Advice credit card debt

amother

Olive

Wed, Oct 05 2016, 3:34 am

Just wondering if anyone has ever gotten out of $20,000 of debt. It happened while I was unemployed for a year and a half. Was thinking of settling the debt but we don't have a lump sum to offer them. We've missed 2 payments and wanted to talk to the cc company to lower our interest rate or make a payment plan but they won't let us talk to anyone until we pay $1000 to get our account up to date but we don't have that.

I don't know what to do!

Anyone? I'm so upset about this I feel like we are being strangled by this debt Sad

amother

Pewter

Wed, Oct 05 2016, 4:22 am

amother wrote:

I owed at least double that a few years ago. The reason they won't talk to you at this point is because you're debt is still in relatively good standing as you've "only" missed 2 payments. Unfortunately you will have to miss at least 6 to get their attention. I'm far from an expert here but in my case they settled for around 33% and let me pay it over 4 payments. It also helps if you're dealing with a big bank like Chase or Bank of America.
Hatzlacha.

amother

Olive

Wed, Oct 05 2016, 1:54 pm

I never thought to keep missing payments. Seems like such a catch 22.. like I can't make the $1000 payment and I'd like to work something out with them but they won't talk to me. So frustrating! Can't they sue me or something if I keep missing payments?

I wish we could come across a bunch of money and wipe out our debt.

amother

Plum

Wed, Oct 05 2016, 2:03 pm

Is there some type of debt management person you can talk to.
Someone who can steer you in the right direction of experts that can help lower your debt. I always see ads for Angel of Debt in Brooklyn.
http://angelsofdebt.com
If I were you I would call them and see if they would give you a free consultation. Or maybe someone in Tomche Shabbos. The ad in the Yated for Tomche Shabbos of Rockland County says they offer a service that help people with financial planning. There are experts in the field that do this for chesed. They talk to the credit card company and offer a settlement. Perhaps someone on here knows of where to go in your city.
Please let us know where you are located.

amother

Pearl

Wed, Oct 05 2016, 2:15 pm

amother wrote:

I had a similar situation and I worked with angels of debt. They were extremely helpful and negotiated great settlements on each of my accounts. Many times you can break up the payments over a few months.

amother

Saddlebrown

Thu, Oct 06 2016, 4:52 am

We've been working with ACCC http://www.consumercredit.com for close to 6 months now.

The initial step is to do an in depth budget analysis with one of their counselors. He/she helps you figure out where you're going wrong and come up with a realistic budget.

Next they negotiate a lower APR with your credit card company (our visa went from 17% to 6%). Once you agree to the negotiation, the cards are closed. You pay them a flat rate per month and they distribute it to all your credit cards.

We've been very happy with the company. 1. The credit counselor was phenomonal, at a time where I was really ashamed and down. 2. Everything is upfront and transparent- there are no surprises. 3. Whenever we've had a question it's been very easy to reach someone. 4. We're seeing results.

The initial price is (IIRC) $20 to get started and then $5 per account per month. There are no other fees.

If you want any more information please let me know.

amother

Rose

Thu, Oct 06 2016, 5:16 am

I was in a similar situation with $50,000 in debt. What I learnt after researching and exploring all options was that debt settlement greatly impacts your credit ratings and stays on your history for 7 years. What we did was miss 6 payments and then made a deal with the credit card company that they will lock the account. We couldn't use our card anymore. They lowered interest rate to 0-5% depending on the card. We made a realistic payment plan. almost all of the payment went off the principle. As you pay up your debt the credit limit lowers to amount due. Once paid up the account gets closed automatically. It took us 5 years and we are BH debt free! Those 6 late payments don't affect you as much as the debt consolidation does.

amother

Pewter

Thu, Oct 06 2016, 5:27 am

amother wrote:

Are you saying that if for example someone has 5 credit cards they are trying to settle, the fee is $20 upfront and $25 per month? So if the whole thing takes 10 months the entire expense is $20+$250=$270? Even though they might be settling $50,000 in debt?

amother

Saddlebrown

Thu, Oct 06 2016, 5:37 am

amother wrote:

Yes, that's the price the agency charges.
Btw, when I'm using the term "settlement" I don't mean the debt is gone. I mean that you have a reduced APR so you pay more to the principle balance per month and less to the interest fees. You still have to pay off the $50,000.

amother

Olive

Thu, Oct 06 2016, 3:05 pm

OK thanks! I'm going to call that agency tomorrow. I spoke to Angel Of Debt today they do settle the debt which does negatively effect your credit and I guess I'm nervous about suing. They said they deal with that too. But that sounds scary.

Angel of debt also charges a percentage of what they saved you. So that can be pricey.

Thanks!! If anyone has any other ideas or numbers for me to call I will!

amother

Mint

Thu, Oct 06 2016, 3:19 pm

I was in such a situation about 7 years ago. What we did was that we didn't settle on any given amount and just stopped payments. We just didn't have after going through a debt crisis. After 2 years we wanted to pay back but of course we were directed to collection agencies and not to companies itself. So someone advised us that although we will be paying back now it won't matter because our credit is anyways ruined and can get wiped off after 6 years no matter if we will pay now or not. Then after those 6 years we can build our credit through other methods. And this is what we did.