If I try to settle my own debts will I have to pay lump sums?

Settlements are generally a lump sum. Some willa accept 3 pays, a few six.

I know debt settlement companies put you on programs for 36 months but how do they get the creditors to wait that long to get paid. Obviously my credit will go bad but do you think I could get the creditors to wait that long?

Probably not. Personally I think it is insane to let somebody else sit on your money (and the interest) for any length of time. Since your scores are going to tank anyways, I would try to lay low until you had enough money saved up to settle and then do it yourself.

The problem is I owe about $35,000 on 4 cards. I figure if I could save $1,000 a month by not paying my creditors and the creditors settle for half the debt that would take me about 17-18 months and I don't think they (whoever was the last creditor to get paid was) would hold off that long.

On the other hand the house I own has no equity so I am not worried about a lien.

None of the creditors are BofA where the money will be held but I am still fearful of them seizing or freezing my BofA account that I will store the money in.

They can also garnish my wages in CA up to 25% of the gross income which there is nothing I can do about that either.

You settle with each creditor as you get a sum of money in the bank. Pick on the one that is most likely to sue you first.

In order to garnish, they have to sue you first. And they have to know where you work. It is called stalling.

Remember most of the time your creditor doesn't hang on to the note. It's sold to collection companies for pennies on the dollar. That is why time frames are extended out to 36 months and why you can settle accounts to a lower amount.

I'm a professional debt negotiator and DO NOT think it is wise to let anyone else handle your money. PERIOD. There are horror stories of 'debt consolitaion' companies going out of business and the consumer losing all the money deposited.

I would suggest picking the creditors off, one creditor at a time and, perhaps use a good negotiator who will charge you on results only.

Bernie

I am in a debt settlement program and no one else handles my money. My funds go into a special account, and I have to approve any payments that are made. The settlement company has my power of attorney to negotiate the settlements, but I have control over my money. So being in some sort of program doesn't automatically mean you will be ripped off. But it is a good thing to settle your debts yourself if you feel you can manage it.

However, even in a program, there is the risk of being sued by impatient creditors. It has happened to me twice, and each time we were able to negotiate a settlement before it went to court. Some of them will NOT want to wait, and that can happen whether you are settling yourself or not.

A lot of creditors are settling for way under 50% now, though, so you may be able to do this all in way under 17 or 18 months. While they generally want a lump sum or two payments, some will stretch it out to three or four but will charge you a bit more for the bother. If you have $1000 a month to spend on settling the accounts, you may be able to do this pretty well.

If you don't mind, can you tell us what Settlement Program you are using, SUSIEQ? Any extra fees involved,etc?

Hello chargers, I think we touched on this one other time. I am with Superior Debt Services, and I know you had a bad experience with them (or at least with one bad employee). But I have had very good luck in my first year. They do charge a fee of 15% of the original debt, spread out over the first 18 months or so of the program. It only accounts for part of the payment I make into my account, though, so from the first month onward there is money being built up to start settling accounts. I probably would have tried to do this on my own if I didn't have such a big mess - $90,000 of debt spread over nine accounts - I had a business that closed that left me in a very big hole, and I made the decision, after quite a lot of research, to turn the whole shebang over to professionals. They were very up front with me about the pitfalls as well as the good things, so the two summons I have received so far did not come as a huge surprise. We were able to work those out as it was. I have told everyone I can, that settling is not for the faint-hearted, whether on your own or with a program. It is not a quick fix. It is a last resort before bankruptcy. But the knowledge that I will be debt-free soon keeps me going. I have settled five of my nine accounts in the first year (four with the program, one on my own) so the progress has been super. And the one I settled on my own was removed from the program along with Superior's fees for that account, making my monthly payment a few hundred dollars less.

Regarding your BofA credit card (FDIC). I bank with them and they never touched my accounts. My card was at $15000.00 after six months of no payment/correspondence with them they finally got a hold of me at work. They offered to settle for 20%. ($3000.00) over a six month period. That debt is forgiven but I owe on the $12000. of the debt forgiven, to the IRS which is about $2160.... good ol' Uncle Sam. My experience, BofA/FDIC is the best to work with. They were courteous (the letters, not so much) and eager to work with me. I would definitely try to work something out with them first. The other 10 creditors WE have to deal with.... UGH!