has anyone done a credit debt settlement through a law firm? if so I wanted some feed back on your experience with it.thanks.

 

no, once with the bank that held the debt

 

should probly just pay what you owe....

 

If you borrowed and spent it you should pay it back.

However, if you do settle for a lower amount than owed I'd like to take this time to thank you for raising my rates and taxes.

Just my 2¢.

 

^ yea what he said lol. Pay up!!

JK do what you want, there's a million people out there doing it and during these tough times you have to do what you have to do. My mom did it, not sure on the details of the firm or anything I just know she did it and it worked.

 

thaks for the feed back.

 

I believe that it will stay on your credit report for quite some time. I know it did on my sisters and her boyfriend. Your better off doing it yourself using the same methods they do. Stop paying your payments for 6 months and offer them $.50 on the $1.00 but that would mean you would have to have cash in hand. You will also have tons of creditors calling your house all the time. Late payments are better than debt settlement on your credit from what I understand.

 

dont do it. First, it looks bad on your credit. Also you have to pay taxes on whatever the difference is between what you pay and what you owe. It is counted as income. you are better off talking to the credit company and working out a payment plan to works for both you and them.

 

+1

Seriously

 

 

Easiest way for you to pay your debt and still get through tough times, is to contact the credit card company directly on each credit card. At which point we set you up on a fixed term of a low intrest rate, for example, 60 months 1.75% fixed if you keep you payments up to date. They can sometimes even waive the late fees, etc. The great thing about doing that is that there is no added fees. Your basically doing the work of a debt counseling company. Settlement is another alternative, but as mentioned above they count whatever you didn't pay as income, and you still get collector calls, because the financial institution still sells that unpaid debt. I work in the credit industry. Of course at the end of the day its up to you to do the best thing that works out for your family and financial position. But I would start of by calling your creditors and asking them for the very "BEST" option they have for you, because they WILL work with you.

 

You would be an idiot to pay the balance in full at this point. And everyone else's rates and taxes are not affected by you or anyone else's payment history.

If you are like me, they lowered the available credit while increasing the interest rate, thereby making the card unusable as a "credit" card. In this case, paying them the full amount would be endorsing their unethical behavior. I say **** em, and pay them a settlement for 25-40% of the outstanding balance.

 

I would also recommend holding off on spending more on the car until this issue gets resolved. you dont want to add to your possible credit issues.

 

Where have you been for the last three years? You haven't noticed that bank rates and charges have gone up dramatically? We all know that banks are going broke because people aren't paying their debts. Also, with all these government bail outs going on where do you think they are getting all the money from?