debt settlement coaching such as zipdebt ..

I decided that i wanted to d debt settlment. I was going to go wiht Superior but then read about debtxpert. After visiting his site I learned that because I have only $1200o in debt i dont qualify for his program but should do it myslef. However i have seen debt coaching programs such as zipdebt and am wondering about those. I am not the most aggressive person in the world nor do i know the ins and outs of cc settlment. It would be nice to have some help, advice and a listening ear through the process.. Here is a rundown of my situation.

I am going through a seperation, having been a sahm the first step has been employment my next concern it trying to eliminate debt asap..

my debt
discover $4700 (didnt pay last payment since was plannin on SDS, so its two weeks late same with pennys other our ccurent)
wellsfargo $4800
jcpenny $1000
paypal $500

After reading through deptxpert.com forums i have saw that its best to settile pre charge since i cant do all in 6 month i did see suggestion about keeping current on some untill i am in a situation to settle those in 6 months. alsor ead discover wont settle if you are current on more than one so i am thinkin that should be the last to settle.

I am thinking I should settle paypal and jcpennys ( i do have just under $1000.00 put aside) then work on WF then Discover. Is this a good idea and is there a way to get coaching and help the is legitimate and actually helpful?

Negotiating settlements yourself will help you save money on retainer fees, commissions, etc... Rememeber, different creditors have different criteria, all of your creditors may not want to settle and wait until charge off and get a collection company involved. You can also settle with collection agencies as well. I believe PayPal may not settle for much but try it. JC Penny, may refer their account to a law office when they hear settlement but it is worth a try, I have seen this happen in the past. Wells Fargo may react the same way as JCPenny.

Discover will refer the account for collection to Zwicker and Associates and they usually only offer to settle accounts for 70 cents on the dollar, meaning a 30% savings.

Looking at your total debt I will venture to say by the time you are done settling all accounts you will save no more than 4 thousand dollars even if you join a settlement program. You will be better off negotiating the smaller accounts first and continue making payments on the higher ones, this is a good strategy if funds will not be readily available to settle all accounts at once.

Remember, late fees, interest rates, will continue to accumaulate on the unpaid accounts, these added fees are to be kept in mind as they will become part of your balance when you settle.

Great coaching is available out there, best advise on your total debt, pay no more than $500 for anyone to coach you on how to negotiate tyour debt. You can do it, there is no need to be a negotiator or a salesman to settle your debt. Simply read up as much material available regarding debt settlement. Good luck.

<You> I agree with this--however, only after you make minimum payments to all your ccs. Otherwise, you have late fees & they can also jack up your interest rate to 24.99%!!!! Also, you preserve your credit if you can make the minimum payments.
Another possibility: sometimes by talking with the company, e.g., Wells Fargo, knowing your situation, they might be willing to skip a month of payment. Yes, interest continues to accrue for that month, but that might allow you to keep something else current.
Best of luck to you!

If you are going to stay current on your payments, I would contact credit card debt Reducers. I think their site is the same name.

Dear Drowningindebt ,

From your post it seems to me that you have a total debt of $11000. Now, let me ask you…are you on the brink of bankruptcy? If no then please avoid debt settlement because it will affect your credit score by almost 200 points. Debt settlement is considered only to be a bankruptcy avoiding solution. So, my advice to you is: - Look before you Leap.

I think debt consolidation program can be a feasible option for you where the debt consolidating company will negotiate with your creditors and try to lower the apr and also waive off the late payments. In this way your monthly payment amount will decrease significantly.

Regards,
Phoenix

I also think that debt consolidation program is the right option for you.

I google credit card debt reducers but only pulled a software program to buy up. I did talk with several credit counseling and debt consolidation companies and they said my min. payment would go up $100 a month. My concern is if our seperation does not work then i will have a hard time paying the min.. payments let alone more. this cc are in my name only. I am trying to get them taking care of while we are working on things.

Also I appreciate all of the advice very much...

I have three Discover cards with Zwicker. They will not budge at all. I'm trying to get a home equity loan to pay all debt. Why won't they budge. Does anyone know. Help!

Zwicker will only settle for about 70 cents on the dollar, I have never heard of them actually suing anybody. But like everything else the sooner you come up with the cash to settle the betetr off you are.

I have read an interesting article on EZine called Negotiate debt settlements Yourself, worht taking a look, it explains how to deal with collection lawyers such as Zwicker. Good luck!