5 Year Debt Settlement?

Lisa, I would think it would depend on how much you owe to them and what kind of debt it is. You can always call and tell them you are considering this vs bankruptcy and see how they respond??

It looks like I might be dealing with this on my own. No company wants to take us on for settlement with this much debt. We really really do want to go the way of bankruptcy and are determined not to. But we really just cannot do $1000 payments per month and it looks like it might take that to get into a settlement program that is no longer than 4 years. And how much of that is fees??

sounds too long! most settle in 1-3 yrs.

Most do but most don't owe what we do. Sad but true.

Hi Lisa. Have you thought of not including all of your debt in the program and trying to settle a few accounts at a time? I'm not sure if that's an option but it might be more manageable.

Companies that offer anything more than 30-36 month programs know damn well you will get sued. Most states statute of limitations is 4 years for litigation. After 4 years, they can no longer sue. Why would they wait 5 years whne at that time, you are no longer legally bound to pay a penny. These companies are looking for a high set up fee and anything more they can get until you are sued.

Find a company that has low fees and no set up fee like sifxpert. I have been considering him myself. He has definitely provided me with the most insight on my situation and he tells it like it is. Have you tried emailing him your situation?

I have not. My husband and I have talked about this and for now, we are going to stop paying and save the money. We will go from there before we sign up with anyone. The fee of thousands seems so silly to me. I owe so much money it seems dumb to sign up for another "bill"

I had the same thoughts until I sent him my financials and asked for advice and a breakdown of fees etc. He has no up front fee first of all second, you only pay when he settles an account and he does not charge you a fee on accounts that settle higher than 55%. I hate to seem like I am selling his program but after speaking to a few dozen others and then sifxpert, his program makes great sense financially because its not another bill. He will obviously get lower settlements then we can on our own so taking into consideration his fee at a lower settlement amount, his fee becomes a wash out. Besides, dealing with collectors is not a very pleasant experience.

Lots of folks have been speaking highly of him here and other forums also. Of course, everyones situation is different and I am sure, your decision will be the best for your family.

5 years ago I signed a voluntary surrender on a 2000 GMC sonoma to GMAC. On the sheet I signed it said i was no longer liable for the remaining balance. However GMAC started calling me wondering i wasnt still making payments. I told them about the form i signed and they said they had no record. It went on for about 6 months before they called and apologized to me for calling me and trying to collect the debt. And i never heard from them again. It still showed up as an open account however but i never heard anything. Now they sold the debt to Calvary Portfolio 5 years after the fact. Am i still liable for this? Calvary said that if I did not pay they would sue me for the remaining balance and seize my accounts. Can they do that also? Please any information would be helpful. Thanks

Forgot to say also. I had the form but when hurricane katrina hit it blew a tree down on my mother's home and afterwards the form could not be found so I have no proof and Calvary says they dont have any form saying that.

From what I've read (on this thread and different places in the forum) it sounds like there is MORE positive feedback written about SIFXPERT then negative. They have no 'up front fees'? Did I read that correctly? Do you need any certain amount of debt ( lack of a better word..) to qualify? Any advice would be appriciated. Thanks.

Five years is a long time to do debt settlement and a lot can happen. After I was about 4 months late on my cards, the credit card companies started offering me five year plans with no interest; maybe that would be a better alternative for you. Negotiate your own deal with the creditors. They will not negotiate anything with you until you are significantly late; usually 120 days.

GUEST,..is this working out for you pretty good? Are you able to 'control' things a bit better? Sometimes keeping 'control' with debts seems so far away...ya know?

Logan; never talk to a collection agency. I would send them the documentation proving you do not owe them the debt and threaten legal action if they do not remove the information from your credit report and stop calling you and trying to collect. If that didn't work I would see a lawyer who could write them a nice letter.

I would contact GMAC for a copy of the paperwork; they are required to keep such records.