credit card debt

[kch777]

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? Texas

credit card debt: chase, discover, bankone & american express blue. about $25,000 combined? too much to keep up with! we barely pay "really have to" bills-house, cars, utilities, food. husband does contract work which is short temp jobs, hard to stay steady. unemployment ran out. wondering what is worst case scenario vs what normally happens for bad debting this cards & just not paying them. debt consolidation is about same amt monthly even tho suppose to pay them off in 3-5 years? so i still can't pay that amt. please give me advice? Thanks!

[kch777]

What is the name of your state? Texas

credit card debt: chase, discover, bankone & american express blue. about $25,000 combined? too much to keep up with! we barely pay "really have to" bills-house, cars, utilities, food. husband does contract work which is short temp jobs, hard to stay steady. unemployment ran out. wondering what is worst case scenario vs what normally happens for bad debting this cards & just not paying them. debt consolidation is about same amt monthly even tho suppose to pay them off in 3-5 years? so i still can't pay that amt. please give me advice? Thanks![/quote]

[Debt Guy]

consider debt settlement -- it is faster and less expensive than debt management/debt consolidation

It is a more emotional challenge and will bruise your credit -- but it sounds like your credit is already bruised.

You can try to do it yourself or you can hire a settlement company to help you.

There are good settlement companies and bad ones. To find a bad one, just cruise the internet. To find a good one, ask around until you find someone who has been through the process and ask who they used and if they were happy, etc.

I had a business fail and ran up a lot of credit card debt trying to keep it all afloat. A friend turned me on to debt settlement and recommended a debt settlement company. I've been working with them for about a year. I'm not out of the woods but I am making progress. I've been happy with my provider and I'm referred a couple of folks to them and have had no complaints. email me if you want more dialogue on this [email]debtguy@hotpop.com[/email]

Good luck to you

[kch777]

texas

so what would/could happen if I just let them bad debt? without settlement? and also who would you suggest as a settlement agency?

[Ladynred]

The settlement companies are going to DESTROY your credit and COST you money for doing it !! What they do is tell you to stop paying all your creditors. Then you send THEM that money PLUS more and they 'save' it up until there's enough in the account to offer a settlement to the creditors. Since you won't be paying creditors, all accounts will be charged-off after 6 months of no payments. YOu run the risk of being SUED during this time, ESPECIALLY from Discover and the settlement company WON"T help you avoid that. Bank1 and Amex are also unlikely to wait and will probably sue you. If you're barely making it now, it will take a LONG time for you to 'save' enough money thru the settlement company to pay anybody. Why pay THEM to do that when you can do the SAME THING at no added cost ?? Your credit will be completely in the toilet either way.

If you let all the debts go unpaid, the creditors will charge-off the accounts as bad debts. Then they'll assign or sell the accounts to collection agencies. Discover though will waste no time in suing you, doesn't matter what you owe them. AMEX won't be far behind. Once they sue, you're looking at judgments since you have no money to pay them anyway. Judgments will haunt you for many, many years and they will be able to seize your bank accounts, and go after any other non-exempt assets you may have. You're in TX, so they can't garnish your wages and if you own a home it is 100% exempt.

Sounds to me like you might want to consider bankruptcy if you're barely making it now. Unless you can both get 2nd jobs to make ends meet, you're not going to get anywhere going as you are.

[kch777]

texas

what about cars?
they can seize bank accts? what if they are in my kids names?

what does judgements against me do?

what if I just send them a little each month? I guess bankrupcy would be better? Someone told me they never were sued for owing a lot more to several credit card co???

[TKirwan]

I owe much less and they Capitol One did not waste anytime hauling me into court for 1600.00 so I would keep in mind they will and do use every tool at their disposal I have personally felt it. You are best served to get them to work with you know while you can. Take it from me it is no fun being summoned, at that point they have you. You can try to plan the games but a judge will see right past that stuff, remember you are not the first one to be in this place. They are used to seeing all this stuff. If you just can't pay then file for BK, I know many people who have and they seem to be doing great...

[Ladynred]

They MAY be able to sieze your vehicle(s), but TX exemptions are pretty darn good, so your vehicles are probably safe.

Bank accounts with kids names on them ?? If YOUR name is anywhere on the account, they CAN and WILL drain the account.

What does a judgment do ? I've already explained it. They can take your bank accounts, your NON_exempt property (if you have any), and they can hound you for many, many years to pay. They can haul you into court or nag you with debtor's exams where you must answer all kinds of questions about your personal life, your job, and your financial situation. On top of that, as long as the judgment goes unpaid, it sits there and accumulates interest ON TOP of the amount the judgment credior is awarded. Last but not least, a judgment can stay on your credit report for as long as its unpaid, not just 7 years, and it will KILL your credit.

Sending them 'a little each month' is like sticking your finger in the dike to stop the dam from breaking. It won't matter unless you can bring the account current or pay it off, they'll come after you for it.

Bankruptcy is always an option. If your situation is unlikely to change in the forseeable future money-wise, bankruptcy might be worth looking into. Most bankruptcy attorneys give free initial consultations.

Forget about what 'someone' told you. Every situation is different and since you have Discover on your list, they WILL sue you, and so might AMEX and the others ! When it comes to this sort of thing, you cannot rely on what happened to 'somone' else.