My journey starts today! (updated regularly)

chase 1st missed 4/24/10
amex 1st missed 4/23/10
cap 1 1st missed 4/20/10

still getting calls from discover and boa. both are pushing hard to get me into the hardship program after just 1 missed payment.

Hi Blackbeasst,
I have appreciated your posts and your willingness to share your story. I will do the same:
I have Citi 1-- 18k
Citi 2-- 18 k
Chase 21k
Bof A 40 k

Right now I am 18 days late on one citi and 36 on the other.
I am current on the other two but will be late as of May.

Citi has called about 13 times a day. I talk to them about once a week and tell them the same thing. I have 2 mortgages, one very new and no equity and the other I am upside down on. Cars are 18 years old. I took a $12 hour pay cut and no longer get overtime.
They want me to go on a pymt plan but I hope to settle, has not been mentioned yet.
I will post updates. Ask any questions and I will try to answer. it looks like we are about on the same timeframe...
thanks,
Kaylee

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and the calls from cap1 start

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^ stupid firefox not keepin me logged in :)

I broke down and told my daughter last night why I have been so stress out. STOPPED paying my credit card because CC raise my inst rate and minimum monthly payments. It went from 300. to 900. a month. They shot them self in the foot, I had never missed a payment or been late!

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Guest123, we see that type of behavior replicating itself across the country. I urge people not to let the credit card companies get their teeth into you. Everyone loses in your situation....

ok guys. after talking with my wife in detail last night, the big B word finally came up.

the more we talked the more that seems to be the most logical thing to do. cause to be honest the way we were going to pay for my settlement was an initial low interest convenience check on her credit card (she has probably less thank $1000 debt and low 800 credit score) for roughly $8000 and i would put my $500 a month in and be done in a year or so.

now i know this isn't the BK forum, and i have been doing extensive research on both bankruptcy and debt settlement, but really the only negative i can find with doing BK over DS is it staying on my credit report for 10 years. and even DS stays on there for a while although not as negative of a hit.

i already have a house and car so its not like we would need my credit for either of those any time soon and they would be protected from BK as we would still make the payments.

i know this is the easiest pansy way out, but i am beginning to think its the best way.

i have not spoken with an attorney so i am not 100% sure this is the right path yet.

and im sure i will get lambasted for thinkin about bk, but thats ok. all comments questions and concerns are welcomed.

well that should be a last resort,but if it comes to that then you tried to avoid it.no shame in that.

I know you are a logical person and will make the best decision possible.

Sorry to sound like it was just retaliation, it's NOT, having major health issues and can no longer work! plus my husband lost his job. PLUS we will lose our home in the next few months, bank refuses mod loan :( At this point no longer sure I want to settle, just saw a bk attorney this morning. His advice is to not settle or do bk until we see what's going on with the house!

blackbeasst, I wouldn't borrow from peter to pay paul! I thought settling was doing the right thing! Now after talking to the atorney it may not be the best thing to do in our situation. Plus you may not even be offer a settlement, like in my case. I'm over 180 days past due and my cc won't even discuss a settlement. My husband had borrow from his 401K hoping & praying we could settle for 35%, so we have some cash setting around. Attorney said we could either put it back into the 401K or use it to move, (for rent etc).

If these stories are common, then this country is really in trouble. People like blackbeasst are genuinely good folks who happened to get in over their heads. I wish yall the best.

Goodluck blackbeasst - i am in a simular situation and almost signed up with some creditsettlement company - which from the sounds of it on this forums - could be a very risky venture.

I think i would like to see how this turns out for you.

thanks guys. i will keep updating this as i progress.

yes bruce, i was shocked to see the numbers for bk over the past years. its crazy how much it has jumped.

looks like unfortunately i will soon be a number. but i guarandamntee that my daughter will not follow in my footsteps. i will be involved with her finances and show her how her dad really screwed up so she wont be a statistic like her dad!

Hi, as I was going through you situation which you are in right now. I personally think that you should go for a debt settlement program, because a debt settlement program not only helps you pay off your debt as soon as possible but also helps you to save a lot of money after paying your debts. However a debt management program is not a good option for you as per your financial situation because even if a debt settlement company will go ahead and negotiate on your APR that will not give you any benefit, maybe your monthly payment would be reduced but you have to pay the entire amount with the principal and with the finance charges and it will take more than what you have actually expected. However it is true that in a debt settlement program your credit score is getting affected as you are not paying any money to your creditors. But once when these debts are paid off you can initially work on rebuilding your credit score.


Best of luck

I also thought about bankruptcy mid 2009 but decided to go settlement route. So far I settled $44,000 for $10,000 on my own. I still have $10,000 with 3 other cards that charged off. I hope to settle those soon. We all have different situations and must do what is best for us.

As per blackbeast request I will move my own story to a new thread. Titled Progression of Settlement.

But to comment on this latest..I know people who have done both bankruptcy and settlement and by far I think settlement is best. Of course I am aiming for that so a bit prejuduiced I admit but for me it gives me some more peace morally as this is a very hard thing to do.
But on the practical side and from what my friends told me--bk harms you credit for quite some time and in ways you would not think, my friend works contract jobs and has to have credit check each time and has lost some jobs due to this. Also unexpected things one normally counts on credit for like medical, car or house repair. Compilation of this cost him a divorce.
The friend who settled is much better off and says 2 years and credit is back on track.
Just fyi

man these guys just don't give up. calling on the day of rest to set up a payment!

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Blackbeasst, how about an update. :) Did you make a decision or still mulling it over on the bk vs. settlement?
Kaylee

actually going to talk to an attorney next tuesday to weigh options. still getting calls though! didn't wanna update every time they call :)

Yeah, 13 times a day might be too many updates... LOL
I get calls on Sunday like you too...I only have Citi calling me since those are only two I am late on but I will talk to them and they still call 30 minutes later!

boa called me twice within 2 hours sunday. i told them the second time (jokingly of course) that "man y'all love calling me multiple times per day don'tcha"!

it also sounds like that the odd times they call (weekend, early mornings and later at night) that the people are younger and seem to be working from home! i coulda sworn i heard either some kids in the background or the tv in one call :)

another interesting call from discover today. long story short they wanted me to pay $20 to get it back in somewhat good standing. i again politely told her i can't make the payment. in a somewhat rude tone she said "you can't budget or borrow $20 a month?". i politely asked her name again and said, "xxx, can i borrow $20 a month to pay my card"? she didn't seem to find that funny and said "we're not able to do that" and said that i'm almost at 60 days and that its going to report and more or less hung up on me.

blackbeast, I got that too. it was for $160 to pay off the late fee and that that would keep if from doing something. Honestly, I didn't understand it but I just stuck to my guns of no I can't.

Today I am going to send in a counter offer of 25% on both Citi. will let you know

Whenever you apply for anything you are asked if you had a bankruptcy, you are never asked if you had a settlement, that to me is the dealbreaker. If settlement doesn't work you can always go for bankruptcy, but once you go bankrupt your stuck with it. Do you want the courts to regulate your debt the next 5 years through bankruptcy? And the attorney is usually looking for his fee, and is clueless about settlement because it competes with his income.

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Blackbeasst that is interesting, I did not know that about the bankruptcy code, are you sure about that?
For me that has really been the deciding factor because in my field at least (IT) I have heard many stories of people not getting jobs due to bk and the employer flat out told them that was why they did not get job. I have heard this more times than I can count and it really scares me.
But I agree that it probably varies from what you do for a living...Kaylee

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BK can be a killer for many occupations. In my state a Mortgage loan officer, real estate agent or appraiser that files for bk has their license put on probation for a period of time. They don't actually do anything to prohibit your ability to do your job, but changing companies could be a problem and the state has the authority to come in and audit every single transaction you do every single year. My state also publishes a list quarterly of actions taken against these occupations and if your license goes on probation it is listed in there so everyone can see you filed bk. Very embarrassing to say the least. Definately to be avoided if possible.

The larger problem with BK is that you may be paying the majority of your income out for 5 years to the creditors. That is a very long time. Also, you fall under the court's jurisdiction and that can lead to other problems.

In my case, I will have all settlements done this year with only my second mortgage to deal with. Yes, my credit will suck but my world is already so much better every month. It is funny, though. I am paying far more in settlements each month than the actual payment was. But there is light at the end of the tunnel. I am not wanting to keep my house, so BK protection for the home is no issue. Good luck with your decision.

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oh boy do i have some feedback from my visit with the attorney today! i'll have to share in the morning :)

pardon the novel here but i just wanted to share my experience in talking to an attorney.

ok first things first. i don't see how in the world this idiot lawyer got a license to practice law. a fake law degree musta been what was inside his box of cracker jacks!

and to whomever said that he doesn't know anything about debt settlement or care since he wouldn't get any money, you nailed it! but more about that later.

so i knew things weren't going to go well when the first words out of his mouth were "so last time we talked it was about your brother right"? i was like uhhhhh, don't think so! this guy was so scatterbrained i had to catch myself giving him some looks like WTF are you talking about!

of course he was pro bankruptcy for people that qualify (go figure). he asked some off the wall questions like if i could sell everything in my house could i get $8,000 for it. he took horrible notes and he had to start over a couple times cause he didn't quite understand what i was saying about my house, car and CC's.

and then i ask about settlement. he said WORST IDEA EVER. he was like whats to say that first i can settle, and then if i do whats to say that the person that signs that silly little piece of paper has the authority to agree on the settlement (that was one of the many times i gave him a WTF look). then he was like "whats to say that if you settle that they won't come back and sue you 3 years later for the debt". and when i asked about how arbitration worked he said its to screw the people over. he said YOU WANT A JURY TO DECIDE YOUR FATE, not an arbitrator or judge cause they will go for everything. oh and he also said i was just a tiny little pebble in the CC pond and that they would sue me in a heartbeat if i try to settle. he also said that he does settlements in his office and he normally gets around 40% and that if i can get better he would love to see it so he can better help his clients :rolleyes:

ok enough ranting! needless to say i didn't come to a complete decision cause this guy was a complete MORON!

Yeah that Lawyer sounds like an idiot. Going against everything we on this board have been successfull at doing. May get better than 40% and debt is settled. No coming back in 3 years. He just wanted your money.

he also said that there really is no con's about bankruptcy. he said maybe the only thing is the 3 extra years on the credit report since DS stays on for 7 years. other than that he had nothing bad to say about it.

unlike DS where he said after 3 years the CC or CA can come back and sue me for not paying in full and put a lien on my house.

Wonder how they can come back in sue? If you have a signed letter stating settlement has been accepted and paid and balance has been written off?

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I would imagine that everything he said was following his agenda which is to make money from you and he can do that with bk not settlement.

Also, that probably has happened before with the person signing not having the authority so typical lawyer jumps on it and used is as scare tactic.

but if you look in the sample settlement letters there is a part that says 'bank representative has the authority to sign this agreement'.

so if you use one of those letters you should be good.

63 days past due on discover. got another call this morning with them offering 5.99%. funny thing is i looked on their card member assistance website and i had 2 outstanding offers. first one was 12.99% for 12 months and then another 7.99% for 12 months.

what are peoples thoughts about bringing up trying to settle on the next call? or is it too early?

still not sure what path im going to take. going to talk to another attorney on the 26th. lets hope he has a law degree from at least a community college unlike the other DEE DE DEE i talked to :lol:

Discover will not even think of settling this early. They are the only one of my 9 that would not work with me. I am back to paying them again at a reduced rate.