Drowning in debt

What state are you in? Are you upside down on your mortgage? Have you looked at bankruptcy?

I do not need to or want to go into bankruptcy. My house is not upside down either but I have zero equity.

Im in Florida.

I just want to get back out of debt...the bills are creating a huge stress level and I do not want to start dipping into our 401Ks to pay them.

As for my credit score, I have not looked (Im scared too), I have been late 11 months in a row on my Mortgage (about 30-45 days). Im currently paid up right now....NOTHING is late but I have a big tax bill this year so I will be short on my mortgage to pay that tax bill.

Tough spot but many here have been there. Stop paying and save up for settlements. I did this without having any 401k reserve. You can use the money you put aside from not paying cards to settle. If needed, you could take a loan from 401k also to settle.

So I have to stop paying first?

Yes, no one will talk to you about settling until atleast 3 or more months late. Will trash credit but better than bankruptcy.

120k is a big hole to dig yourself out of. Going with debt settlement is your best option if your concern is to avoid bankruptcy. A 5 year settlement plan (60 months) would cost you about $1140 every month on 120k. This plan would get you completely debt free in the time frame. If you have any questions contact me via PM

That is $68,400. What is that ? about 60%.?

You can do it yourself for much less. Anywhere from 25-40%.

I agree with Kaylee. I did it myself with an average of 25%.

Quote:

How can I do it myself for < 40%?? I have already contacted a debt management firm because I want to solve this problem but now Im scared I did the wrong thing.

Cedit card companies can still sue me for the full amount right?

Should I cancel the agreement with the debt management company (Oak View Law Group)? Money is going to be started with them tomorrow.

Greetings Drowning in Debt,

You can do this yourself.

Settlement is no big deal if you have a plan.
Sure your credit is toast for a while and there's always the possibility that the cc's may sue.

Before I found this great forum, I was also looking to hire a DS company.
But after reading the fine print of the contracts, there was nothing that they offered that I could not do myself.

But you've got to be organized.
Create a spreadsheet and track everything, blances, days late contact numbers...etc

Remember you can do this (with a little help from your friends in here) :cool:.

Good Luck,
King "Kash" Jabba Labba

King is correct! You can do this yourself and avoid hefty fees! What percentage is business debt and are you incorporated?

Zero business debt, Yes I have an S-corp.

My fear is simple. The credit card companies recently jacked up my interest rates to 24%...my mortage is coming due in 1 year (5 year ARM) and Im extended beyond belief. I have good cash flow but Im sinking behind on my mortgage to pay my other monthly expenses.

I hate that I have to go behind on my credit card payments to negotiate with them. I would love to have a freeze suspended accounts and then low interest so I can pay of the principle. I think I can do a 6 year $100K pay back if i had < 5% interest.

I have a monthly spread sheet already...Im on top as much as I can, I know how many days late. Every interest payment, etc. My car payment is ending this month so that frees up some money.

I just contacted Oak View Law and asked them to cancel my agreement for now. I think with the help of this forum I can figure this out. I do not want to cancel all my credit and get a huge drop in my credit rating just yet.


Btw, I created a user id call "didhelp"

Thanks for all the advice

Did- it may be worth a call to those credit card companies. Be honest with them, and let them know you're struggling, and see if they can put you into any programs. FWIW, we had some great conversations with Citi before we were delinquent, and as soon as we were a week late, they moved us right over to the 0% for 60 month program- which was what we wanted.

We also didn't want to be behind, or stiff anyone... but had to play by their rules (and hitting a big pothole with our business helped put us in that position).

Keep us posted!
~Matt