Settle credit card debt

Time is valuable. Most people can not afford to lose time from work to negotiate settlements on their debt. Phone calls, and correspondence must to be answered. Complete contact must be kept with creditors and collection agencies, every detail of the debt being negotiated on must be known. Can everyone afford to do this, YES, if they are home unemployed! Arrangements sometimes may take up anywhere from one day to six months , this is why I say negotiating debt is time consuming.

Collectors will test your patience. The phone calls become unbearable, one call after
another, collection agencies do not give up. These calls come at all times of the day, and they are computer generated, knowing the stress you are going through just being in debt are you willing to add extra stress because you think you might know what you are doing? This is where many people quit their own efforts and contact debt relief agencies. Trust me I have the gray hair to prove it, collection calls are not easy to deal with.

If you are a car mechanic chances are I will trust you with the brakes on my car. I do not think I will go to my local garage to learn how to become debt free. The know how is not only how to speak, most of us know how to negotiate, it is not complicated. Working on oyur own debt is knowing when to say certain things and when not to. negotiating is like a boxing match, one must know when to take a punch and when to hit back. This is called experience, just like that car mechanic who knows when to change those brakes, debt negotiators know when to go in for the kill. Unless you are extremely good at knowing when to punch and when not to, debt settlement is not the business for you.

The contacts. Most people laugh when I mention this, the fact is this business is repetitive. What to say, what to do and whom to work with. Believe it or not, there are nice people collecting debt. It takes time, patience and the know how to find these people. Once you find them, you never let them go. You make your enemy your ally, in this case debt negotiators learn to work with debt collectors. They work up a rapport, they sometimes become friends, that is why it is so important to seek the proper help.

If you think you have what it takes to negotiate on your behalf, by all means go ahead. Keep in mind the road is not going to be easy but not impossible. It is highly rewarding to know you can make a difference in peoples lives, as a debt negotiator I take great pride in helping those in real need of debt relief, people with a real hardship. I wish you great success in your efforts.

By: Dan Delgado

Observations on the Most Common MISTAKES Consumers Make When Faced with a Credit Card Debt Lawsuit

1. Consumers ignore notices for Court.

Never, ever ignore a notice from the court. If you suspect it’s a fake (some FDCPA Violators a.k.a. “junk debt buyers” have been caught sending out fake documents that resemble a summons) please call your local courthouse and ask them for verification. A court clerk generally answers the phone and can search by case number or by your name.

The creditor is counting on you either not receiving the notice or not responding to it thus granting them a a default judgment. A default judgment means they WIN and can now garnish your wages and freeze your assets. You may not even receive of the judgment until a wage garnishment attachment is in place.

2. Consumers fail to respond to summons.

Many consumers feel guilty about their debt(s) and fail to respond to the summons within the time-frame indicated. Even if your debt is valid, within SOL and you want to settle, YOU STILL NEED TO RESPOND TO THE SUMMONS WITH AN ANSWER within the time-frame granted (from the date of service) which is usually 20 to 30 days.

I’ve seen too many cases where the consumer works out a deal directly with the debt collector (Plaintiff) and never responds to the court placing that responsibility on the Plaintiff. Guess what? Plaintiff never withdraws their suit and now they have a default judgment in addition to whatever monies they’ve already collected from the debtor.

3. The following practice by debt collectors seem to be an increasingly common (and sleazy) occurrence. The debt collector may sue a consumer is Court. Instead of using the Sheriff to serve the summons, the collector likely will opt to use a special process server. (This is what happened to me!)

The consumer never receives the summons because of improper service (summons was left in an obscure location on the property, with a neighbor, etc.) thus the consumer never answers the complaint, and the debt collectors win a default judgment. BUT, the debt collector sits on the judgment and waits two to three years before executing on it…usually by a surprise wage attachment. The first the consumer ever knows of the suit or judgment is when their wages are garnished. The consumer will have a hard time trying to get the Court to vacate the judgment after two or three years. And the wage garnishment will stand.

This is another excellent reason to sign up for credit monitoring so you will know immediately if something like this has happened. Additionally, many district courts have websites where you can search for your name, not a bad idea to do on a monthly basis if you suspect a collector will be filing a suit against you.

4. When served with a summons (if you are even served), immediately contact an attorney. If you can’t afford an attorney, you can file Pro Se, which means you represent yourself. But by all means, file the answer within the 20 to 30 days indicated! You may qualify for legal aid AND there are resources out there to help you draft your documents, check my links for referrals.

I recommend sending a Notice Of Appearance (this instructs the Court that you are an active participant in the lawsuit and that you should be informed of all communication at a designated address.)

You need to file the Answer to Complaint, Affirmative Defenses document which answers their numbered allegations with an Affirm, Deny, or Lack the Knowledge to Answer type of statment. On the same document you then go on to assert common defenses to credit card debt lawsuits such as out-of-statute, statute of frauds, etc.

You also need to send a Certificate of Service that proves you mailed your Answer documents to the Plaintiff as well as filed them with the court. AND, I highly recommend you send a Cease & Desist Letter to the Plaintiff (read my post about How To Intimidate Debt Collectors for a great tip to use w/ this letter!) that instructs them to only contact you via written correspondence and bars them from contacting your employer, friends, relatives and neighbors.

You should also consider initiating “Discovery” by serving them with a Request for Production of Documents. Basically, you want to put them on notice that you are aware of your rights, are not going to roll over and accept a default and MAKE THEM PROVE THEIR CASE!

It’s well known that third-party debt collectors often only have an affidavit of debt to go off of. If you don’t request any documentation that is enough for them to win or obtain a judgment. However, if you request documentation they must furnish it at a hearing. If they can’t, you win!

For more information about how to fight a credit card debt lawsuit or to purchase my Word & PDF Fill-in-the-Blank templates for Notice of Appearance, Answer, Discovery, and more please visit ihavebeenserved.info.

You have nothing to lose by fighting these predatory debt collectors and everything to gain!

By: Jay M Johnson

Debt settlement has been designed to help people whose unsecured credit accounts has fallen behind, it is an aggressive plan to help save as much money as possible in the least of time. The current economic situation of our country is dictating more and more banks seek solutions that will help them avoid losing money. Now is the time to go after settlements if unsecured credit accounts have fallen behind.

Settling unsecured debt is not easy, it is a process of tough negotiation, of patience and of knowledge. Today more banks are offering to settle accounts that are delinquent anywhere from ninety to one hundred and sixty days, this period is essential for any person looking to settle his/her accounts. First the banks want to settle in order to minimize losses and also not to send accounts to collection agencies.

Aggressive is the word that best describes debt settlement or debt negotiation, this is in fact because all accounts have a window of opportunity to be settled on as I mentioned before. This does not mean that if an account is referred to a collection agency it cannot be settled on. Yes, accounts can also be settled with collection agencies and sometimes it is better an account is let go to them. here is where the knowledge and patience part of negotiation comes into play because collection agencies play harder than original creditors.

Collection agencies will be relentless in their pursuit of a client, they will call a persons home, job, neighbors, etc.. If there is an excellent negotiations firm behind the client this stress can be minimized. Reason number one debt settlement companies or firms came into existence, to lessen clients stress.

In the case an account cannot be settled with the original creditor or a collection agency it may have to be settled with a collection lawyer. Accounts have a natural cycle and no one can stop it, the only action that can stop it is to negotiate settlements. Lawyers are extremely adept using scare tactics to bring clients into paying amounts of debt that have accumulated interest rates, late fees, etc… They will threaten with lawsuits, liens and many more tactics to get a person to buckle down and pay amounts of money not originally owed. Many actions by lawyers can also be avoided if addressed correctly by your debt negotiations firm.

Bottom line is, debt settlement is aggressive on both ends of the stick. Clients must learn to be as tough if not tougher than collectors. Patience is of the essence and not all settlements are to be taken first shot. Experience negotiating debt must be displayed, or collectors will eat a person alive. There are many firms with a reputable reputation that will do a fine job, that will keep stress levels down and not charge an arm and a leg for their services all we have to do is look and investigate far enough and we will find the solution that will help us eliminate our debt in the least amount of time possible.

By: Eric Gartle