Credit Card debt has attained a serious dimension in the US with the lashings of a downturn economy. Millions of consumers across the country find themselves drowning in the sea of credit card debt everyday. It has indeed wrecked havoc on people’s personal finances, leaving them almost on the verge of bankruptcy.
Yet, handling this problem is no big deal if you follow the right track of debt relief. You need not feel that there is no way out of this huge amount you owe.
Credit card debt settlement is the easiest solution to all your credit problems!
What makes you eligible for credit card debt settlement?
Credit card debt settlement can resolve your problem if you owe any amount more than $5000 as credit card debt. But it is equally true that the credit card company needs to get convinced that you are financially unable to repay your loans. If you go bankrupt, the creditor would be at loss. Thus, you shall be eligible for credit card settlement only if the credit card company is convinced that the settlement would benefit it.
How to go about it?
You may talk to the credit card company directly and propose a settlement by citing your financial crunch. Or you may hire a debt settlement attorney to deal with it on your behalf.
How much reduction can you expect?
The settlement of the payable amount is generally a product of effective negotiation between the creditor and the debtor/settlement firm. The better the creditor is convinced of the debtor’s situation, better are the scopes of lower settlement amount. On a average, credit card debt accounts get settled in a range of 30 to 50% of the actual sum owed. However, in rare cases credit card debt accounts do get settled at as little as 5 to 10% or as much as 90 to 95%!
How does the settlement process work?
In case of most credit card debt settlements, you need to pay off the each individual credit card debt all at once by paying the creditor the settled amount as negotiated.
However, there are two significant exceptions that you should be aware of. Firstly, in some cases the creditors propose a short payment plan, especially for those debtors with larger amounts of credit card debt. When you are in any such plan, you can pay off the settled amount in installments. The duration of such plans usually range from three to six months.
The second exception comes as special debt management companies, which arrange to stretch the debt settlement plans out of a period of one to four years.
Effect on credit score
If you have a good credit score, you must consider debt settlement as an option very seriously before undertaking it, as it would be potentially harmful for your credit score.
On the other hand, if your credit report is already marked with multiple accounts being charged off by creditors, debt settlement would actually improve their credit. But it does not mean it will make your credit good. It only means it will improve the credit from remarkably bad to plain bad.
You cannot rebuild your credit until and unless you have settled all your old credit card debts.
Reckless usage of the easy plastic money might make your life comfortable, but for a very short span of time. The result is always an unpleasant debt plight. But a wise decision of credit card debt settlement can effectively pull you out of the crisis, despite its pros and cons.
So, whenever you decide to settle your credit card debts, make yourself familiar with the above things before you embark on the process.
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