Get rid of the nasty little mess, credit card debt through debt settlement
In this age of economic turbulence and unpredictable financial market, the debt problems are quite common. In fact Millions of Americans are struggling to pay their credit card debts nowadays. If you have inured a huge credit card debt and are now heading straight towards bankruptcy, settling your credit card debts can help you reduce your debt burden. During settlement you can sign a deal with the credit card companies and can agree to pay a lot less than the amount you owe on the debt. However, settling your debts involves certain pitfalls as well. Debt settlement can have damaging impact on your credit score and it could be followed by severe tax consequences as well. The amount that is forgiven during settlement could be claimed as a tax income in the long run. Therefore, before you sign the dotted line of your credit card settlement letter, make sure you stay aware of all the details regarding debt settlement. Read on to know the gradual steps of a debt settlement plan, which can help you lower your debt loads and retrieve your peace of mind.
Prepare for settlement
First and foremost, the step that you need to follow to settle your credit card debt is start skipping payments on your credit cards. If you are regular on your payments, the creditors won’t ever agree to settle your debts. Only when you default on your payments, the creditors will feel that you can’t afford to pay your debts anymore and therefore, will give consent to a settlement plan. So stop making payments for a couple of months and save the money, so that you can offer a lump sum of money to your creditors during settlement.
Talk to the concerned person
Your next move should be talking to the representative of the credit card company or the collection agency, you are dealing with. Make sure the person works at an authoritative position. While placing the terms of your settlement before the creditors, you can offer to pay a lump sum amount, which is less than what you owe or you can offer to pay this settled amount through monthly installments as well. Creditors may be willing to settle 40 to 50 % of the amount you owe but this amount varies depending on your creditors and loan amount. Remember, initially, chances are there, your settlement offer cold be turned down or countered by an offer from the debt collectors, so make sure you stay ready to bargain hard.
Last but not the least, read the debt settlement agreement thoroughly, before finalizing the deal. Make sure you get the settlement agreement in writing, where the settled amount is explicitly mentioned. On the letter the creditors must state it clearly that they are accepting this settled payment as the “payment in full” on the debt. Be certain that all these documents is sent by the registered mail and all commitments made by the settlement company is on official company letterhead and properly signed and notarized.

