Debt settlement

[Monolith]

To make a long story short, and avoid all the boring details.

 

60k in credit card debt.

20k car loan (owe more than it worth)

10k car loan (owe more than it worth)

300k home loan (no equity)

 

Everything is current, but very difficult to make payments each month. Having to pay one card then take advance from that card to pay another. I cannot live my life like this anymore, I cannot sleep, sick all the time, I am only 34 yrs old and feel like I am 70 from the stress.

 

I have tried to get several loans, for the debt, but have not had any luck.

 

Plan to keep the cars and house

Cannot do chapter 7, to much income, don't want to do chapter 13.

 

I have been in contact with several debt settlement places, and most of the info sounds good, then we get to the fees. Some of them want to charge as much as 15k.

Wife and I both work 12 hour days, plus 2 kids.

 

The plan at this point is to stop paying everything except cars, home loan, and utilities.

 

We are thinking about doing the debt settlement on our own. We know this option going to hurt our credit report, but the fact that we have 2 good working cars, and home that only 2 yrs old, I don't see us needing credit anytime soon. We do have several cards still with no balance that we plan to leave open, and not use.

 

Main concern is that the credit company won't work with me, I have read some things online saying they will only work with major players? Is that false? I have read several posts on boards about debt settlement, just very uneasy about it, but we don't have any other option at this point, and I don't see why I should pay 15k, to a company if we can do it on are own?

 

Any advise?

 

Thanks so much

[CoachT]

To make a long story short, and avoid all the boring details.

 

60k in credit card debt.

20k car loan (owe more than it worth)

10k car loan (owe more than it worth)

300k home loan (no equity)

 

Everything is current, but very difficult to make payments each month. Having to pay one card then take advance from that card to pay another. I cannot live my life like this anymore, I cannot sleep, sick all the time, I am only 34 yrs old and feel like I am 70 from the stress.

 

I have tried to get several loans, for the debt, but have not had any luck.

 

Plan to keep the cars and house

Cannot do chapter 7, to much income, don't want to do chapter 13.

 

I have been in contact with several debt settlement places, and most of the info sounds good, then we get to the fees. Some of them want to charge as much as 15k.

Wife and I both work 12 hour days, plus 2 kids.

 

The plan at this point is to stop paying everything except cars, home loan, and utilities.

 

We are thinking about doing the debt settlement on our own. We know this option going to hurt our credit report, but the fact that we have 2 good working cars, and home that only 2 yrs old, I don't see us needing credit anytime soon. We do have several cards still with no balance that we plan to leave open, and not use.

 

Main concern is that the credit company won't work with me, I have read some things online saying they will only work with major players? Is that false? I have read several posts on boards about debt settlement, just very uneasy about it, but we don't have any other option at this point, and I don't see why I should pay 15k, to a company if we can do it on are own?

 

Any advise?

 

Thanks so much

 

First, this stress is going to kill you. I have been in your shoes (and am still unwinding from a failed business and twice the amount of credit card debt you have, plus a tax obligation). There are certain basics you need to live (shelter, transportation, food). Prioritize those things in any plan you make. Second, read my posts on the pinned topic of "hardships" (just above your post). I negotiated 0 percent deals with my card carriers directly. In my case, it is better on your credit than some of the tactics used by debt settlement companies that I have read about. In my opinion you do not need a company to settle those debts, but you do need a plan and a willingness to be persistent until you get a helpful ear on the phone.

 

The first thing you should do (and it is brutal mentally), is figure out exactly what you owe every month (don't forget small things like your son's saxophone rental or whatever) and then figure up what you have left to live on. You will need that information for negotiations on your debts. For example, a mortgage with Chase in which the payments, property taxes, HOA dues and insurance exceed 40% of your gross income may be modified by Chase under their hardship program (or whatever they call it). Also, if you have less than about $1500 per month to live on, then every credit card company I worked with was willing to reduce my payments by giving me 0 percent for a fixed term to pay the card off (the account is closed, but who cares - I don't need more debt).

 

Let us know how we can help, but you can work through this and start living a more normal life.

[Dane]

What state are you in? Have you looked at the SOL?

[Monolith]

What state are you in? Have you looked at the SOL?

 

Hi,

We are in North Carolina. The SOL appears to be 3 yrs. When does that start from? Is that 3 yrs from my first late or after it charges off?

 

Everything is current at the moment, but will all go late start at the end of this week. Wife and I have decided to move forward and stop paying and plan to settle.

[Dane]

We are in North Carolina. The SOL appears to be 3 yrs. When does that start from? Is that 3 yrs from my first late or after it charges off?

 

Everything is current at the moment, but will all go late start at the end of this week. Wife and I have decided to move forward and stop paying and plan to settle.

 

 

It's 3 years from last activity.

 

We had to stop paying on a few accounts in May 2009 and I was surprised how quickly the 3 years went by. We are now out of SOL on the accounts. I DV every single time I received a letter and stayed off the phones. We thought about BK but both lawyers suggested defaulting and plan to settle if we could.

Edited July 13, 2012 by Ian's Mom

[RAS93]

We were in your shoes and did tons of research on the internet. Zipdebt.com was the most informative. It's hard to do but always answer your phone and be polite. Many reps said they would not talk to debt settlement companies and that they prefer to deal with their customers only. I recently settled $300,000 of credit card and line of credit debt for $75,000. Most settled for 17% to 30%. Capital One was the hardest at 45%. Stop paying for six months. Answer the phone and be polite. Start at 10%. Be realistic and settle for around 25-30%. Then rebuild your credit with secured credit cards and credit union loans. Good luck.