Hello, Dan here

[Guest]

Thanks for all the good advice Donna.

Yes, it’s ALL credit card debt. But some of the accounts have been “sold” so I wouldn’t even be dealing with the original creditor. I’m going to see how far I can get on my own. Wish me luck.

Best,

Dan

Donna Shad wrote: Dan,
It is hard to come back after finaciall difficulties. After
getting all the accounts settled you might want to take a break
for about a year and then start the long climb uphill to
resestablish credit. The
sooner you do this the better it will
be for you in the long run. Leins and judgements stay on the
credit report for 10 years (as I understand it) even though they
are paid off. Defaulted student loans also will haunt you the
rest of your days. Can’t get them off. If you are paying an
attorney expect him to give you at least a bi-weekly update even
if he just calls and says I’m waiting for returned calles but in
truth you’ll get just as far as he will.
The only reason to have an attorney to handle this is to keep
you from doing the work. But believe me most times you can get
further than the attorney. It is hard to tell the customer (even
one that owes them money) that they won’t settle it. Collections
cost money to the company. It’s better to get something than to
get nothing.
Now the important part is to learn something from all this. It’s
hard to get out of debt so if it is not life essential don’t use

credit to buy. We bought our son a car at an auction (I have
bought 1 new car in my 42 years of life and won’t do that
again). I pay cash for 95 percent of my purchases. The only time
I use a credit card is on the internet (when I order a part or
some specialty item) then a check goes out the next day. Or
college tuition which get’s paid back before the next symester.
(the school charges more for financing than American Express) I
am assuming that the majority of your creditor that you are in
default with are credit card companies. They are the easiest to
work with. They will have a special department for you to speak
with all you have to do is call the number on the card and ask
to speak with the default department.
If it is student loans it could be even worse (they will
attached all your property and they will seize the property.
They can force you into bankrupcy which their debt will not be
removed. You can’t
get out of that one. But you could set up a
new schedule of payment that better fits your current budge.
If it is places like phone companies, cable companies ect you
will just have to dwindle down the amounts. Cell phone companies
will usually settle for half of the bill plus a cancellation fee
but it will depend on how you paid before.
Make a list of all the creditors you need to contact. Get phone
numbers and account numbers and start making the phone calls. It
will be uncomfortable but it can be done. If you find resistance
that is when I would involve a credit counciling service or an
attorney.
Take care
Good Luck
Donna

__________________________________________________________

[Author]

Posts