“Dear Steve,
I have approximately 50K in credit car debt with Bank of America – 32K in a personal card, and 16k in business cards which are guaranteed by me. I was a real estate developer and well, things just went south and spiraled out of control.
I have some steady income now by going back to my previous line of work, and would like to try and settle. I have not paid on the 32K card in 8 months, and the 16K cards in about 3 months. I also have not heard from BofA on any of them, other than the occasional call from FIA card services.
I would like to speak directly to the legal department or loss mitigation, can you help with direction here?
Should I wait to hear from them, I would prefer to try and settle vs bankruptcy.
Phillip”
Dear Phillip,
I’m curious why you would prefer to try and settle the debt versus bankruptcy. Your credit is already shot because of the late payments and that will already be reported for seven years so what are you trying to avoid? You might want to start with reading How to Get Out of Debt. The Honest and Unvarnished Truth.
Even if you were to try to settle, do you have cash on hand to settle now?
Please give me some more information. Oh, and what state do you live in?
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Hi Steve,
Thanks for the reply. I live in NC. I have been doing a lot of reading on the subject, and from what I understood charge off’s on a credit report were not as bad or easier to remove over time than a fully on Bankruptcy. Plus no one ever asks on any application if you have ever had a charge off and they do ask if you have had bankruptcy. I do not have a significant amount of cash to settle, likely not as much as they would ask for, but I was hoping what I do have ($7K)would be enough to entice them to settle vs getting nothing in a full bankruptcy.
I have certainly considered bankruptcy, but I understand its a nightmare.
You’ll typically need around 40 percent of the balance.
It actually takes less time to rebuild credit following bankruptcy than trying to save money to settle over a couple of years.
The key is if you qualify for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. In that case you can begin rebuilding your credit in months.
Let’s make the right decision for your situation based on the facts and not assumptions. You owe it to yourself to meet with a local bankruptcy attorney and discuss your situation and then, armed with that information, let’s make some good choices.