Need advice - just starting the settlment process
Date: Mon, 12/14/2009 - 12:21
I???m new to the debt settlement process. I had considered going through one of those companies, but after hearing others??? stories, both on and off this site, I figured why not do it myself and use the money I would pay the settlement company towards one of my settlement offers. Long story short, my finances are all over the place and I can no longer afford to make payments on several of my cards. I had perfect credit a year ago. Never missed a payment. Highest fico score was a 780. Well, I purchased my first property, a condo, in 2006 in which I was ill-advised by my realtor (which was a close friend) to do interest-only for 2 years then before it adjust, just refinance, as if it were that simple. Well, we all know the story ??? the bottom dropped, there was no option of refinancing, my rate adjusted several times adding on almost an extra $1000 to my monthly mortgage payment that was already $1800, and my property lost its value, in which it is now worth $165,000, a huge decline from the $310,000 I paid for it in 2006. So not being able to make the newly adjusted mortgage, on top of getting sick last year and having to go on disability, cutting my income significantly, my condo is now in the short-sale process(if they accept the offer); if not, then it will be foreclosed on. On top of that, I have $75,000 in student loans (undergrad and grad). With all that has transpired over the last year with my home, my credit card rates have shot up, even though I haven???t missed any payments, and my available credit on each card has been reduced within $50-$100 dollars of my balances. So I feel, settlement is the only option that is left for me, other than filing chapter 7, which at this point, I have no problem doing if it will relieve some of this stress. But I would like to pay the companies something since I did use the cards and it is unfortunate that I???m in this situation, but I want to at least do what I can to help rectify things.
With that said, I???m just starting out with the following cards and would love any advice or hear of experiences and what I can expect with those of you who have settled (or tried to settle) with these cards:
Citi MasterCard 2200
Discover 1700
Sears 1400
Best Buy 1100
Amex 1200
Target 1100
BMW Visa 2200
Also, is it possible to settle on the original balances prior to defaulting? Any advice is greatly appreciated and I???m so thankful to have found this site!
Mya
[COLOR=black]I also am just taking my first tentative steps towa
[COLOR=black]I also am just taking my first tentative steps towards ending my unsecured debt problems. Ill let others comment on the unsecured dept question. However, I have some advice on your condo.[/COLOR]
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[COLOR=black]Before you cave in and take a bath on the condo remember, the bank/mortgage company does NOT want to own your condo. They will go a long way to prevent it, primarily because the banks are government insured.[/COLOR]
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[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]Under the “Home Affordable Modification Program” there is help through Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac. [URL="http://www.fedhomeaffordableplan.com/?gclid=CL2w8Kjt1p4CFUhB5godChqyQA"]http://www.fedhomeaffordableplan.com/?gclid=CL2w8Kjt1p4CFUhB5godChqyQA[/URL][/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=black]You owe it to yourself to check this out FIRST, before dealing with the CC companies. You do this first because the program takes into account all of your other obligations. HUGE interest reductions can be found here as well as causing your mortgage to become a term loan, with no fees. [/COLOR]
Badabing, believe me, I've looked into every option possible and
Badabing, believe me, I've looked into every option possible and the fact of the matter is I can't afford the home, even if they reduced the payment to $1000 nor do I want the home, as the property is run down, the HOA is a chaotic mess that can't get along to fix anything, and I lived next to a neighbor from hell that I frankly didn't feel safe around, being a young woman. I'm just looking for a fresh start and think settling is a path to get me there. I've accepted my situation and am ok with the credit and financial consequences; now I just want to work on moving foward.
So any other advice is greatly appreciated.
With only 10K in cc debt, I don't think BK would be a good idea,
With only 10K in cc debt, I don't think BK would be a good idea, unless it would wipe out your student loan and I don't think it would. If you want to try DIY DS then you just stop making payments and they will start calling with offers. You will probably get your best settlement offer between 150 and 180 days late. Your credit will take a big hit, but you have to do what you have to do.