What to do now
Date: Mon, 03/29/2010 - 08:26
The Hardship Program for Chase only lowered payment by $40 but rate went down to 2.9% and Citi went to 0% and payment went down $200 to $646.
We have only been on program 2 months but are still having a hard time making payments. We are left with very little to live off of. I don't want to mess up the two programs but don't know how we are going to keep paying. My husband travels for work so we spend a lot on gas and we are going to need oil again soon for the house. Luckily the warmer weather should be here soon so we can cut back on heat.
We thought about Debt Settlement but we don't have any cash on hand to pay and we aren't that behind so they probably wouldn't settle now and if we stop paying to get more behind they might not accept and then we lose Hardship Program too. We looked into Debt Management but the monthly payment was the same as what we're paying on our own plus $45 monthly fee from Debt company.
My husband has a very stressful job partly b/c it's all commission and partly b/c what he sells is in the Health field and if people don't have a job or are strapped they don't go to the Doctor or Dentist so we don't make money. We have 2 1/2 year old and have been stressed and don't want to affect him. I'm looking into some kind of work from home to help make some money b/c otherwise if I was able to get job and send son to daycare I would pay in daycare what I earned plus gas so it doesn't make sense.
We don't know what to do next. If we could get payments lowered more would help but both Programs said that was as low as they could go. Should I try to call again or send letter saying we can't make the payments? Could they kick us off program? One Plan is auto payment out of account so that one is hard to stop.
Overwhelmed, confused and feel helpless.
Hi I am a newbie here so my advice might not be as practical. W
Hi
I am a newbie here so my advice might not be as practical. We were in the same situation as you are with less debt, though. We too have a 2 year old and a baby coming this fall. I couldn't just not post anything
My husband has a very stressful job and when we realized that we can't handle the debts anymore, we went delinquent. All cc are on his name and we decided that he will be the one to do the talking. After almost 5 months our situation got only worse. He got more stressed and our life became impossible.I am not the kind of person to be good at talking but I decided to do it myself finally. I gave all the creditors my number and prepared. In two weeks I settled 2 accounts out of 4. The terms are not good comparing to what other people get on this site but I can't deal with this for too long. I want to concentrate on my family. I got 45% on Amex, 60 on Discover.
I understand that it's difficult to negotiate and even pick up the phone when you have a toddler. Believe me, I wouldn't want to do that but it was the best for us. Our situation is different that we owe 35 instead of 85 thousands but when it comes to negotiating the more debt you have, the easier to get a lower settlement. Also take into consideration how long have you had the card. The longer, the better as I understood. If you are not ready to talk often (though I recommend taking as many calls as poss) then call each creditor yourself but not earlier than 20th of the month and only once a month. One rep told me that they can't approve a lesser amount this month and i would get a better deal next month and also advised me just to call a week later. It might not be true but could be.
I didn't do letters. When I started handling all this we were too close to charge off anyway and there was not more time. I would say letter will help but calling is better. Because we have less debt, the probability of a law suit is bigger from what I understand.
I would say, be honest with yourself. Can you do it? Can you pay off? Debt consolidation ( we were on hardship program ) didn't work for us and we decided to settle. The money we got from family, savings and tax refund. We also borrowed but will be giving it back with 0%:))
Then educate yourself, Read a lot about each creditor and decide the amount you can pay to each. Every time they call say the same - explain why and that you don't have money now. At 90-120 days of delinquency give them a number and stick to it. With me, it all depended on a person I was talking to. Once a woman really related to me, next time it was a guy who understood what we're going thru. Other times I spoke with heartless people or that's how they seemed.
Every rep told me to go find a job. As you, my salary ould barely cover childcare and no, i don't have family around and don't qualify for state programs. Sometimes it was hard to tell them that staying at home was only partially my choice. I really want to get education and provide for the family as well but I need to be debt free for that. so we decided to trash our credit history.
Good luck!
Call them, ask them again and again for better terms or you'll just stop paying them at all. Tell them you want to work with them but so should they!
A lot of people on this site say do BK as a last resort, this is
A lot of people on this site say do BK as a last resort, this is from my personal experience, I've been through Chapter 7 BK, it was the best thing I ever did, it been 7 to 8 years ago, and I know the laws have changed since then. But we recovered rather quickly and started get credit back with in a year. It may not be what right for you, but I know it lifted the world off of my shoulders. You might check into it, and weigh your options.