I really did it
Date: Tue, 02/23/2010 - 21:32
Right now the totals are 14K Chase, 14K Amex, 10K GE and 20K BOA (which I do want to pay in full, see why).
anyway after my rambling and feeling sorry for myself (and feel free to kick me in my stupid a** as well because I sure need it and I am serious about that); my question is about settling. How much and how long does it take to offer a settlement on these accounts? I do have income tax money right now and I don't know whether to try and become current and wind up in the same boat in 6 months from now or try to have a settlement with them. I would like to keep the BOA card - not to charge on but they didn't jack the interest, etc like the rest of them did and I have to respect them for that. They are current as well. My mortgage is also current as are my utilities.
Any thoughts on where I can go from here with settlement approaches? If there ever was a wake up call this was it - not the money part, that I can forgive myself for, what I can't is that I violated our trust and have to make that up the best that I can.
thanks all and peace.
info to help & info to know
think of you debt as a ladder with the biggest debts on top and as you go down they get smaller.
most people think its easier to settle the little ones first, this is true if youre paying payments to try and pay everything off in full.
with settlement you want to try and knock off the biggest balances first
i see the biggest chuck of your debt is B of A and Chase
these 2 add up to more than 50% of your debt load.
if you can financially pull those 2 off with paying as least as possible, within the first 6 months youd be almost out of debt.
B of A personal should be around 20-30% at 180days late, you wont have this deal after charge off because itll be in the recovery unit and they want 35%, cant predict the future with where it will from there so...
Chase they currently arent wokring with settlement companies directly so
If you want to keep paying Bank of America call and tell times a
If you want to keep paying Bank of America call and tell times are tough and try to get hardship plan. Rate is somewhere around 4%.
As far as America Express and Zwicker, you need to look in "Arbitration Clause". I have heard that if you request Arbitration it will stop Zwicker dead in their tracks.
Don't be so hard on yourself. If can happen to the best of us.
Don't be so hard on yourself. If can happen to the best of us. I fell into the trap trying to keep my husbands business dreams alive. He didn't realize what it was costing us and stupid me thought things would turn around and get better. Now I know better and if I ever get out will not get myself back into this mess. From debt free 6 years ago to over $350,000 total debt ($60,000 credit card) at the present. I feel like such a fool. We both are holding down full time jobs but have just gotten in way over our heads. You can get out of it and I will too. This website is a great tool for dealing with creditors and although I haven't had any settlement offers yet I just stick with my failing business truth and they have been very polite and understanding.
Quote:Originally Posted by OZZIE69If you want to keep paying Ban
Quote:
Originally Posted by OZZIE69 If you want to keep paying Bank of America call and tell times are tough and try to get hardship plan. Rate is somewhere around 4%. As far as America Express and Zwicker, you need to look in "Arbitration Clause". I have heard that if you request Arbitration it will stop Zwicker dead in their tracks. |
What is the arbitration clause? They didn't mention anything about that just that they want all back past due to bring it up to date (they talked to my husband). What should I tell him to tell them when he calls them back?
I'm in a similar situation, and like you, want to keep paying Bo
I'm in a similar situation, and like you, want to keep paying BofA for the exact same reasons. Also they are my lowest balance and payments are affordable.
Just now starting to move on the process as well with Chase and Cap One.
I wish us both luck as we move along and thank everyone on this board for their advice!
Quote:Originally Posted by Susan BosworthWe had been amassing la
Quote:
Originally Posted by Susan Bosworth We had been amassing large amounts of credit card debt - scratch that I amassed them, ever since the gas prices shot up in 2008 as well as groceries. While we had balances beforehand and I did use my cards it was nothing I "couldn't handle". Unfortunately as can be expected it has all spiraled out of control. The banks thanked me for always paying them on time to jacking me to 24-29% interest rates and one wanted an increase in a minimum payment from 2% to 5%. The only one who has not done this is BOA and I don't know if it is because we have our mortgage with them as they have stayed at 7.24%. I stopped paying Amex, Chase and JCP Mastercard (GE Money bank) in November last year and now its really hitting the fan. The worst part - I never told my husband how bad it was. His dad died last summer from Lou Gehrig's Disease after a great fight with it but I didn't want to burden him with something I "thought" I could get myself out of (insert stupid b***ch here). Of course I couldn't and today he got a call from Zwicker Associates representing Amex at his job and now he knows about that. To make matters worse I finally, being the coward that I am, wrote him a letter telling him the whole story; the other reason I wrote him a letter was so I put it all out on the table and can stop this circle of BS lies. I feel like a horrible wife and mother to my kids for doing this to our family. Right now the totals are 14K Chase, 14K Amex, 10K GE and 20K BOA (which I do want to pay in full, see why). anyway after my rambling and feeling sorry for myself (and feel free to kick me in my stupid a** as well because I sure need it and I am serious about that); my question is about settling. How much and how long does it take to offer a settlement on these accounts? I do have income tax money right now and I don't know whether to try and become current and wind up in the same boat in 6 months from now or try to have a settlement with them. I would like to keep the BOA card - not to charge on but they didn't jack the interest, etc like the rest of them did and I have to respect them for that. They are current as well. My mortgage is also current as are my utilities. Any thoughts on where I can go from here with settlement approaches? If there ever was a wake up call this was it - not the money part, that I can forgive myself for, what I can't is that I violated our trust and have to make that up the best that I can. thanks all and peace. |
I can't offer much advise, but I to hide our debt from my husband, for several reasons, but I just wanted to tell you not to totally bet yourself up. Ours was the same, gas prices, groceries, and two major illnesses in our family, my husband was one of those. I let 3 of my cc go, i've kept all of his current, they don't have much available credit, but they are current never late. Anyway, I just wanted to say I feel you pain, I've been there and somewhat still there, hubby knows most everything, its hard, but sit down and talk to your husband and ya'll can work on a solution that works best for ya'll.
Hi! It almost sounds like you are writing about me. I also did
Hi! It almost sounds like you are writing about me. I also did not tell my husband about our debt until we were really really far into debt ($75.000+) and I had no choice. Could not keeping going on that way. I too did not want to tell him because he was also going through his Mother's illness (Parkinson's) and then passing on. Also my husband has heart issues which was another reason I wanted to be able to "fix it" myself. 2008 must have been a hard year for us all because that is when it got worse for us too. My son who has medical problems and missed school alot had to go to additional classes so that he could graduate with his class. So everyday he had to drive an additional 100 miles right when the gas prices were so high so that did not help the situation at all. So yes I amassed credit card debt just like you. But also like you it was mostly for groceries, household needs, & gas. So remember it isn't like we were constantly buying ourselves new clothes, fancy jewelry, or going on expensive trips. We were buying items our families needed!!!! So please do not feel like this is your debt alone. I know my husband tends to feel that this was debt I brought on to our familiy but at that time I felt like I had to use the credit card for groceries because it was either pay a medical bill, or car insurance, or buy groceries. I could never pay for it all. Just like I am sure that you could not either. So you are not a horrible wife and mother. You were trying to provide food for your family. Just like I was.
Good luck to you. We are trying to get out of debt slow but sure. It will take awhile. We didn't get into debt overnight & we will not get out of it overnight.
Best to you.
Virgie, it sounds terrible but knowing that I am not alone does
Virgie, it sounds terrible but knowing that I am not alone does make me feel better. I was so ashamed and embarrassed by what happened I didn't know where to turn and just felt worse and worse about it. I finally to tell my husband wrote him a letter and left it on the table for him when I went to take the kids to school. And of course when we talked about it I cried, but he told me "in the end, its only money and you and the kids are worth more than that, we'll get through this.". He agreed I did take care of our family with it and he would never begrudge a birthday party for the kids or something like that and its not like I went to the premium outlets and bought a Coach bag for every day of the week with matching shoes! At one point we were spending 100 bucks a week plus for gas (my husband commutes 32 miles each way to work 5 days a week, and even my just little hops around town were burning through gas). I had one kid in pullups too - you know how that gets expensive. Plus the other kid picks that time to decide that he wants to start eating everything in sight and grows like a weed! What can you do, its life and I"m not going to live in fear because I made bad decisions and want to do the best I can and I will be d***ed if I'm going to be talked down to by bill collectors! Best to you too my new friend (feel free to PM me if you would like and we'll talk further. I could use a new friend, especially one that knows what is going on!)
yeah, dont beat yourself up. Its a woman thing that we try to pr
yeah, dont beat yourself up. Its a woman thing that we try to protect everyone even if it means hurting ourselves! You did what you thought was best. Dont blame yourself. I think our husbands like being in the dark and its really their fault for not being in the game if you know what I mean., They are adults and can see what comes in the mail and what is happening in the check book. They choose not to and put the burden on us. So dont feel bad I do the same thing. I dont hide any of it but my husband does not like to see what is going on. He likes to work and bring a paycheck home and thats it. Let me handle the rest of it.
I didn't let my husband into our debt nightmare until recently.
I didn't let my husband into our debt nightmare until recently. He has always let me handle all of the finances (on other things he's a very smart man!) even though I've told him throughout the years that I'm a terrible money manager. We had great credit that eventually started slipping because of our debt to income ratio. Now all of a sudden we are $80,000 in debt and he's wondering how in the heck it happened and why we don't have any extra money. Honey, you were along for the ride-you just didn't realize the cost! It's amazing how much less "money" you have available when you stop using your credit cards. I had started putting everything on CC's. I am now much smarter, feel great about not using a CC since October but scared to death if something major happens! Hang in there and know that you are not alone! I look forward to seeing future postings from you and the other women in our position reflecting some success stories!