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Posted: Fri Nov 10, 2006 7:35 pm Subject: Debt Settlement on my own?

Hi Gang,

I'm going to throw this out there for some opinions and feedback. I think most of you know I have been working with a debt settlement company for several months now. I have enough money in my account to settle my smaller debts but nothing has happened yet. I understand it can take awhile to settle the first debt but I have been hearing this for a few months now. Now I have a law firm contacting me about a creditor that I have listed in the program. They were willing to settle with me for a lower total in two monthly payments. The guy was kind of a jerk on the phone. I said I would be happy to do this by money order but he wanted a check by phone. I'm not going to give out my bank information to someone I don't know. So now I am refusing payment. Anyway, I sent an e-mail to my debt counselor this morning to see if it would be alright to send a basic debt verification letter to the law firm. This guy seems sue happy and I wonder if it truly was a scare tactic. Her response was to see if I wanted to work with the creditor on my own and to drop them from the program. I thought they were going to contact the law firm today. I had to e-mail her back asking if this had been done. I won't know until Monday. I am paying them a good chunk of money in fees every month and I'm really frustrated. I've worked through the horror of dealing with pdl lenders. I have a feeling that I would be able to work with my creditors on my own at this point. Any opinions? Has anyone had success in doing settlement on their own? Question

Posted: Fri Nov 10, 2006 9:31 pm Subject:

My husband settled a few small debts on his own a few years back. It worked out really well, and wasn't too bloody. I think you can do it just as well as any settlement company...You have access to most info you would need right here on this board, and it sure would be a ton cheaper, and probably quicker.

Like you said, you survived the PDL war, you can do it.

Posted: Fri Nov 10, 2006 9:44 pm Subject:

What company are you using?

I settled all of my internet pdl's on my own. I don't know how I would do with a legitimate creditor though.

Posted: Sat Nov 11, 2006 2:41 pm Subject:

I had a law firm contact me. I posted it & everyone was wonderful & said let the debt co handle it. I figure I'm paying the debt co(we have the same one)a fee for them to take care of things like that. I was going to settle with the credit co that had my husbands car. I gave the guy my checking info & told him not to process a check until 10/26. He assured me he would'nt. Well on Oct 11th, I got a bank notice for a bounced check with the # that I gave him! I immediately calle & left the guy a msg but of course he never got it. Now they have the car, & he wants my debit info to set up a repay plan in case the car doesn't sell for what we owe. Fool me once, shame onyou, fool me twice shame on me. The car hasn't even been auctioned off yet! So please be careful Mishele.

Posted: Sat Nov 11, 2006 2:51 pm Subject:

Mishele...Personal opinion,only because you asked! I would never,ever use a debt settlement,consolidation company,ever! I think you are intelligent enough to settle on your own...I would!

Polly...I believe you could have as well!!

Posted: Sat Nov 11, 2006 2:55 pm Subject:

You may go ahead and do the settlement with your creditor. If their deal sounds good, cheaper and genuine on paper, you don’t need your settlement company to do the same negotiations for you and that may cost more. Perhaps you save some money there.

You must keep this in mind that once you start the negotiations for a particular account with your creditor, get everything sorted till you see your credit file updated. When you have the “paid in less than full” letter from the creditor, remove that account from your settlement company records.

In some cases, a creditor might not want to work with someone just when s/he is in the middle of the negotiations. Reason can be that they are not getting their costs recovered. So they will not accept your proposals until you agree for their plan. Now, you need to be careful if you go back to your settlement company. When they will call the creditor, your file will be recovered from the creditor’s system and the negotiations done by you will be recalled. There may be a chance that the creditor won’t accept even the settlement company’s proposals unless you agree to their terms. This can be tricky but you need to be careful. My two cents based on real experience..

Posted: Sat Nov 11, 2006 5:21 pm Subject:

Go to debthelpcenter.net and post your questions. The person who runs the site has really good information for free and even provides you with contact info to settle with decent people instead of idiots we mostly have calling. You can do it on your own if you have it in you. The site owner also has a program you can pay for which is less than half of the fees most companies charge and no fees up front. If you read the posts on his site he really knows what he is talking about and the members rave about his results. He was on another forum and recently started his own. If you want to settle on your own he is the person to talk to. I settled almost 80k in debt on my own and hired him to settle a few accounts I couldn't handle and one was MBNA for 40k. He settled it for 20% and I was able to get 6 installments. I found him looking for a debt co. and chose to do on my own with his help.

Posted: Sat Nov 11, 2006 5:29 pm Subject:

I think that everyone is better off trying to settle debts. Most of these companies are just out for your $ and you can usually do the same thing that they do..Good luck....

Posted: Sat Nov 11, 2006 5:51 pm Subject:

Anyone can settle. I was getting letters sent to my house all the time for settlements. The only difference when hiring someone who knows what they are doing is the fact that you can get sued if you make one wrong move. Sifxpert is the guy on that forum I mentioned and he seems to know every creditor and how to prevent legal action, who to settle with first and what to send to who. For example, I nearly sent a validation letter to citibank but found out that they will sue immediatley once they get one of these letters. I learned this and also MBNA uses Arbitration which you will lsoe every time. Sifxpert settled this account since it was the highest dollar account I had and saved me a ton. He charged me only 10% of the amount I saved. Other companies charge way more than that and I paid nothing until it was resolved and had the letter in hand that MBNA would accept the amount Sif settled for. It does pay to hire in some cases but I would be too afraid to pay anyone without actually speaking to other clients or looking them up extensively with the BBB. This guy Sifxpert obviously hides nothing and what better proof can one offer when all of his clients are on his forum?

debt settlement does also hurt your credit but I would have been paying forever. Its certainly not for everyone. You have to ask yourself if paying someone to hurt your credit is what you want...it seems like a no brainer but it had to happen or else I would stay broke forever.

I wish you all the best.

Posted: Sun Nov 12, 2006 6:27 am Subject:

Thanks everyone for the input, I really appreciate it. I believe my debt settlement is reputable but I'm really upset right now. According to my payment worksheets with them, part of my first three payments are supposed to go into my escrow account. This did not happen and I was told by my debt counselor that the first three payments went to their fees. I understand they need time for the negotiations but if I settle each debt on my own and pull them out of the program, then it seems useless to me to pay them as well. I've sent my debt counselor a couple of e-mails and I will wait for her response. Thanks for the info on the other site. I will check it out soon. I settled the majority of my payday lenders on my own so I figure I have a good shot in doing this as well. We'll see what happens but I don't want to make any rash decisions either because I'm upset right now.

Posted: Sun Nov 12, 2006 6:30 am Subject:

Roadwarrior,

Thanks for your vote of confidence. Smile

My husband is working with our local CCCS office that has turned out to be a plus for him because they were able to include our second mortgage. That knocks off many years of payments for us plus a lot of interest. That is also a secured debt and I am working with all unsecured debt. I'm going to ask for all of my paperwork from my debt settlement company, also all notes and letters that my creditors have sent them. I think that will be a good place to start Smile

Posted: Sun Nov 12, 2006 6:32 am Subject:

Mary Ann,

I don't plan on giving any creditor at this point my banking information. I was stupid enough to do that with payday lenders. They should be able to accept money orders and I'm willing to send them certified mail.

Posted: Sun Nov 12, 2006 6:43 am Subject:

eatlove2001,

I wasn't able to pull up other website. What am I doing wrong?

Posted: Sun Nov 12, 2006 3:28 pm Subject:

Mishele,
I saw your post that your husband is working with someone about your secured debts. We have a home equity loan that I am behind in. Any suggestions?

Posted: Sun Nov 12, 2006 6:42 pm Subject:

I use a debt settlement company to settle my PDL's online. I am working with one by myself that I am trying to settle. So far, each method has worked out fine for me.

rich · Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 6:59 am Subject: sifxpert...

I saw your post Mishele.... his site is debthelpcenter.net or sifxpert.com The guy is great. His information is incredible and he is a sincere person. Of course, everyone is out to make money but his site is no pressure at all....if you want his help ask..otherwise you could post questions on his board and he will answer for you.

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