Everyone with sucess story with settlement Co

Go it alone. The debt settlement company will charge exorbitant fees and won't do anything for you that you can't figure out yourself with information available for free on the internet. I initially signed up with a debt settlement company -- they collected $3K of my money (while I'm on the brink of bankruptcy) and then ignored me for a whole month when I asked them to start negotiating with one of my creditors.

I'm sure there are decent firms out there, but I think many of them are bottom scraping and praying on people in their time of need. And in dire financial straits, you are really wasting precious pennies when you spend it on something you could have done yourself. Also, forcing yourself to deal with it is probably necessary to preventing it from happening again. It shouldn't be easy. You got yourself into the mess, now you'll fully realize (as I am) what you did and will be sure to never do it again.

Also, a debt settlement company can't do a thing for you if your creditor chooses to sue.

I just settled my first debt tonight, alone. Well with the help of this forum and site. Read on and visit the debt settlement part of the site.

http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/debt-settlement.html

Hi Karen, all your questions can be replied simply by saying that all would depend upon your choice of the settlement company. An exhaustive background search on the company before joining the bandwagon has therefore been recommended by several members, several times across the board.

Inresponse to Cdubs how long of a period was it till your default on the card and till you settled, I afraid that till I can save they might sue anyway, my biggest is 17k out of 4 debts.
I was told that when you enter in a program the creditors know that they will be getting somthing down the line VS doing it myself.
And yes trust me I will never use a f.... credit card again..
no cash no buy.

i had a 2 year program and yes it was sucessful by my terms. i had close to 20,000 worth of debt and most of it was settled between month 8-15. i wouldnt recommend a term longer than 2 years or you will likely get sued. and in the end i did get sued by 1 card citibank that refused to settle it happens. but trust me there are worse things. its scary getting sued but once you get there its not as bad as you think. Its important that if you are looking into a company that they are honest and upfront with you what can or could happen and how the process works. if they lie dont bother because how will you ever be able to trust them? there are good companies out there but you must do the research to find them. My suggestion is read up on settlement and know the facts. Also know that you can do this for yourself.

Good luck to you!

Debt settlement can be done on your own and only you know whether you are willing to put the time into learning the things you need to do it and if you are disciplined enough to do it on your own. I hear from people everyday who had made mistakes in trying to settle their own debt and it can be very costly.

However, in my opinion, that is not the only reason people should carefully consider if they are going to do this on your own. Being in debt and struggling is an emotionally draining experince and the more you concetrate on it the more it overwhelms people. It often prevents people from doing what they need to do in other areas of their life. If you have more positive things to work on whether it be enjoying your family, working to be the best person you can be, or improving your earning potential, that is a far better way to spend your time. That is not to say you shouldn't learn from any financial mistakes you may have made. You must recognize your financial situation and then make informed decisions on how you are going to handle it and not dwell on it everyday. Move on with your life. You have to look at the big picture and remember the important things in life.

I wish I could say that all debt settlement companies are really helping people because there are many that do not. Hopefully soon the industry will be regualted so that the companies who do not provide the best service, are weeded out.

There are good debt settlement companies out there and here are some questions you should ask:

1. Do they have attorneys licensed in your home state who will be overseeing your case? Attorneys are knowledgable on consumer law and are bound by a code of ethics. Some debt settlement companies have attorneys and some do not. Look for a company that does have licensed attorneys.

2. Does your money go towards settling your debts from day one? Make sure that the debt settlement company does not take all their fees before your money goes towards settling your debt. That indicates that they have little incentive to make sure you complete the program.

3. Do they do an in depth financial analysis that is attorney reviewed to determine if debt settlement is a good option for you? If debt settlement is not a good option for you, you shouldn't be enrolled in the program. There are many reasons why some people are not going to be able to benefit from the program and the only way to determine this is by analyzing your financial situation.

this was my experience why i ended up using a company. I ran into trouble tried to negotiate one myself without knowing the facts and they double dipped my checking account leaving me pennyless for about 2 months which snowballed my situation even worse. It is a great thing to be able to settle your debts yourself but you must be well informed and know the facts and not be rattled easily. frankly i was falling apart at this time and the whole scenerio scared me to death. at that point in my life i needed help and was greatful for the settlement company that i used. it was better on my family at the time and to my health to hand that debt to someone else to handle it for me and i was more than willing to give them a % of what was saved by me. It was worth the money to me at the time and it didnt feel like a complete blow to my savings. Its a personal choice as to were you are in your life.