EarnIt

Hey You!!!! You'll own this. I'm sorry to hear the struggles but I'm certain you'll bounce back better than before!

Chase may take a settlement on the account. I've heard of settlements as low as 15%. While it won't remove the trade line, it will satisfy it. When DW and I got our mortgage we had settled COs on our reports and it did not hinder us.

If indeed Citi still owns the debt, I'd take the deal.

YMMV ... I was allowed back with Chase after 7 years with a settled CO. Initially I was auto declined but was given a Chase Freedom Card after recon.

What shape is your credit in? In my experience, a CC company has no motivation to settle an account that is current. If you are already several months behind (typically when a CC company will offer the best settlement percentages), your credit is most likely already tanked and the conversation is moot.

Financed my previous Jeep through these guys. DW and I have been members since 2007. Overall, it's been a positive relationship.

Most creditors will settle. Typically, they'll send some sort of correspondence offering to "work with you." If possible, settle in lump sums and start low, post charge off, 20 to 30% of the balance, sometimes less, is very possible. Keep in mind, this is a negotiation, let them make the first move.

Not knowing how stable your You have no idea how long your job will last. IMO, you should try to hold onto as much money as possible. Considering that the damage to your credit is already done, let the creditors wait until your employment is more secure before making arrangements. If you make arrangements and then can't follow through, you've "wasted" the money. BK is never an easy decision. It is rife with emotion and is very personal, you'll have to get past that and look a the hard facts and make the best business/financial decision you can. What is the big picture? How much debt? Once you have a stable job, is it something that can be paid off in a reasonable time frame? How much debt does your husband have? Can it all be managed?

The last time I looked at a hard money loan, my CC was still the better option economically ... 0% for 18 months vs. X% with a 12 month payback ... ofc, that is you don't mind the ding for utilization ...

As it appears that the debt is still owned by the OC, I'd be inclined to attempt to negotiate the settlement further down. Offer them 20%. Good luck, Earnit

FYI, FL SOL is 4 years on credit cards. CITI, AMEX, & Discover will all settle since 10% is more than 0%, or 10% of $100 is more than 100% of $0. AMEX will want to be made whole if you ever want their cards again. Sometimes, Amex will forgive you without being made whole ... but I do agree that all creditors will settle at this point, provided they still own the debt ...

The OP might be close enough to the date to make it worth the risk. It all depends on the urgency of the need. OP, make sure do you don't portray a sense of urgency when negotiating the settlements. I let the creditors contact me first and then proceeded from there.

Before settling any debt, you need to verify who owns the debt. If the original creditors sill own these, at this point you should be able to settle for much less than 50%. Do you have any old settlement correspondence/offers? Are you still receiving phone calls on the debt? Do you have the cash for a lump sum settlement?

Yup, my wife got one but I did not. Definitely targeted. The wife's is on the Cash Rewards card.

In my experience (CC COs not repos), if the CO has a balance, then it is impacting overall utilization. When I settled my CC COs, the scores went up because of the significant change is utilization. In some cases the change was small, in some cases the change was more depending on the balance settled.