scared

This forum is a Godsend. My husband and I have 104K of CC/loan debt. I am thinking we will be able to do this ourselves with alot of education/reading. I have a few questions.

1. I lease my car, and my lease is up in october. If I begin now with stopping payments on our cards, when October comes around, I won't be able to get another car, right? So, should I trade my car in for another now before we begin this journey? Majority of debt is husbands name, I am authorized user on 2 cards. One account is solely mine, so what do you think?

2. All the CC are linked to our bank acct. So, do I set up 2 new accts. one for mortgage, things I pay, and then another for saving what I use for payments. Does it make a difference if my mortgage is now with B of A and I have 3 cards with them??

3. I live in PA, my husband and I have very good jobs, but we are drowning. I am not sure if these accounts have our work numbers, should I change all the phone info before this starts, so no calls at work. we work in an operating room. Do they only call your house?/cell?

4. Ok, I am little confused regarding the time limit/charge off thing. So, roughly 4 months, I will start negotiating, but at 6 months, it goes to charge off no matter what? And a charge off, even if we settle that is something we don't want on our credit report, right?

5. Anyone have a reputable debt negotiation settlement company they can recommend? How is everest??

I have read hours upon hours on here, and appreciate everyone's story. I am very scared, but we plan to live in our home for many years, my husbands car is owned, so other than me needing a car, when our score tanks, we're ok with that. I would like to know what it's like to go to bed debt free and not worry that if something happens we're done.

Thank you so much.

Nkw40

It is not very clear to me. Please explain further.
Charge off, whether paid or not will stay in your report for seven years and 180 days from the date of your delinquency. You cannot get it removed once it gets listed in your credit file. So it is always better to avoid charge off. The creditors may even charge off your account if it is past due for 90 days.

1. I would get a new car now before you start this process as once this all goes downhill it will be very hard to get another car, I know from experience.
2. If your creditors have any information like your bank account numbers, I would get another account. I don't know how legal it is for them to use the account numbers to access your accounts, but I really wouldn't take that chance.
3. If you notify all of them that they can NOT contact you at work (you must notify them in writing) then, legally, they can NOT do so. To contact you at work after that point is against the law.
Not sure how to address 4/5, but hope what I already said helps.

Thanks for the advice. I realized I didn't explain the car thing well. My car lease is up in October and was wondering should I trade in now before we begin the process of debt settlment.
Reading this forum makes me less scared and reinforces that it can be done.

First.....there is absolutely nothing to be scared of....not one creditor that you have a loan with or a credit card know you personally.
Second.....you can do this....don't buy a new car. Buy a very affordable economical used car like a Honda or Toyota. Payment should be less than 200 per month.
Third....read as much as you can or watch Dave Ramsey....FPU
Fourth.....when all else fails and I mean all else...claim bankruptcy and start over.
For your support and encouragement....I just settled 70k of 120k in debt. It took exactly 178days since my last payment. I got sued by American Express and now am negotiating with their lawyer through my lawyer.....I told AMEX to sue me because I'll claim bankruptcy ch 13 and they'll get less than 40% of the balance interest free.

take a deep breath ....good luck....its easy...don't pay a settlement company something you can do by yourself

guest 23,

Thank you so much for your encouraging words. I used to feel so alone, and it's great to be among those who are going through the same thing. Can I ask you, how did you come up with 70K in 178 days? Wow, and what does your credit score look like now? Thanks again.

I might be wrong but I think he was saying he has 120k debt and so far as settled 70k of it. Not that he payed 70k on 120k of debt.... thats just the way I read it..................

guest...you read it right.
I settled 70k of the 120k @ 31%...just over 21k.
I used money I saved up for 6 months, my joint tax return with my wife and 6k loan from 403b which I pay back 25 dollars a week.
I am not out of the woods yet....but....it feels great that the only debt i have remaining is the AMEX accounts.
I don't care about my credit score anymore....my wife and I are on a cash budget only. It really works great. Hope this helps.
Just get serious about paying the debt off.