I Cannot Pay my Credit Card Bills – What are my Options

Seems like you have decided to take this on yourself in the place of hiring a debt relief company. Well, if you have the talents and abilities to rival those of the professionals especially in the areas of communication, negotiation and documentation, then go on right ahead.Not too long ago, a nurse with a little bit of groundwork in tax laws took on the IRS single-handedly then so can you in the case of debt relief.

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.

Wondering how delinquent?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 avoid this from happening, the credit card company will be more than willing to settle your debts through negotiation.If the creditors get half of what you owe, that’s much better than the 5% they would’ve gotten from the third party collection agencies.

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.

The other option is that you maintain excellent written records of all the matters related to the settlement and negotiation process with your creditors. 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

Once the settlement has been reached, send your payment through certified mail or any mail that can be tracked. Send the check together with a memo saying that said check is for full payment, if indeed it is, along with a copy of the agreed settlement.Now, you will have pretty good documentation.

Don’t forget the specific strategies that you need to use to settle the debt by yourself.Remember the three tips here and you will do just fine in this process.

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