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C.c. debt- what are my options? (NY)
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amother
Pink


 

Post Sun, Mar 19 2017, 9:42 pm
Three years ago I had to stop working for reasons I'd rather not get into here/now.

To survive, I've had to charge my c.c. and for the first time in my life I accumulated debt.

I have about 17k c.c. debt and paying monthly interest.

B'H my crisis is over and am no longer needing to charge my basic needs to the c.c.

I've heard that people declare bankruptcy in order to get rid of c.c. debt. and I'm interested to hear more about it.

I'm not able to pay off the 17k, though I can pay the minimum bal. due each month.

Still, the monthly interest charges are quite distressing.

Has anyone had experience with this and can share some insights?
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amother
Lawngreen


 

Post Sun, Mar 19 2017, 10:42 pm
We are using money management international. Just google it and call the 800 number. After speaking to a few other companies. These guys were great! They spent about an hour on the phone with me talking budget. Then they went ahead and created a plan. We owed $20k on one card. They got the interest reduced to 1 or 2% I think and we pay now $370 a month and will be paid in just under 3 years I believe. Just paying the minimum wage month as you are will take something like 20 years to pay off.

Things like declaring bankruptcy and other companies that claim to remove the debt all have risks involved.

This way of just reducing the interest rate was pretty much risk free.

Do your research and good luck! You can do it!!
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Iymnok




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Mar 20 2017, 3:13 am
Have you missed payments? Are collections agencies calling you?
Dh has connections with people who counsel how to get out of cc debt. You have no obligation to pay collections. If you have missed payments anyway, your credit is shot. Don't answer the phone from collections. If they are calling your cellphone without permission from you, THEY are doing something illegal.
Those calls are just to scare you into paying.
You could consolidate your debt to pay off over five years. Like a refinance of your mortgage. There are people out there who have been in big debt who have started businesses to help other in the same situations.
Declaring bankruptcy kills your credit for much longer. You only owe cc companies, not businesses etc.
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chayamiriam




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Mar 20 2017, 6:34 am
Bankruptcy will get you out of debt very quickly. Unless you are going to buy a house within the next few years, it should be no problem. There are many good attorneys that specialize in bankruptcy. Its so much better and smarter even to pay for a consult with a bankruptcy attorney to see your options. There are many company's that do consolidations and advisement that are not doing you any favors. They get paid too. Do a search on this site for the name of a good bankruptcy attorney and get real legal advice for your personal situation!
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amother
Pink


 

Post Mon, Mar 20 2017, 9:13 am
Iymnok wrote:
Have you missed payments? Are collections agencies calling you?
Dh has connections with people who counsel how to get out of cc debt. You have no obligation to pay collections. If you have missed payments anyway, your credit is shot. Don't answer the phone from collections. If they are calling your cellphone without permission from you, THEY are doing something illegal.
Those calls are just to scare you into paying.
You could consolidate your debt to pay off over five years. Like a refinance of your mortgage. There are people out there who have been in big debt who have started businesses to help other in the same situations.
Declaring bankruptcy kills your credit for much longer. You only owe cc companies, not businesses etc.


I pay my min. amount due each month (close to four hundred)
Collection agencies are not calling me.
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amother
Floralwhite


 

Post Mon, Mar 20 2017, 9:39 am
Iymnok wrote:
Have you missed payments? Are collections agencies calling you?
Dh has connections with people who counsel how to get out of cc debt. You have no obligation to pay collections. If you have missed payments anyway, your credit is shot. Don't answer the phone from collections. If they are calling your cellphone without permission from you, THEY are doing something illegal.
Those calls are just to scare you into paying.
You could consolidate your debt to pay off over five years. Like a refinance of your mortgage. There are people out there who have been in big debt who have started businesses to help other in the same situations.
Declaring bankruptcy kills your credit for much longer. You only owe cc companies, not businesses etc.


Emphasis mine.

That's absurd. OF COURSE you have an obligation to pay. She borrowed the money, after all! And the effect on your credit of missing a few payments (which she hasn't) vs. bankruptcy are important for her to understand.

OP, IMNSHO, its not worth bankruptcy over the level of debt you mentioned. Still, it cannot hurt to have a free consultation with a consumer bankruptcy attorney, as well as with a debt consolidation service. Get all of the information that you can before making a decision.

I'm wondering if your credit score would allow you to transfer a substantial part of the debt to a low interest or no interest for the first year card, which would allow you to make a big dent into the debt. Dan's Deals probably has helpful information on that.

Good luck.
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amother
Pink


 

Post Mon, Mar 20 2017, 9:45 am
if it helps to know this- my current credit score is about 650/660
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amother
Chartreuse


 

Post Mon, Mar 20 2017, 9:53 am
Thats not a bad score.
Due to various circumstances we had some large cc debt. (Over $25,000) Our intrest alone was close to $300 a month!!!

Dh got an intrest free loan of $20,000 and is making payments of 500 a month. (125 goes automatically from our bank acount weekly) intrest free.

We still owe one cc around 8,000 and we are slowly paying it off.

We we're advised that that is the best option.

Can you get a loan? Is there a gmach in your area that does that?
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Iymnok




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Mar 20 2017, 10:11 am
I said, you have no obligation to pay COLLECTIONS AGENCIES. They are hired by the credit card companies to bother you but have no legal weight over you.
Of course you have to pay your bill to the cc company.

By not missing a payment, you've made it way easier on yourself. It's worth transferring your debt to another lender so as not to incur crazy interest on the cards since you can't pay the full amount at once.

If you are concerned about your credit score, there are credit repair companies. For when a high score is beneficial.
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amother
Copper


 

Post Mon, Mar 20 2017, 10:24 am
Iymnok wrote:
I said, you have no obligation to pay COLLECTIONS AGENCIES. They are hired by the credit card companies to bother you but have no legal weight over you.
Of course you have to pay your bill to the cc company.

By not missing a payment, you've made it way easier on yourself. It's worth transferring your debt to another lender so as not to incur crazy interest on the cards since you can't pay the full amount at once.

If you are concerned about your credit score, there are credit repair companies. For when a high score is beneficial.
[u]


I think you might be mistaken about this. Collection agencies are not hired by credit card companies. Collection agencies buy debt owned by the cc companies. So if I owe $1000 to a cc company and haven't paid in awhile, the cc company might sell my debt (while packaging it with thousands of other delinquent debts) to a collection agency who will pay the cc company, say $50. Now the collection agency can legally claim that they bought my debt and I owe them (instead of the cc company) $1000. Maybe I misunderstood what you wrote. Are you disagreeing with what I'm saying?
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amother
Copper


 

Post Mon, Mar 20 2017, 10:57 am
amother wrote:
if it helps to know this- my current credit score is about 650/660




As others have said, that's not a terrible score. Do you have another card that offers a good low rate on balance transfers? If not call the credit card company and tell them that you're having major problems keeping up with your high interest and if they can please lower their rate. I think it's important to put it out their that you might go the bankruptcy route and they will end up with nothing. If you don't mention that then the credit company might be sympathetic, but may tell you too bad. They need to realize that it's in THEIR best interest as well to work with you here and give you a lower rate. Best of luck.
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amother
Emerald


 

Post Mon, Mar 20 2017, 11:10 am
What we did is get a loan from a friend and with that money paid off all the CC debt at once, thus avoiding interest.
Then we paid back that friend slowly, over the course of a year of so.

Not sure if that's possible for you, but throwing that idea out there.

Please please only borrow if you can repay.
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amother
Slateblue


 

Post Mon, Mar 20 2017, 11:35 am
I've been in your shoes.
It's not worth bankruptcy. We had close to $20K in debt, spread over 3 cards. We are using a credit consolidation agency (American consumer credit counseling). They negotiated our interest rates way down. We now pay them a lump sum per month ($400) and they distribute it to the various cards. We have already paid off 2 cards bh. Your credit cards will be closed (the ones entered into the program that is), as that is required when consolidating debt.
I'm happy to go into more detail if you'd like.
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amother
Silver


 

Post Mon, Mar 20 2017, 12:14 pm
I am drowning in cc debt accumulated by my ex in my name. I've been ignoring all bills, calls, and letters for over a year because I was advised that until I don't get a summons there isn't much worth doing. I would not be able to afford not would do be willing to do any of these debt consolidation ideas.

Anyone have specific resources I can turn to for help with bankruptcy or other options? Pro bono of course...
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amother
Copper


 

Post Mon, Mar 20 2017, 12:23 pm
amother wrote:
I've been in your shoes.
It's not worth bankruptcy. We had close to $20K in debt, spread over 3 cards. We are using a credit consolidation agency (American consumer credit counseling). They negotiated our interest rates way down. We now pay them a lump sum per month ($400) and they distribute it to the various cards. We have already paid off 2 cards bh. Your credit cards will be closed (the ones entered into the program that is), as that is required when consolidating debt.
I'm happy to go into more detail if you'd like.



Thanks for sharing your experience. A few questions:

1. Were you current on your debt when a settlement was reached or had you been missing payments?
2. How much of the 20k was wiped away? How much did you ultimately agree to pay?
3. How much did American consumer charge you?
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amother
Slateblue


 

Post Mon, Mar 20 2017, 12:31 pm
amother wrote:
Thanks for sharing your experience. A few questions:

1. Were you current on your debt when a settlement was reached or had you been missing payments?
2. How much of the 20k was wiped away? How much did you ultimately agree to pay?
3. How much did American consumer charge you?


1. Yes, thankfully we had never missed a payment. I don't know exactly what the process is if you have missed payments but I suggest calling them to ask- they're very up front.

2. Nothing gets wiped away- that's debt settlement, not consolidation. We are paying the full 20K we accumulated, the difference is the interest has been dramatically reduced. So instead of paying $300 a month and only having 25% applied toward the principle balance, we have close to 90% applied to the actual debt. So you pay the debt off much quicker.

3. They charged a one time fee of $30 to set up all our accounts and negotiate the reduced interest. Now, there is a $5 fee per month per account. So we pay them $15 a month.
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amother
Gold


 

Post Mon, Mar 20 2017, 2:41 pm
amother wrote:


2. Nothing gets wiped away- that's debt settlement, not consolidation. We are paying the full 20K we accumulated, the difference is the interest has been dramatically reduced. So instead of paying $300 a month and only having 25% applied toward the principle balance, we have close to 90% applied to the actual debt. So you pay the debt off much quicker.


If I could jump in here as I also have cc debt: what is the advantage to consolidation over settlement? Ive had cards which ive just settled for, for around 35% of the principal. Now I have a card for $10k and are looking to do the same. Is it better to consolidate it?
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amother
Floralwhite


 

Post Mon, Mar 20 2017, 3:02 pm
amother wrote:
If I could jump in here as I also have cc debt: what is the advantage to consolidation over settlement? Ive had cards which ive just settled for, for around 35% of the principal. Now I have a card for $10k and are looking to do the same. Is it better to consolidate it?


Just think about it logically. I lend you 10,000. Then you say, sorry, but I can't pay you back. Take $3500 instead. You retain the benefits you got from the $10,000, whatever the were, I kiss my $6500 goodbye. Am I going to want to loan you money again? Will anyone else who knows about it?

Now, change the scenario a little. You agree that you'll pay me back every penny I lent you, but at a lower interest rate (so I won't make as much money on the deal, but probably won't lose, either). You may also take a little longer to pay me back. I may not be as happy with you as I would if there weren't a problem, but not as upset as the first instance.

In any case, you need to figure out why you have so much credit card debt, and what you're going to do to ensure that you don't fall into that rabbit hole in the future.
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amother
Pewter


 

Post Mon, Mar 20 2017, 3:11 pm
We declared bankruptcy (60,000 + debt) in November 2013. It was closed in janurart 2014. We bought a house in July 2016.

So many people scare you away saying it's not possible but with an FHA mortgage you just need 2 years out. We got a great rate. You just need to INMEDIATLY work on credit repair and get your score up.

With only 17k I would look into paying it off as that does not damage our credit as bad but if you are really struggling it is an option. Our car insurance and homeowners insurance rate def is higher than it could be but we went from paying $850 minimums to nothing overnight it was very freeing.
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gp2.0




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Mar 20 2017, 3:22 pm
You can open a few new cards and transfer the balance. Many cards have promotional balance transfer deals. Some are $0 balance transfer fee, like chase slate. More common is 3% balance transfer fee which on 17k would be $510. Then there is no interest for a specific amount of months, depending on the card, from 12-18 months. So if you could apply that same $400 monthly without accruing interest, you would pay off 17k balance in about 3.5 years, assuming you keep opening new cards after a year or 18 months when the $0 interest expires.
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