Debt settlement questions

If the 2 cards are in your name only, it wont affect his credit.
BUT...
In my case, we had to stop paying my wifes cards first so I could try to save my credit for job prospects, we had a HELOC from BOA which was maxed, and a checking overdraft with 2k available, both were frozen since she and I were on those accts and her credit went south.
The 2 accts, BofA and Chase are easy to work with as far as settlements go. I settled 3 Chase accounts, my wifes for 35% and 2 of mine (yeh, my credit went south as well) for 30%.
We have 2 BofA accounts to settle soon.
Another note, if you have any deposit accounts with Chase (especially) or BofA, open a new acct elswhere, they may attempt to pull your payment from them to satisfy your cards payment.

Dont worry, they will call you.:D
Good Luck

So they froze your checking accounts until the settlement was done?
our only joint account is through a local bank but i hadnt thought about that happening.
I'd like to try and negotiate directly with chase and boa. What do I do? just answer their calls at the first late payment and say... i just cant afford it? At what point to I offer something?
Ive been reading your posts ioalot... seems like you are on your way to getting straightened out. It gives me some hope for us.

So they froze your checking accounts during settlement ? we only have one joint checking( our main one) and its at the local bank... but his paycheck is deposited there so we will definitely have to figure that out.
Thanks for the info.

At what point did you start settlement negotiations? I'm hoping to deal with them directly instead of going thru a settlement plan. we have a few assets that i can sell to settle these two cards but its gonna be tough. Did you just tell them when they called the first month.. sorry i just cant pay it???

Sorry I wasnt clear. The bank froze my overdraft protection and my HELOC because it was in both of our names and they saw my wife began to default on her credit cards.
If you bank with Chase or BoA, they may have an "offset right", meaning they can pull money from your Chase acct to pay your Chase cc. I know for a fact Chase does this, BoA isnt supposed to for a consumer cc, but why take the chance.
I settled all 3 Chase at under 90 days late or 120 days from last payment, which seems rather quick, I guess they need to pay for all the new branches they are still opening. Usually the best settlements are right before charge off anywhere from 120-180 days late.
I spoke to them anywhere from 1-3x a month and told my situation, unemployed, wife went back to work part time, drained savings, cannot commit to a payment, not even $1. They will prod you for info, if you get uncomfortable, tell them your kid fell down the stairs and hangup.
I know its a crappy thing to do, but in my case there was no choice, I should have done this 3 yrs ago, I would be sleeping alot better than I am now although its getting better.

I know what you mean. I feel horrible for even considering this. But what do you do?
Its been a difficult thing for us because there was no sudden job loss. It has been a gradual decline that started i guess really way back in 2005 with Katrina and year later when i had to quit my job due to bed rest when i was pregnant, then a long hospital stay while i was pregnant, to medical issues for the babies and myself. Gas prices became extreme and my husband was having to put gas on the credit card just to get back and forth to work. then he had to take a lesser paying job just to have a job. They had layoffs coming at his previous employer . Anyway It just has taken its toll and now we are barely making ends meet. so i dont know what will come of it. we can always continue on but this is getting ridiculous. I know this is happening to lots of people and my heart goes out to all of them.
Now he has a better job but he works away during the week and its still only covers the bare minimum. but at lease its covering that now. One positive aspect from the whole thing is that my husband and i are both now. We werent big before but now you wouldnt know i had ever carried twins. ha!! wonder if I could make a million dollars writing a book about loosing weight on the "hardship diet"???? LOL!!!:D

It is always a good idea to contact the debt holder to see if you can resolve any issues, especially if you are in danger of a default. They do not want to end up settling for only pennies on the dollar. Usually they will be accommodating and will work with you to come up with a plan that will work for you.
Talk to a loans officer at your bank to see if they have any advice or options that you can take to your debt holder or that they might be able to do for you.

A few sites that might give you some directions or answer some of your questions are: www.howtofixyourdebt.com or www.bankruptcysolutionssite.com