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 Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 4:25 pm Subject: use a law firm or not? |
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we're debating on whether to go with a law firm or a debt settlement company to do our debt settlement. any thoughts on pros or cons of both would be useful.
thanks!
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guest
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| Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 5:56 pm Subject: |
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The law office will cover you legally, many debt settlement programs claim to have lawyers available if need be, I don´t think I would trust that.
Have you thought about negotiating your own debt? Thus saving big chunks of money on retainer and commission fees, there are excellent training programs out there.
Another thing to keep in mind the laws regulating debt-settlement companies vary greatly by state, it's worth noting that 12 states prohibit for-profit debt management. Since debt-settlement companies are for-profit entities, they're not allowed to practice there. Those states are Arizona, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, West Virginia and Wyoming.
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pemperandgartle
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| Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 8:01 am Subject: |
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You are correct those states have banned for-profit debt management and only allow non profit debt management. debt settlement and Debt Management are completely different. Debt settlement is legal in those states except for Hawaii , Georgia , and New Jersey.
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mobile0311
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| Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 8:39 am Subject: |
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About a year ago, I was in quite a bit of debt that wasn't going anywhere. I decided that I HAD to take complete control of my finances so I sat down - literally went through all three of my credit reports line item by line item - created a solid budget for myself using excel that allows me to look ahead for one year - decided when I was able to pay each debt during the month - wrote letters detailing my payment plan as well as a check for the first payment. Now, all of my debts are current and I haven't had a single phone call in over a year.
There is no simple solution to debt repair - It will really take you rolling up your sleeves and doing the hard work. In the past, I worked with "debt repair" company because I thought there was no other choice - but I was finding that even though I was making small monthly payments and they were being applied to my credit cards...I was still being charged overlimit fees and interest charges...so I really wasn't going anywhere.
Good Luck!
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debrag_25
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frogpatch
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