Alternatives to Debt Settlement?

[paysontime]

I have a lot of debt. I already declared Chapter 7 bankruptcy about 4 years ago.
I've been considering debt settlement, but something inside of me doesn't like the fact that I'm going to let my loans become delinquent and have creditors contacting me, etc. I spoke to someone who does Freedom Debt Relief, and I almost signed up.
I really don't want my decent credit to sink. All my debt is current, never late. Not delinquent.
According to Credit Karma, my TransUnion is 687, and my Equifax is 722. On MyFICO, the score says my FICO Score 8 is 703.
The debt that I currently have is as follows:

$11,695 in credit card debt
$40,000 in student loan debt
$95,000 in personal loans
$50,000 in auto loan

Please advise and thank you in advance.

[FireMedic1]

Welcome @paysontime 

Why so much on personal loans and CC Debt? What did you get loans for? Getting an education is one thing and a car. But you filed 4 yrs ago and it seems from your post you back where you were before BK. I dont understand. I'm stumped. Need more info especially on the personal loans.

[paysontime]

The new CC debt is mostly from medical. I did take a 0% check for a safety cushion as well.

The personal loans are mostly because I had a lot of debt that wasn't covered through bankruptcy - which was credit card debt on my family member's credit cards, and I no longer wanted that family member to have my debt on their credit card, so I consolidated it to just my name in personal loans. I've been paying on those loans for several months, so I have about 52 payments to go on most of the loans. Lastly, I overspent a little.

[FireMedic1]

Thats understanable. Family first. Keep chipping away and please please dont let history repeat itself. Bad enough we had to file in the first place. Good Luck!

[paysontime]

So, I'm guessing debt settlement isn't the answer here?
Maybe I should get a second job?
I'm just afraid of the repercussions of having my credit go down a lot and it being on my record.

[TRC_WA]

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@paysontime wrote:

So, I'm guessing debt settlement isn't the answer here?
Maybe I should get a second job?

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Nothing wrong with a 2nd job if you can swing it.   I actually have 2 side gigs... one at my previous employer that I left in 2021 for my current M-F job and the other is at a local Amazon distribution center.

Both side gigs are something I do on the weekends mainly... but occasionally I'll pull a weeknight half shift.  What's great about Amazon is it's literally the perfect part time job.   There is no schedule... it's a minimum of 4 hours per week and I choose when I want to work via an app on my phone.

[DRME]

Hi. Sorry to hear of your $ troubles.

I'll add that if you do decide to go with debt settlement, think about negotiating directly with your lenders instead of using an agency.

Agencies charge a lot, 20-25% of your total debt, so for your $100,000ish in unsecured, non-student loan debt, that'd be $20--25K in fees.

Plus, they settle around 50%, mainly because they can get a 50% offer fairly quickly, a few months, and want to move on.

Banks actually prefer to negotiate directly with the borrower, and it's not uncommon to settle in the 30-35% range with no fees.

So, use Freedom, pay $50K to the bank and $20K to them, $70K to settle $100K, that's really not worth the hit on your credit, and you likely don't have the $70K or you wouldn't be feeling the need to settle.

Negotiate directly with your banks, settle around $30-35K with no fees. You save twice as much as with an agency and it could make the financial difference to be worth it. 

I negotitated six accounts directly with my banks after the '08 crash. Happy to talk privately if you like.