Debt Settlement

We're about $50K in debt on credit cards (they just got away from us over the years) and are embarrassed to have to seek debt settlement. But, our monthly payments are killing us (we're able to pay but there's nothing left for anything else) and it will take us 30+ years at this rate to pay everything off. I don't know who to trust. I have a debt settlement company trying to get my business, but how do I determine if they're not a scam?

The best way to do debt settlement is to do it yourself. Search this forum for information on your creditors so you can see how they have handled settlements in the past.

without this forum I would not have been able to do it myself. You can do it too and save thousands of dollars.

I agree, do it yourself. If I can do it anyone can!

Wow, you've posted just in time. DO NO DO BUSINESS WITH THE DEBT SETTLEMENT COMPANY you are in contact with. Unless it is one of the .5% or fewer companies that only pay themselves AFTER they have saved you lots of money. ANY DEBT SETTLEMENT COMPANY that says that you are paying them any advance fees, before they've helped you, RUN FOR THE HILLS. I was fortunate in finding on line one of the most competent, and honest, advisors in the country in how to settle your own debts (and by the way, our situations are almost identical--$50,000 in cc debt, just got away from us too)--you do all the contacts with your creditors, but with absolutely spot-on competent advice from someone who has already demonstrated to me that he absolutely knows the industry and how to do this. He saved me (with a margin of 24 hours) from being sued barely more than 3 months after missing my first payment, and I still got a 45% settlement--I only paid 45%, and got to keep the entire savings (no 15%, or 25%, to a settlement company). I have settled two other debts so far at 35%, for a total of $26,000 in debts settled so far, at a total cost of under $11,000. Please give me a call, 703-957-6768, and I will happily tell you my story, and tell you what to do to start on the road to settling your own debts, more effectively, and at better savings, than anyone else could do it for you.
Best kept secret: the debt settlement companies tell you they have established contacts with all the creditors and can therefore do much better than you can do yourself. DO NO BELIEVE IT. The exact opposite is true. The credit card companies are totally "on" to the marketing scams that these companies are, and they resent that these companies charge thousands of dollars, up front, to provide no service--money that they understandably feel should be going to them, if you have it. Many are now refusing to have anything to do with third party negotiators. And my experience is, done right, you will have them making you good settlement offers in 3-6 months if you know what to do. I'm out a lot, so please leave a message if you miss me. I'd love to tell you my experience, and hopefully help you have a good one too.

Stop paying, save money and settle on your own. You do not need/want a settlement company working for you.

Greetings himmies,

Got my 2 cents worth to chunk in the bonfire.....

1. You can settle the debts all by yourself and of course with a little help from your friends in here.

2. If the writing is on the wall, get defensive and be proactive.

Now, I digress with a personal story to give you inspiration and tenacity.

The worst part of my journey was that I spoke with at least a dozen or so debt settlement companies.
They called and called and called.
More than the credit card companies.

So I read the fine print and decided not to go with any of them.
Did a Google search and stumbled into this website.
I read and read and read the forums.
Absorbed the information like a sponge in the desert.

Decided to go for it and it worked.
I settled all of mine before charge off.
87k settled for 27k.

Started in late 2009 and made my last payment on June 6th, 2010.
All in all it was easy to accomplish, especially with the great folks in here.

I now return from my digression.

You can do it!
Regards,
King "Kash" Jabba labba

I would call 866-833-6398 they could work miracles and they don't charge unless they get you a settlement. Now that is not a scam.

do it yourself, the worst part is the constant phone calls, but like someone told me just remember with each phone call how much money you will be saving! i just settled my 1st with 3 to go...good luck to you, there are a lot of great people here with lots of information and if nothing else...lots of support!