Deep in Debt: Considering Debt Settlement Agencies

[Oyiwaa]

Thanks very much for your help - the arguments were interesting, and left me a bit confused.  But at the any rate, you summarized your bottom line very well. 

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@FireMedic1 wrote:

@Oyiwaa. Since there is a home invovled then it becomes a little more complicated if you decide to go the BK route. With the stats the you provided.

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One question though:  what is it about having a home/mortgage that makes the situation complicated?   Is it the the fact that mortgages cannot be included in the Bankruptcy proceedings?  or the argument that if one can afford the mortgage then one should be able to afford other debts?

Thanks, Oy

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[RehabbingANDBlabbing]

The home mortgage complicates your situation because it could change the viability of bankruptcy. You could be one of those people that should do a chapter 13 bankruptcy. That type of bankruptcy allows you to keep your home and make payments on it through the bankruptcy. Not only that, but the payment is included in your bankruptcy payment plan, which means that you may end up with substantial amounts of your unsecured debt being forgiven. In addition, there is a possibility of an auto loan “cram down.” If you are paying $700 a month on your car loan, chances are you are upside down in the car. The cram down allows you to just pay back what the car is worth to the lender and keep the car. At any rate, you definitely need to speak with a bankruptcy attorney about this. It could be an excellent option for you, but they will have to provide you with the exact numbers for your situation and go over the details before you could decide if it’s the right path.

[Anonymous]

I can relate to this. Back in Oct I was over $60k in CC debt. I called 2 BK attorneys and set up appointments. I was at almost 23% in APR average on about 10 accounts. A friend ask me to transfer my debt on his credit to I can take advantage of the 0% BT and I declined since I couldn’t do that to him. Instead, I called my creditors and surprisingly 3 had 0% BT offers on my card, so I was added to his cards as an AU and once they got in, we transfers about $40k to his credit and back to mine. Cost me about 4% to do it but I reset nearly all my cards to 0%, my highest was NFCU at 1.99%. I had a remaining $7k left and I agreed to leave that one one of his cards with the condition that I pay it off in 7 months ($1k month).

I transfer my bmw lease and bought a 180k miles daily car. I cut my cable. Switched to T-Mobile from AT&T, stopped eating out 100% and the only thing I shop for is gas at the gas station.

Today I have $28k left I believe and all still at 0-1.99%. My credit is also almost 740. A number that it had never seen.

Don’t choke over $40k. Figure a way out. Do a budget. Sell your car. Move in with a room mate. Cut expenses. Get an extra job. Etc. If all else fails then do a BK, but debt consolidation is the worst thing you can do.

[Anonymous]

OP,

Is your car a Lease or a loan? Are you upside down? Or can you break even?

Do you have enough equity in your house to sell it and break even? Does your market allow you to rent your place for ~$2,500 while you pay off your debt?

Your mortgage and your car are making you broke, not your debt.

[joltdude]

Vaguely recall its easy to get synch to agree to a payment arraingement if thats an option.. Think @Creditaddict has done this...

Deciding on Debt Settlement vs BK or trying to do it yourself.. Ill leave that to the more experienced... 

-J

[Creditaddict]

If you feel ethically bound to pay back than settlements yourself are a great way... otherwise, I would consult a BK attorney and see if you can qualify for Chapter 7 and be done with it quickly and cleanly. I would not do chapter 13, you can do that yourself with settlements and recover faster than the 3-5 year payments chapter 13 will give you.

With only about $1k available to you, I'm leaning BK because even though many settlements you can than fight for 6-12 months worth of payments... those monthly payments in 6 or 12 months and only having $1k towards it all will leave you doing 2-4 settlements at a time and leaving the rest out in the cold with no payments until you complete a settlement and free that money up.

30% off current balance is pretty easy with most after missing some payments.

If you are already in payments, that would give you some time to save some money if you stopped paying all of them at the same time... most won't throw you out of a current payment arrangement for 2-3 missed payments, then it goes back to regular collections within the company, and you can than start trying to get a settlement... you won't be able to seek a settlement while in a reduced payment plan because that already is a "settlement" within their system, you would have to get out of that plan and that is only done by non-payment.

Sueing takes a long time to happen, so missing some payments for 3-6 months or even over a year usually isn't going to get you sued... the original creditor will owed an account anywhere from 4-12 months trying to collect themselves... many times the first collection agency it goes to is hired by the bank, not sold to the bank, meaning it's still owned by your original creditor, not even a collection agency yet.

it is stressful and can be time consuming... you have to get good at saving the numbers calling you for who they are... you have to get good and stating what you want, if it's not available or it hasn't been long enough (meaning you went through process trying to settle on a sync account, it's a computer system, not a person deciding it, computer kicks back 60% or no even, you are going to have to wait a full cycle to get a new computer decision but likely they will call daily... you want to answer first thing in the morning... confirm yourself and than state you want a settlement and it's not available yet, so you have spoken to them Thursday Sept 20, we shall speak again tomorrow! and hang up. Now they can't call you again for the entire day!