All cards at once or a few at a time?

i could be wrong, but the fact that you have a 0% card tells me that this is a new account. this particular account they are not going to be willing to work with you i dont believe. Because frankly they havent made any money on it yet its all of what you charged or transfered so you are going to expect them to eat most of the actual charged amount.

now it seems that you have 2 of each cards if you keep current with one, i dont believe that they will be very willing to help out. Frankly speaking your % are very very low and i wonder if they are interductory rates also, if these are new accounts you must understand that they are not gonna be very helpful.

if your considering settlement, in my opinion its best to just stop paying all of them and start saving. the creditors can see if you are current on your other accounts and this could be a disadvantage for you. I would also change banks. I dont think they could know or check into your checking but i have heard of worse things also so just to be safe i would close all that out and use a different bank. but just my opinion.

The 0% citi card i had since 2004, they sent me a balance transfer offer and i paid off the balance and deposited the check in my checking which i used to pay off a 4000 checking plus balance and $8000 went to the other citibank card with the 16% interest balance.

here is how long i have the cards for:

Citi 12k 0% - 2004
Citi 8k 16% - 2006
Chase 3k 8% - 2005
Chase 8k 3.9% - 2008
Discover 3k 3.9% - 2007

I hope that by me doing a balance transfer and depositing the check in my checking accoung from the first citi cards this wont effect settlement options.

the last thing i want is to go default and then they charge me all these crazy APR's and fees and actually make me pay all of them instead of settling.

Yes, if you want to settle your debt for less, you need to stop paying your creditors and register with a good debt settlement company who will negotiate on your behalf with your creditors to repay the debt.
I don't think that it will be a problem settling the debt with Citibank if you did not link the card with your Citibank checking account.

I have all my citibank cards linked to my checking, so when i go online i can transfer money to them and see the balances.

Im gonna open another checking with a different bank just in case.

i am thinking of trying to settle this my self, so far from my reading i gather that what i need to do is stop payment, wait 60-120 days then send letters to them explaining my situation or wait for them to contact me. and then ask for a settlement to pay off the account.

i know i make it sound simple, but that is my understanding from the reading ive been doing here.

am i correct?

you got the idea. make sure that you come up with a hardship letter. and frankly what this is is telling them your personal story of how you ended up there. call it a sad sob, but that is what it is make it as personal as you can and threaten if this does not work, bk is your only other option you have no choice.

be sure to read up on what can, will, and could happen during settlement so you are prepared and not caught off gaurd. remember these people do this everyday and they will try to trick you. if you are aware and know the facts they cant fool you.

good luck to you!

First off, a settlement of 35% is not realistic, the average for debt settlement is 40-60%. Yes, you do have to stop paying on your cards, all accounts must be in collections before any settlement process can begin. Also, If I understood you right you mentioned that you took cash advances on one of your cards. If this is so, you must continue to pay on that account for at least 6 months or you could be sued for fraud.
Finally, you can certainly try to settle the accounts by yourself, but you have to ask yourself the question, do I have the time and stomach to go through it. You will have to spend a tremondous amount of time on the phone with the collection agencies. Contrary to what you may be thinking, enrolling in a debt setlement program with a reputable company, one that belongs to (TASC) The Association of Settlement Companies, will generally end up with better results and take the stress and anxiety of you so you can move on with your life without all the distractions.

If you are considering going to settlement, then I would stop paying all of them and saving for the settlement. What I personally reccommend is putting all your efforts into paying downt the cards with the highest interest first, and then working your way down since a high interest is going to continue to eat you alive. As far as I know, just because you have a Citibank account does not mean they can just take the money in your account to apply to your credit card, but don't take my work on that, I would ask a real financial advisor.

They can not debit your account to pay a credit card. The only exception to this is if you have a personal loan thru a credit union, then they can. Secondly, if you decide to just pay off the debts, start with the lowest debt amount first, then proceed from there. It will give you a psychological boost to see the card debts disappear and motivate you to go on.

They can not debit your account to pay a credit card. The only exception to this is if you have a personal loan thru a credit union, then they can. Secondly, if you decide to just pay off the debts, start with the lowest debt amount first, then proceed from there. It will give you a psychological boost to see the card debts disappear and motivate you to go on.

How bad is your struggle?
From the looks of things, your credit score should be worth salvaging. Have you looked into a DMP which would not involve ruining your credit. Settlements are a viable option, but only if you have no way to pay anything close. Since you are thinking of settlement then you have some $$ for a DMP in my opinion. Please explore all your options...
Good Luck!!

How bad is your struggle?
From the looks of things, your credit score should be worth salvaging. Have you looked into a DMP which would not involve ruining your credit. Settlements are a viable option, but only if you have no way to pay anything close. Since you are thinking of settlement then you have some $$ for a DMP in my opinion. Please explore all your options...
Good Luck!!

So no one gets settlements unless all of their credit cards are in default or have missed payments?

Why would a ceditor settle on an account if you have been paying on time. For the most part the answer to your question is yes. The accounts would have to be in a collection status in order for a Collection Agency to be open discussing a settlement. Remember the collection agency buys the debt, has made an investment and is open to settlement. Typically they buy the debt for .20 cents to the dollar , so a 40-60% settlement is atractive to them. It can be a frustrating process and reqiures consistent communicaion with the agency to show you are serious and committed to settling. You need to evaluate your short term and long term ability to pay back the debts on time. If you are strugging and anticipate missing payments occasionaly, your credit is going to be damaged anyway. Consideration should be given to "Biting the Bullet" and possbily consider a DS program: which would get you on the path to becoming debt free. I have had many clients who tried to settled debts on their own, get frustrated and stressed out, eventually realizing it is better to hand their accounts over to professionals who deal with the process on a daily basis and know the game inside and out. Good luck!

Yes, you cannot settle an account unless you are in default. If you are in default then the creditor knows that you will not be able to pay and they will not get there money. That is why most are willing to settle. They are willing to settle for a portion of the debt (at least 50 percent, I believe) rather than have you declare bankruptcy or something else where they get no money at all. That's the only reason why they settle.

If I have 4 BofA accounts 2 around 14K and the other 28k, the 4th one is only around $400. Right now the large ones are just about to be 30 days late but the small one I wanted to keep and pay since its so small. By me keeping the small one on time will that hurt my stettlement talks later down the road. And if I settle the 3 will they just close the 4th one when its paid off? I also have the same thing with Capital One, 1 is like $300 or so and the other 2 are 8k and 3k. When all is said and done I was hoping that I could have the 2 small ones since I had them so long and it would help build my credit back up later.

I think everyone is missing the point here. He is simply asking if one must be late on all unsecured debts in order to receive a settlement. The converse being, the ability to settle a few cards at a time. 2 cards for 6 months, and then another 3 cards later on. Most people say to let all your cards go into default, however typically the person wanting the settlement does not have enough money to settle a lump sum for each and every card all at one. Let's get back to the focus of this thread... Thanks.

Would be it better to pay off the small cards with Discover Card with money from a relative and let the others that you cannot afford stay in default?

This question is of interest to me, as well. Though I am racking up $600/month in interest debt, I am still able to make the minimum payments, and am frightened by the thought of stopping payment on all cards at once....I would love to settle one at a time.....

Does anyone have any experience with this question? There are a lot of people trying to understand whether they have to let all cards go. Please see the third post above.