Skinny on Debt Settlement
Date: Thu, 12/04/2008 - 09:59
debt settlement will ruin you as much as bankruptcy albeit you will retain your assets and not have the bankruptcy on your credit report. Although, to recover will take you just as long probably.
If someone needs to go this route forgoing actual bankruptcy, then they might as well consult a private attorney first as they might save hassle and money. At least they will give it to you straight rather than employing subterfuge. They make it seem like they are doing a huge service when in fact they just want to milk you like the creditors.
Pick your poison wisely.
In reality, people need to catch their out of control spending before it gets to this point in most cases. Most people are too unwilling to change their lifestyles or just lazy and ignorant until they are up against a wall -- myself included.
debt counseling in the short: live on necessity only, give up all luxuries, take a second job, pay all your extra money to the highest debt, transfer balances to lower apr etc
Pretty much every debt settlement I've ever heard of follows thi
Pretty much every debt settlement I've ever heard of follows this model and the ones that I've called told me this straight out. This includes ones with "bad" reputations as well as ones that are supposed to be "good." I agree that debt settlement is not as easy a route as the sales reps make it sound, but this was done through salesmanship, not subterfuge. There's nothing in rd's post that I didn't hear in some form from every company I ever called.
It is true creditors won't negotiate with consumers who are curr
It is true creditors won't negotiate with consumers who are current on their bills, and often refuse to discuss settlements unless you are at least 4-6 months behind.
Reality is some people are in debt because of this economy and many have lost their jobs and can't find work let alone a 2nd job.
How they can deal with this problem varies and depends on their personal situation and what they are wanting to achieve.
Bankruptcy basically offers chapter 7 or 13 and since 2005 the laws have changed and made it more difficult and expensive for people to file. debt settlement like bankruptcy will affect your credit but can be a much better option depending on your situation. They are two different things and typically bankruptcy will have a more severe affect to your credit.
You can try to settle the debts on your own and that way save some money but you have to compare how much you would save compared to how much you owe. And this is assuming you know what the heck your doing and how much time you have. This is why debt settlement is only for people that are currently behind with their payments or will very soon fall behind on their payment and are trying to avoid bankruptcy. There are companies that will try to sugar coat debt settlement or try to sell people into the program and if you run into this you should hand up immediately because this is a red flag.
Or try credit consoling that has it's pros and cons as well.
All debt solutions have pros and cons like the previous person p
All debt solutions have pros and cons like the previous person post. The only debt solution that doesn't have a con is if you can pay double payments on your debts thus reducing the amount of time you are in debt. A ggod bit of information received was actually from a debt settlement company called Ram Financial Services I requested for an free e-book and it actually goes through all debt options we as consumers have not just debt settlement(which was surprising). The e-book was called "Are you confused." I was confused there are some many options out there. There are so many companies that are frauds but there are good companies among the bad. Now is settlement for everyone? NO. Is credit counseling for everone? NO. We all have unique cirmstances and need unique help tailored to our situations. So many companies try to fit square pegs into circle holes because of "sales quotas." There are red flags to look for in all industries.
