Debt settlement firms expect you to have at least $10,000 in credit card debt. They expect you to pay them $1500-2000 or more of that $10,000 in fees before they settle your debt. They also expect you to stop paying your credit card and give those monthly payments to them for their fees and your eventual lump-sum settlement.
So then what happens if they cannot settle your credit card debt? What happens to what you have paid them? What happens to the credit card account that is not being paid and to your credit rating? If they tell you they can get a 50 percent settlement on $10,000, how long will it take you to save $5000 plus $2000 for their fees?
$500 a month will total $7000 after 14 months of payments to the debt settlement firm. At that pace it will be over one year before $5000 can be paid (after $2000 in fees is taken) in a lump sum to end the debt. But, that debt may no longer exist because the banks charge off unpaid credit card debts after six months. Then within the year, they sell those bad debts for about 10 cents on the dollar.
If that happens to you, that means some junk debt buyer has bought your debt for 10 cents on the dollar before it has been negotiated. At that point there is no reason for the bank to remove the charged-off debt's bad mark from your credit report, which means it will be there for seven years.
According to the Credit Card Debt Survival Guide, you will need to be ready for the junk debt buyer?s attempts to collect the debt. If you are not ready, if you are counting on the debt settlement firm and unaware of the debt?s charge-off and sale, you could be ambushed by a debt collector or collection attorney.
So, your debt is not settled. Your settlement fee is spent. You have debt collection problems. And, your credit rating is below par. Just maybe you still have $5000, but that is only if the settlement firm escrowed it with a third-party. - 29955
So then what happens if they cannot settle your credit card debt? What happens to what you have paid them? What happens to the credit card account that is not being paid and to your credit rating? If they tell you they can get a 50 percent settlement on $10,000, how long will it take you to save $5000 plus $2000 for their fees?
$500 a month will total $7000 after 14 months of payments to the debt settlement firm. At that pace it will be over one year before $5000 can be paid (after $2000 in fees is taken) in a lump sum to end the debt. But, that debt may no longer exist because the banks charge off unpaid credit card debts after six months. Then within the year, they sell those bad debts for about 10 cents on the dollar.
If that happens to you, that means some junk debt buyer has bought your debt for 10 cents on the dollar before it has been negotiated. At that point there is no reason for the bank to remove the charged-off debt's bad mark from your credit report, which means it will be there for seven years.
According to the Credit Card Debt Survival Guide, you will need to be ready for the junk debt buyer?s attempts to collect the debt. If you are not ready, if you are counting on the debt settlement firm and unaware of the debt?s charge-off and sale, you could be ambushed by a debt collector or collection attorney.
So, your debt is not settled. Your settlement fee is spent. You have debt collection problems. And, your credit rating is below par. Just maybe you still have $5000, but that is only if the settlement firm escrowed it with a third-party. - 29955
About the Author:
Matt Highlander spent months researching strategies for credit card debt relief. Read the complete 230-page Credit Card Debt Survival Guide
