Debt Settlement when we were definitely drowning in debt

Probably, that was the right thing for you to do in that situation. I would have done the same thing if I were in your place, not able to afford the killing interest rates.

Have you talked with your settlement company about their putting the proposals to your creditors? When can you expect them in starting the negotiations?

The way they have it set up is that we basically put a certain amount of money aside each month and once we have enough to settle they start settling. They sent us a limited power of attorney to sign and return to them which I still haven't done, only because I was a little hesitant at first. I wanted to make sure that was also a part of settlement. They basically said that the accounts needed to be a certain amount of time behind to where the creditors put them in collections. They said they are able to get settlements for them then, because basically the companies aren't going to settle if you're still making the minimum payments.