments on credit cards) then they will offer your credit card companies less than you owe. If you stop paying your credit cards for a while you won’t need a settlement company because the credit card company will call and offer you a settlement.
References :
There are very few legit debt settlement companies. You can do everything they do and save yourself 15% as their fee. This will allow you to get out of debt faster and get a better settlement than they could offer you. Zipdebt is a program you could take a look at to learn all you need to know about doing it yourself.
References :
http://hubpages.com/hub/Zipdebt
First you need to stop spending money that you don’t have. Please do not consolidate or use a debt reduction company or a debt settlement company . It is not free, they will lower your payments by increasing the length of time until you are debt free, and you will take a hit on your credit score. Or they negotiate your debt down after telling you not to pay for awhile adding another hit to your credit score. Student loans are the only debt that can garnish your wages for non payment without taking you to court first. Just list them out on a piece of paper or a spreadsheet and follow the plan. If you work the plan, the plan will work for you.
A. Have a garage sale and sell anything that you no longer need or want.
B.Get a temporary part time job, if you have one, get another.
Here is a plan that can help you. If you work the plan, the plan will work for you:
1. Make a budget. Make the budget a week before you get paid. A budget is not a punishment! It is a tool which will free you from ever having to worry about money again. Put everything in your budget. Especially those annual, biannual, or quarterly bills like car registration, insurance, etc. Give every dollar you are going to bring home the name of where it is going. Add an "emergency fund" category to your budget for 25 dollars and save up until you have 1000-1250 dollars. Your emergency fund will help keep you from getting into new debt because of an emergency. If you can, set up a direct transfer to a savings account for your emergency fund. That way it moves automatically and you don’t even have to worry about it. You must cut your spending and live on less than you make.
2.First get current on all of you debts and make no more late payments. Stop using your credit cards immediately. Do not take on any more debt. Credit cards are like quicksand only the death is much slower. Make a list of all of your debts in order of highest interest rate to lowest interest. Use cash only for your spending from now on.
3.Pay the minimum due on all of your debts and then put your extra money towards paying off the highest interest one first. After you get that one paid off, you put the money you were paying on debt #1 (the minimum payment and the extra payment) towards debt #2. That will pay debt #2 off faster. When that is paid off, you put all three payments towards card #3 and that one will be paid off pretty quickly. As an example:
To start :
Debt #1 (highest interest): minimum payment+ extra payment
Debt #2 (middle interest): minimum payment
Debt #3(lowest interest): minimum payment
Debt #1: paid off
Debt #2: minimum payment from Debt #1+ Minimum payment from Debt #2 +extra payment
Debt #3: minimum payment
Debt #1: paid off
Debt #2: paid off
Debt #3:Minimum payment from card #1+ minimum payment from Debt #2+ minimum payment from Debt #3+ extra payment.
That way, you will get them all paid off, on time, and pay the least interest. It will also help towards rebuilding your credit since you will no longer have any late payments. This works no matter how many different debts you may have.
4. After you get all of your debts paid off, add to your emergency fund until you have 6-12 months of income saved up. Put that emergency fund money into a liquid money market fund or into a Bank of America no-risk CD so that if you need the money you can take it out without penalty.
5a. When you have your emergency fund in place, add a category for "fun" to your budget. Save for a holiday, a vacation, a big screen, or dinners out, whatever goal you want. Remember to enjoy your life.
5b. When you have your emergency fund in place, start saving for your retirement. Join the 401(k) plan at work and contribute the maximum. Your employer probably matches at least part of your contribution so why give up free money? Open a Roth IRA and contribute the maximum on a monthly basis. If you start saving for your retirement now, you will probably retire a millionaire.
5c. When you have your emergency fund in place, start saving for your next car. Only buy cars, or other things that depreciate, with cash. Save up for a nicer car. That way you get the interest instead of paying the interest.
You can do it and it isn’t as hard as you think. Just follow the plan.
References :
Here I did some research for you.
http://loancuts.com/2009/09/21/using-settlement-loans-to-prevent-bad-credit/
The article should have links to settlement loans and some info on settlement loans as well.
http://loancuts.com/2009/09/16/your-credit-history-settlement-loans/
The website is non-profit and you should always refer to it before making large choices (like me). Use the search bar on the site to find what you are looking for.
References :
http://loancuts.com
Great question R Ross. I’ve been asking this question for over eight years helping consumers solve their debt problems, after learning how to solve my own.
There are a few good responses here, but most are not considering the following facts about your situation from what I can tell:
If you cannot make your minimum payments or are suffering from a legitimate financial hardship, then your credit is already damaged or soon will be.
If you cannot keep up with your current payments, then there is probably not an easy way to cut expenses and increase your income in order to pay even more than the minimums (accelerated pay off plan), although this would be ideal.
Bankruptcy causes much more damage than having late payments or charge-offs on your credit reports as you may already have or would have going through debt settlement.
Many people have moral objection to filing bankruptcy and want to pay off their debts, but simply cannot afford to pay the full balance and all of the (insane amounts of) interest, fees, etc on top of the balances, which continue to grow 24-7-365 until you eliminate the debt.
Very few people qualify for chapter 7 bankruptcy these days since the new laws were passed October 2005 (causing bankruptcy filings to drop 80% the following year). The result has been bankruptcy attorney’s promising relief through bankruptcy only to sell consumers on filing a chapter 13 bankruptcy (repayment plan) which usually has a total of twelve years of major damage to your credit (5 year average repayment period plus seven years on credit after date of discharge). Also, many chapter 13, court-ordered repayment plans cost consumers as much or more than bankruptcy. See this example: http://ezinearticles.com/?Debt-Settlement—How-Nicole,-a-School-Teacher-With-$55k-in-Credit-Card-Debt,-Avoided-Bankruptcy&id=1521598
Yes, there are MANY shady companies offering debt settlement these days, to say the least. Which is why I relate to your question because I have searched and scoured the debt settlement industry for over eight years now to keep on top of the changes and always have trusted, proven debt settlement programs to refer my clients to.
I would strongly recommend ONLY going through a law firm these days for debt settlement.
Here is a wealth of information on debt settlement, including audios and videos on attorney-based debt settlement available to Kansas residents as well as "do it yourself" information and resources:
http://www.debtgotoguy.com/debt-relief-guide/debt-settlement.php
Best wishes becoming debt free!
References :
Here To Be An Asset To You,
Jesse Niesen
FastTrack Consulting, Inc.
888-928-DEBT (3328)
Visit http://www.DebtGOTOGuy.com to get free instant access to my "Debt Relief Guide" which includes a debt analysis, budgeting guide and "How To Be Debt Free ASAP" educational audios and videos to help you make your best choice!
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