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I Cannot Pay My Credit Card Bills – What Are My Options
August 31, 2010
Seems like you have decided to take this on yourself in the place of hiring a debt relief company.If you have the skills and talents to compete with these professionals when it comes to negotiation, communication and documentation then give it a shot. After all, if a nurse with little background in taxation and the law can single-handedly take on the Internal Revenue Service and win, then so can you where debt relief is concerned.
Keep these points in mind when you are settling credit card debt on your own. These three tips will ensure that you are one step closer to successfully taking on those credit card companies.
You must ensure that your accounts are considerably delinquent
You can try to negotiate a lower principal amount on your credit card bills as soon as you feel that making the minimum monthly payment is not going to be possible or if you feel that the debts are not going to be paid due to other fiscal priorities/emergencies. Keep in mind, however, that the debt relief process cannot be availed of until and unless your credit card accounts are significantly delinquent.
How deep should you be?Delinquent credit card accounts are written off by creditors once the 180+ days windows has completed.The writeoff causes the account to drop in value significantly and third parties usually buy these for real cheap – sometimes around 4-6% of the original amount.
To prevent this from taking place, the credit card company will be eager to settle the debt through a negotiation process. After all, if they can collect 50 percent of the total debt, it is still way better than the 5 percent they will get from third parties.
Maintain Detailed and Descriptive Documentation
The days of verbal agreements holding any value are long gone and especially when it comes to credit card debt settlement. After all, it will be your word against the word of the collection agents and you should know by now that nobody wins in such a case.
Instead, you should maintain detailed and descriptive records of everything pertaining to the negotiation and settlement of your credit card loans. Always send out letters with complete information to the proper addresses and addressees.After that, file the letters and other forms of communication in a binder that is easily accessible.
If you do have a conversation on the phone, record the details.Document the date, time, the names of the people you spoke with, the contact numbers and the details of the conversation.
Use Mail That Can Be Tracked
When you have reached a settlement, always send your payment through certified mail.Send the check along with a memo clarifying that the check is the full payment along with a copy of the settlement that was reached.Now, you will have pretty good documentation.
Of course, there are specific steps towards settling your credit card debts on your own.Remember the three tips here and you will do just fine in this process.
There are steps that you can carry out. For more information on how to raise your credit score fast you should read our articles about how to avoid credit card debt relief scams
After reading this, I’m sure you believe that getting out of credit card debt isn’t that difficult.