Debt Settlement

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Originally Posted by Anonymous We're about $50K in debt on credit cards (they just got away from us over the years) and are embarrassed to have to seek debt settlement. But, our monthly payments are killing us (we're able to pay but there's nothing left for anything else) and it will take us 30+ years at this rate to pay everything off. I don't know who to trust. I have a debt settlement company trying to get my business, but how do I determine if they're not a scam?

Wow, you've posted just in time. DO NO DO BUSINESS WITH THE DEBT SETTLEMENT COMPANY you are in contact with. Unless it is one of the .5% or fewer companies that only pay themselves AFTER they have saved you lots of money. ANY DEBT SETTLEMENT COMPANY that says that you are paying them any advance fees, before they've helped you, RUN FOR THE HILLS. I was fortunate in finding on line one of the most competent, and honest, advisors in the country in how to settle your own debts (and by the way, our situations are almost identical--$50,000 in cc debt, just got away from us too)--you do all the contacts with your creditors, but with absolutely spot-on competent advice from someone who has already demonstrated to me that he absolutely knows the industry and how to do this. He saved me (with a margin of 24 hours) from being sued barely more than 3 months after missing my first payment, and I still got a 45% settlement--I only paid 45%, and got to keep the entire savings (no 15%, or 25%, to a settlement company). I have settled two other debts so far at 35%, for a total of $26,000 in debts settled so far, at a total cost of under $11,000. Please give me a call, 703-957-6768, and I will happily tell you my story, and tell you what to do to start on the road to settling your own debts, more effectively, and at better savings, than anyone else could do it for you.
Best kept secret: the debt settlement companies tell you they have established contacts with all the creditors and can therefore do much better than you can do yourself. DO NO BELIEVE IT. The exact opposite is true. The credit card companies are totally "on" to the marketing scams that these companies are, and they resent that these companies charge thousands of dollars, up front, to provide no service--money that they understandably feel should be going to them, if you have it. Many are now refusing to have anything to do with third party negotiators. And my experience is, done right, you will have them making you good settlement offers in 3-6 months if you know what to do. I'm out a lot, so please leave a message if you miss me. I'd love to tell you my experience, and hopefully help you have a good one too.