I Just dealt with the Capital One Lawyers. They were absolutely rude and bossy. Until I called back and plead with them, I explained that there last withdrawal (that they did not warn me about) made my rent check bounce and what oh what could I do to make this right? After a few minutes of heartfelt groveling the guy put me on hold and came back with a new offer. My card had already defaulted so I was hosed anyways, but now I can make my payments and have food. good luck, my credit is so bad, myfico stays away from it....
@Anonymous wrote:Hi savvyguy! Welcome to the FICO forums. I'm sorry that you've joined us under trying circumstances, but I'm glad that you found us all the same.
@Anonymous wrote:Well I'm not sure that is worth it because by then you get hit with fees etc for being late/over limit.
Does anyone truly have any luck with creditors lowering the payments? I've got several low cards I'm tempted to just forget about like Capital One, Credit One, etc but I also have NFCU which I would hate to **bleep** over because they were the first to give me credit after I got my credit cleaned up.
I just don't see any other options. I've been juggling/struggling for months now and to make ends meet last month and avoid my electric being cut off I had to take out a loan from one of those loan shark type places which is making my financial situation even worse.
I don't have to tell you that you should avoid default like the plague. If, at all possible. Unfortunately, you won't be able to just forget about any credit card that you stop paying. A short walk through our Rebuilding forum will reveal the ugly truth that Capital One (for example) will almost always sue you before the SOL expires. You'll end up paying more than you owe now. You could be sued, and garnished.
But, I understand your situation. Have you read the FTCs Knee Deep in Debt? That's a good starting place for researching your options. Like Creditaddict already mentioned, it doesn't seem that lenders are willing to work with you until you're already missing payments. But, that shouldn't stop you from trying, and trying again... and again, if need be. Also, have you talked to NFCU about the possibility of a consolidation loan? <-- Not something to consider lightly, and you'll need to have the discipline not to accumulate balances that you can't PIF, along with your monly installment payment if this is feasible.
You mentinoned in your first post that you've cut out everything that you could, but I'd strongly suggest that you have another look, and cut deeper if there's any possible way. Is a 2nd or 3rd job a possibility? You're a homeowner, have you considered taking in a renter... or, moving out of your home, renting it out, and finding less expensive housing? Is there anything you can sell?
ETA: I was typing while you were posting, so I see that you've already made deep cuts in your budget & considered the cost of renting vs. staying in your home.
@csgardnerr11 wrote:you say you took a hardship out several years ago... not sure about your plan but as long as you have the funds available you should be able to take a hardship.. check into that .... i know of people that have taken out more than one hardship over a period of years/ months if the funds are available.
IMO with the situation at hand, a bankruptcy may be eminent. It does not make sense to take money from a 401k (which is a bankruptcy safe-haven) to dump into debts that can be discharged.
Current Score: Eq: 823 Tu: 830@asavvyguy wrote:Yes you are being helpful. I've tried in the past with them and they said they can't re-fi just to lower my monthly payment.
I'm not too hopeful because they declined me to increase my LOC by $500.
I haven't read all 7 pages yet, so this may have already been said, but I would recommend telling them your situation and let them know that you don't know how long you will be able to keep up with the payments. I say this because I bank with Schools First FCU in OC, CA and they told me the exact same thing. I wanted to refi for a lower payment and/or lower interest and they told me it wasn't an option. Shortly after, I called to see about cashing out my IRA to pay off my car and the lady told me that they offer a hardship refi and asked if I was interested. I wasn't sure and decided to think about it but when I called back they told me it wasn't an option. Anyway, long story short, it was a totally different answer when I told them I couldn't afford the payment anymore. They asked a few questions about what had changed and approved me right away.. I extended the payments for an additional year, reduced my apr by 5%, and reduced my monthly payments by $150 a month!!!
Btw, I'm totally jealous of your inexpensive mortgage. My rent for a 2/2 is $1560 and that's cheap where I live. 