Do-it-Yourself Settlement
Do-it-Yourself Debt Settlement
If you’re in need of debt relief assistance and looking for legal credit card debt elimination methods, you may have seen ads for the numerous debt settlement, debt management, or debt consolidation companies on the internet who promise to do debt settlement for you. What they don’t tell you is that you can can handle your debt negotiation programs yourself! When you look at the costs and risks of going with one of these companies, it just doesn’t make sense to hire someone else to do it. Self-settlement programs, or do-it-yourself (DIY) debt settlement, are shown to have a higher success rate. In fact, the credit companies prefer to deal directly with you, and you will likely negotiate better deals.
In brief, debt negotiation or debt settlement will allow you to settle your accounts at a fraction, usually 35% to 75%, of the original principle, and have the account written off as settled, which means it will not impact your credit report. You can negotiate just as well, if not better, than the debt settlement, debt management or debt consolidation companies. For folks that feel they’d have a problem handling the phone calls and dealing with the creditors personally, you should know that there are self-help debt negotiation and settlement packages available, and even one service I know of that provides counseling, step by step, through the process.
Many years ago, I personally worked with and have since recommended Charles Phelan at ZipDebt.com many times to others who needed debt relief assistance. He offers a free downloadable report at his website, and today, he offers several different debt negotiation programs depending on your needs. You can purchase the up-to-date informational cd package that guides you step-by-step through the process, or opt for his coaching program. You can read a a Zip Debt review here on this site, as well as other testimonials left by others. I found him an excellent support at a time when I needed a guiding hand and had no one else to turn to.
Through his program and coaching, I lost my fear of the creditors and learned how to deal with them effectively in a business-like way. I ended debt collection harassment and negotiated some incredible deals with my creditors. I ultimately made the decision down the line to do a bankuptcy because of my life circumstances at the time. However, it was on my own time-table when I was ready to take that step. In fact, he helped me in my decision-making process along the way and looking back, I never would have been able to manage the my huge debt problem in the way I did, without his coaching. It was a life-saver!
If you are thinking about going with one of these many companies that are out there today offering to do debt management for you, please make sure you read as much as you can about them, any criticisms and scam reports, and catch up on the news. The fees are outrageous, and hard to pin down upfront. Essentially these questionable companies are all the same, but now they now provide services to everyone, regardless where you may be in the debt cycle–you may be current in your bills and struggling, you may have fallen behind, or you may have given up entirely. These companies have a debt relief assistance program for everyone–the better to increase their profits! And that’s all they are about.
Another issue against working with these debt settlement companies is that the FDCPA mandates the length of time that a debt settlement company can work with you. If your outstanding debts, even the lower settled-upon amounts, are too high for your expendable income to cover over the 48 month time period they are permitted to work with you by law, you can’t possibly succeed with the settlement company, no matter what they may tell you. You will walk away at the end of 4 years with accounts still outstanding and the debt management company will not return your fees. And that is money you could have used to settle your accounts.