Urgent: How do I start the Debt Settlement process?

This link may give you the answers: http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/credit-card.html

You can start by calling your creditors to see if they will lower your interest rates, but most likely they will not. The credit card companies don't usually offer any reduction in the amount you owe untill you are 90 to 180 days behind on your payments. It usually has to go into a collection status before they will consider reducing the debt.

Have you considered talking to a debt settlement company? I would look for a debt settlement company who has attorneys who will oversee your file and that will do a financial ananysis to determine if debt settlement is right for you. If you can afford to make monthly payment that will go towards settling your debt, then this could be a good option because it would allow you to reduce your debts by up to 60%. Once your debts are settled your credit score will begin to go back up.
If you cannot afford to make monthly payments and you are struggling just to meet your living expenses, then bankruptcy (chapter 7) may be better for you. I hope thing get better for you, but you are not alone, there are many people going through tough times right now. Just keep looking for answers and solutions, you can get through this.

I already know I'm going to do the debt settlement myself. I'll be able to come up with the lump sums necessary from family. I just need to know how I should start. Send a letter? Call? Send a lot of documentation? What are they looking for?

It's great you have the money to settle, the problem is they are not ready to offer a settlement. If they see you have the money to settle before you have missed any payments, they will ask for the regular monthly payment and not even consider settlement. As the guest above posted you will have to wait 90 plus days, it's mental warfare. Good luck.

If I make payments I'll just pay myself into a hole and I won't have any money to settle with. I'm assuming they will offer 50% but I'm shooting for 30% or so. I can wait, just don't want to go to court if the bank wants to put a lien on my property.

So I'm nervous that they will not be able to understand my situation.

Most likely the creditors wouldn't straight way head towards the court. They would try all available means to collect the debt without involving the court. However, I'd agree with what Guest59 has said, most of the lenders wouldn't consider settlement if you stay current with payments. They would need to write off the loan before agreeing on settlement. But you can negotiate to lower the interest rate on the loan.

Anyway, Good Luck!!! Hope you soon find yourself out of debt.

You should really look at all the different ways out of debt. If you lose your job, Chapter 7 could be the quickest way out. You should consult with a bankruptcy attorney who can analyze your entire financial situation.

Everyone here is correct. No one will settle with you until at least 90 days but your best deals are in the 150 to 180 day range. 30% for all accounts is not realistic. You can search around here but American Express and Discover are considered to be the hardest companies to deal with. 50% is a better goal.

As everyone here has already said, there is not much you can do right now. You will have to wait it out. The credit card companies usually will not settle until you are atleast 3 months behind in payments. The one thing I would recomend you do is get a copy of your credit report. This will show you all your creditors. The other thing I would like to point out to you, is that if you decided to go with debt settlement, a debt settlement company would be contacting your creditors to let them know you have enrolled in a debt settlement plan. This may help ward off any law suits, but it is not a guarantee. If the debt settlement company has attorneys who send out that notice, it puts you in a little stronger position, especially if they know that bankruptcy may also be an option. Good luck and let us know if you have any other questions.

I'm making my first phone calls tonight to all my credit card companies that I owe money to tell them that I won't be able to pay at this time because of my wife's hospitalization and her job loss.

Should I offer them a solution or should I wait and tell them that I can get some money for settlement from my wonderful family members. I know they won't offer me anything, but they might think that I'm on the ball on how to solve my situation.

Oops I forgot to log in above...

When I called them every company offered me some kind of hardship. I'm glad I read stuff on this site and prepared my income and expense ledger. This helped me tell them how much in the red I am and that I wouldn't be able to take the hardship program. I said I'd talk to my parents to see if they could help me in hardship, but I would have to sell it to them to make sure that this wouldn't drag on nor happen again. I told them I would have to look at what every cc company offered and then decide. Truthfully, I'm only going to do settlement.

I also told them that I spoke with a bankruptcy attorney about my situation and he recommended I go the route of settlement or see what kind of hardship programs were out there first. In actuality, I did speak to an bankruptcy attorney, but he didn't recommend anything but chapter 7 or 13. He didn't understand my entire situation. He did tell me since I live in Korea they can't garnish my wages. yippie!

MN - Thanks for giving me a process to follow.

It is true. AA and Discover are the most hard nosed.

FIRST CALL OFFERS - NEVER MISSED A PAYMENT:
Amex Hardship: 6mo. at 0% then 6mo. at 9.9% with a payment of $365/mo (same) They said they can't change the payment at this time.
Amex Settlement: They mentioned (didn't offer) 90% settlements that are generally offered. (so they say)

Chase Personal Hardship: 12 mo. at 6% with a $266/mo (1% of balance-it's usually 2%)
Chase Personal Settlement: They mentioned (didn't offer) that I wouldn't get a settlement for any less than 50% since my account is less than a year old. They said in settlement after an accepted offer the first installment needs to happen in 10 days then the rest in 90 days of the offer. I WAS AMAZED TO HEAR THIS ON THE FIRST CALL!

Chase Business Hardship: They submitted a request for me.
Chase Business Settlement: Probably the same.

Discover Hardship: Right now I have 0% on $9000 and 12% on 13000 and they offered 20k for 6mo. at 3.99% or lower payments for 6mo. at 10.99%
Discover Settlement: They said that they do not offer settlements.

Citi Hardship: need to call.
Citi Settlement: need to call.

It seems that my post vanished...odd. Good luck and let us know how things progress!