Each of us lives only now, in this brief instant. The rest has been lived already. So make the most thoughtful choices you can today that will lead to a better future.
Steve's Thought of the Day
Stop drifting and hoping a magic solution will appear. Instead, you can participate in rescuing yourself. Find peace by pursuing facts through trusted advisers and research rather than the blind trust of salespeople trying to sell you something by almost any means necessary.
Steve's Thought of the Day
Make decisions to deal with your debt with logic and facts, not assumptions, and worry about what other people will think. People who judge you will soon be forgotten. Nobody thinks about anyone that much.
Steve's Thought of the Day
The world is nothing but constant change. Your life is only a perception. Choose a way out of debt based on facts, not assumptions. Do what is best for your future because those that judge you will not feed you.
Steve's Thought of the Day
Do you have a greater responsibility to repair your financial past or your financial present and future? Make good choices that allow you to tackle your debt and immediately start building your emergency fund and saving for retirement. Tomorrow will be here before you know it. Lost time is a sin.
Steve's Thought of the Day
There is no sense in wasting a perfectly good financial mistake. Instead, learn from it and do better moving forward. The past is gone. Turn and face the future now.
Steve's Thought of the Day
Those who judge you for past financial mistakes are not your friends. So don't make choices about your future out of fear of what they may think. Instead, make choices based on truth, fact, and what is best for you moving forward from today.
Steve's Thought of the Day
Don't believe everything you think. Challenge your assumptions about getting out of debt. Do what is best for you, not others.
Steve's Thought of the Day
Is it less moral to file bankruptcy or to not take action that leaves you old, broke, hungry, and dependent on others?
Steve's Thought of the Day
If bankruptcy is so bad, why did our Founding Fathers specifically include it in the U.S. Constitution as protection for financial difficulties?
Stop listening to people that say bankruptcy is a last resort. It is neither first nor last. It is a tool like credit counseling, debt settlement, and others. For the best result, you need to use the right tool for the job.
Steve's Thought of the Day
People that tell you to avoid bankruptcy want to sell you something else are repeating something they heard or do not know what they are talking about. Get the facts and then make your own decision. Don't let an unskilled script-reading commissioned salesperson make life decisions for you.
Steve's Thought of the Day
Debt problems are like fingerprints. No two are alike. A one-size-fits-all solution will give you a one-size-fits-all result. You deserve better.
Steve's Thought of the Day
You are not your debt. Your value, self-esteem, and existence should not be defined by the money troubles you may be facing right now. Debt problems are solved with proper action, not guilt, self-hatred, and disgust.
Steve's Thought of the Day
Debt is nothing more than math wrapped in emotion. The math is easy, the emotional part leads us to do impulsive things. Not the right thing.
Steve's Thought of the Day
What type of money personality do you have? It is important to know. Take my online test now and discover how you unconsciously deal with money, credit, and debt.
Steve's Thought of the Day
How much retirement savings are you willing to throw away by dealing with your old debt instead of preparing for your financial future? Find how much you will lose by making the wrong choice. Use my online debt repayment calculator now.
Steve's Thought of the Day
Does it make more sense to ask for life-altering debt advice from an unskilled and untrained commissioned salesperson in a call center or an experienced debt coach like Damon Day that provides a customized solution for money troubles?
I was wondering if it’s advantageous to try and settle multiple cards at one time? The 4 cards will charge off in March (within about 20 days of each other). I will have access to some money by then. With that and a tax return, I might have enough to settle them together.
Should I mention to each of the cards that I’d like to settle your account, as well as 3 others at the same time? Would it make any difference if each settlement was in one payment or spread out with the 4 payments over 90 days?
Harvey”
Dear Harvey,
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Well it’s advantageous in that it will resolve the problem quickly. Just keep in mind though that if settling these cards leaves you solvent, where your assets exceed your liabilities, then you may owe income on the forgiven debt. I just don’t want you to be surprised.
You can tackle this yourself but I would suggest you get a little coaching to get you queued up for the a great outcome. Knowing what to ask for, when, and what documentation to get are key points to your debt settlement success.
I suggest you contact Damon Day, a great debt coach, and schedule a consultation to have him guide you here. It would be a small investment but a smart one.
11 thoughts on “Can I Settle My Debt Myself? – Harvey”
Steve, Damon, Charles, Jared and Michael – thanks for all the great advice and sharing your knowledge! I’ve been able to settle a couple cards for about 35%! Still have a couple more to go, including Cap One. You guys really know your stuff. Much of my situation followed very closely to what you said would happen. I hope things get moving on the Cap One, seems like lots of people have a much tougher time with them.
Harvey, congratulations on your DIY settlement success to date. I do hope you are getting these settlements documented in writing before you pay? Yes, Cap One is often difficult to settle with, and they can be aggressive in terms of litigation. Be patient, but don’t ignore a direct threat of legal action from this creditor. If it goes to an attorney in your state, that is not a bluff. If they assign to an outside agency, you can get a reasonable settlement eventually.
Things seem to moving along as they should, but one of these is with Cap One. They will not talk of settling. Any thoughts on how to get them started? Thanks
Whatever you are able to workout with each creditor, be sure to get that agreement in writing before making a payment and then be sure to honor any payment terms. Good luck.
Between the money I have saved from the normal monthly payments and resources that I have lined up (family), the funding should be good. I don’t want to risk lawsuits, so I will try to get each of these settled independently before charge off with 3 payments. Thanks for your help Steve and Charles!
Thank you for your response. I have been trying to learn all I can about settlement and I think I will contact Damon or one of the sites you mentioned. From all the time I’ve spent looking at this on the internet, it seems like the people like yourself and the three you mentioned, as well as one or two more, have the best advise. It’s amazing how those few always lead back to each other.
I know there could be tax due on the settlements. I’ll guess I’ll deal with that when this is finished. Can’t control it.
As far as the “strategy”. I want the one that gets the best results, obviously. Will I hurt myself if one is settled first and the next card sees that I was able to settle, so they won’t accept a settlement or want a high one? Will they be able to see the first result immediately? Or with the accounts all being so close together, could they be settled one at a time before it show’s up on each of their Big Brother system?
For me, the bigger issue is to come up with deals for all that fit within your resources. It does not do much good if only 2 of 4 settle. That still leaves you with 2 problem accounts. Any one of those coaches can help you through this.
Harvey, if you are in a financial crisis and need to settle these accounts, it really doesn’t matter whether you negotiate all four in the exact same month or the settlements are spaced over a few months. Don’t worry about whether creditor A becomes aware of the fact that you have already settled with creditor B. The main thing is to negotiate the best possible outcomes without incurring unnecessary risk in the process. Regarding your question on payment structure, the deals usually don’t improve just because you are paying in a single lump-sum vs. 2-3 installments. Structuring the settlements in 3 installments will give you more flexibility in juggling your resources to make it all work out, and also add a measure of additional safety in terms of extracting the settlement letters from the creditors.
Steve, Damon, Charles, Jared and Michael – thanks for all the great advice and sharing your knowledge! I’ve been able to settle a couple cards for about 35%! Still have a couple more to go, including Cap One. You guys really know your stuff. Much of my situation followed very closely to what you said would happen. I hope things get moving on the Cap One, seems like lots of people have a much tougher time with them.
Harvey, congratulations on your DIY settlement success to date. I do hope you are getting these settlements documented in writing before you pay? Yes, Cap One is often difficult to settle with, and they can be aggressive in terms of litigation. Be patient, but don’t ignore a direct threat of legal action from this creditor. If it goes to an attorney in your state, that is not a bluff. If they assign to an outside agency, you can get a reasonable settlement eventually.
Awesome, always nice to hear more success stories. Good Job Harvey.
Hi Harvey,
I’m not sure what I did, but thanks! đŸ™‚
In respect to Cap One, I second what Charles said.
Things seem to moving along as they should, but one of these is with Cap One. They will not talk of settling. Any thoughts on how to get them started? Thanks
Whatever you are able to workout with each creditor, be sure to get that agreement in writing before making a payment and then be sure to honor any payment terms. Good luck.
Between the money I have saved from the normal monthly payments and resources that I have lined up (family), the funding should be good. I don’t want to risk lawsuits, so I will try to get each of these settled independently before charge off with 3 payments. Thanks for your help Steve and Charles!
Thank you for your response. I have been trying to learn all I can about settlement and I think I will contact Damon or one of the sites you mentioned. From all the time I’ve spent looking at this on the internet, it seems like the people like yourself and the three you mentioned, as well as one or two more, have the best advise. It’s amazing how those few always lead back to each other.
I know there could be tax due on the settlements. I’ll guess I’ll deal with that when this is finished. Can’t control it.
As far as the “strategy”. I want the one that gets the best results, obviously. Will I hurt myself if one is settled first and the next card sees that I was able to settle, so they won’t accept a settlement or want a high one? Will they be able to see the first result immediately? Or with the accounts all being so close together, could they be settled one at a time before it show’s up on each of their Big Brother system?
For me, the bigger issue is to come up with deals for all that fit within your resources. It does not do much good if only 2 of 4 settle. That still leaves you with 2 problem accounts. Any one of those coaches can help you through this.
Harvey, if you are in a financial crisis and need to settle these accounts, it really doesn’t matter whether you negotiate all four in the exact same month or the settlements are spaced over a few months. Don’t worry about whether creditor A becomes aware of the fact that you have already settled with creditor B. The main thing is to negotiate the best possible outcomes without incurring unnecessary risk in the process. Regarding your question on payment structure, the deals usually don’t improve just because you are paying in a single lump-sum vs. 2-3 installments. Structuring the settlements in 3 installments will give you more flexibility in juggling your resources to make it all work out, and also add a measure of additional safety in terms of extracting the settlement letters from the creditors.
Yea, what he said.
BTW, That’s Charles with Zipdebt who I mentioned.