Afraid to take the leap into Debt Settlement Program
Date: Sun, 10/12/2008 - 16:14
I'm inching my way closer and closer to enrolling in a debt settlement program. I'm scared of the many out there that are just scams. I have a Discover credit card and a Citi Bank credit card (which I've heard are the nastiest ones to "settle"), among a few others that I need to get paid off because I've finally admitted to myself that I can't pay them off on my own. I feel ashamed that it's gotten this out-of-hand. Eight years ago I started having some health issues. With no relief (or answers) from traditional medical doctors, I started trying alternative medicine. Of course, health insurance doesn't cover that route. I began running up some debt. I got to the point six years ago that I needed to go on short-term disability for three months. I used up everything in my savings account during that period. When I was set to try working again, I was "terminated" from my job. That meant three more months on unemployment. I found a job that was perfect for me, physically and emotionally. It appears my health problems were due to the negative stress at the other job! I loved the new job, however it paid $12,000 less per year than the previous job. I trimmed my budget and spending down as much as possible but ending up putting gas and groceries on the credit card every week...for nearly four years! Two years ago I was promoted into a better paying position (which I love), however I'm just now finally making the annual salary that I made 6 years ago! I've had to snitch money out of savings every month just to make ends meet. The savings account is now down to $24! I know that I cannot pay more than the minimum payments on the credit cards which means it will take 90 years to pay them off! Therefore, here I am knowing that I need to "take the leap" into debt settlement but I'm scared stiff! I feel like the credit card companies will come beating my door down, dragging me out handcuffed or worse. I am not comfortable telling my parents that I'm in this bad shape financially. I don't want them to worry. So meanwhile I'm bottling it up inside. I thought I was going to get a big fat raise this month but now I'm told the budget is tight so it will have to wait. It doesn't help matters to know that I make $14,000 less per year than my peers in similar positions at other locations. If I had that $14,000 I would be able to make healthy payments toward paying down the debt. I hate the thought of leaving my job for another year yet because I'm getting a free education (Bachelor's Degree) through my employer. Unfortunately that isn't help to pay the bills.
Any advice? Any words of caution? Should I use debt consolidation Care for my debt settlement?
Thanks!
Hi SueTessah, In distressful situation, debt settlement does
Hi SueTessah,
In distressful situation, debt settlement does help us to get out of debt and avoid bankruptcy. But it affects our credit score significantly.
As far as I know, debt consolidation Care is only a web-based community where we talk about debt to become debt free. It doesn't offer any debt settlement program.
I'm so sorry for what you are going through. Free education is
I'm so sorry for what you are going through.
Free education is worth alot these days, so don't discount that part of your income. If you go with debt settlement make sure you do your homework. Check and double check to find the right Co. and shop around. It will affect you credit rating so make sure you can live with the plan.
debt settlements do affect your credit rating, but so does your
debt settlements do affect your credit rating, but so does your debt/income ratio and the amount of debt you are carrying, even if you are current on your payments. I took a lot of time mulling it over too, because I had a business that closed and could not continue to pay the bills on the debt I had accumulated in trying to keep the business afloat. I started a settlement program in Feb. of this year and three accounts, including my two largest ones, are already settled. My comfort comes in knowing that this is a 36 month program and at the end of that time, I will be debt free and can start to work on raising my credit score again. Settlements are not for the faint-hearted, believe me. Dealing with creditors, collectors, all the phone calls (caller ID is a MUST!) and threats, and the possibililty of lawsuits from impatient creditors is tough to wade through. But the light at the end of the tunnel lets you sleep at night.
debt
debt settlement can be a 'negative' on your CR. However..........if your credit is ALREADY bad, what would it matter? Ya know? I guess there are pros and cons to this. I'm thinking of doing this myself...just don't know yet. Becareful of the scams, though.
You're right, most people in a settlement program have nothing t
You're right, most people in a settlement program have nothing to lose because they are already in a heap of trouble. A lot of people are current on their bills, and still in a heap of trouble. (I had a friend who had so much debt that even though she was current on her bills, she had a credit score that plummeted to under 500 because of the debt load and eventually went into bankruptcy.) But settlement clients have everything to gain, in the fact that in only a few years, you are debt free, and able to rebuild your credit! That is, if you don't fall back into the habits that put you into trouble in the first place! If you feel you can do it yourself, by all means, try it. I think that's the best way for most people.
SueTessah, you don't have to worry about credit card companies b
SueTessah, you don't have to worry about credit card companies beating down your door or putting you in handcuffs. They legally can't, under ANY circumstances. All they can do is call and harass you, and you can make the choice to talk to them or not. But if you don't, they may call your parents, like they did mine, for harassment. There is a slight chance they could sue, but those cases can often be settled before they get to court with payment arrangements. If you go to court, and lose, you'll be ordered to make payments, and NOT taken to jail. From personal experience, I found that coming clean with the people closest to you is a great weight off your shoulders. They may be even able to help - if not financially, at least emotionally.
Settlement Companies
I'm sorry to hear about your situation. Whatever route you choose know 2 things: You have nothing to be ashamed about and there is no such thing as credit card jail. debt settlement is a good option to getting out of debt. It's not the easiest route, but it does work. And especially now days, with the the state of economy, creditors are even more willing to settle than before. Not sure what companies you are looking at, but there are several - Freedom Debt I hear is systematic to what they will take in and have been doing settlemen for years, RAM Financial Services is a smaller yet good honest firm, and Rise Above debt relief seems to be a good company as well. Best of luck, you'll be out of this before you know it!
Thank you Everyone!
Thank you for your support and encouragement. I've just sent a very lengthy email off to SIFXPERT.net which I found great reviews for, in a different section of this forum. If they say they can help me, then I'm going to do it! I'll let you know!
Stay away from Sifxpert . You obviously didn't read a lot of the
Stay away from Sifxpert . You obviously didn't read a lot of the posts about him ripping people off. Sifxpert has a F rating with the BBB.
Oh my goodness, please, not sifxpert. If you look at the posts a
Oh my goodness, please, not sifxpert. If you look at the posts about him within just the past few pages, you'll see that while he might have helped people in the beginning, it turned bad and people have been ripped off royally. There are massive coordinated efforts underway to bring him to justice. Please do some more investigating.
Please Do not use Him !!!!!!!!!!!. He won't do anything !!! afte
Please Do not use Him !!!!!!!!!!!. He won't do anything !!! after u pay !!!!!! Pls search in this website for more info !!!! I signed up with him and never got any response until all my account sent to Debt collector !!! Do not believe easily on Debt sett co. A lot of scam out there.
Please Do not use Him !!!!!!!!!!!. He won't do anything !!! afte
Please Do not use Him !!!!!!!!!!!. He won't do anything !!! after u pay !!!!!! Pls search in this website for more info !!!! I signed up with him and never got any response until all my account sent to Debt collector !!! Do not believe easily on Debt sett co. A lot of scam out there.
debt
There are ALOT of complaints about Sifxpert. I've called this 'company' sometime ago.........was interested in their program. I looked them up on BBB and was very surprised on several complints aqainst them. I left several e-mails with them and never heard from the. I think the posts, on this forum, had helped me make a decision about choosing them.
Yikes! I guess I better keep looking!
I'm checking out Rise Above debt relief now. They are satisfactory on the BBB rating and have been around awhile. Jonny said they seem to be a decent company.
Anybody used them?
debt
I've never heard of Rise Above. Did you get thier name off the web? Even if they have a good rating on the BBB site, you should still becareful. I was interested in going through a certain debt comoany. They had a good rating on BBB, hoever, on another 'rating' site, they had terrible/negative comments.