Buy debt relief programs?
Receiving quotes from different debt settlement companies?
Filling out forms online and looking for help with credit card debt?
Seduced by lower payouts?
Don’t be fooled …
DO YOU HAVE AN ACCOUNT WITH ANY OF THESE LENDERS:
Citibank, Discover or Bank of America? (Are you sure?)
UPDATE MARCH 2012: Target and Kohl’s have become very aggressive. Your program should take into account the higher costs and the possibility of a successful trial. Collaborate only with a professional law firm with a lawyer in your country who will represent you who have successfully passed the following tests…
BUYER NOTE:
If you get a quote from someone who doesn’t ask you who your lenders are, you better escape!
Today, when so many people are experiencing financial difficulties, there are many unscrupulous, untrained or ignorant people who jump into the basket to pay off debts… Unfortunately, this can mean big problems for you!
Did you know that Citibank, Discover and Bank of America are much more likely to sue you if you make a mistake by signing up for the wrong program for 24 to 30 months? Or, in some cases, even if it’s over 12 months?
It all depends on how much you owe to “aggressive lenders” such as Citibank, Discover and Bank of America.
You may have accounts disguised as other lenders, but in fact they belong to the same pesky lenders as…
At’T Universal (Citibank)
Most petrol cards (Exxon, BP, Citgo, Chevron … ALL Citibank)
Sears (Citibank)
Sometimes Lowes and Sams (learn)
FIA (Bank of America)
Plus a plethora of other common names that you may know all too well but never knew are putting time bombs in your financial plan.
In fact, if you are in arrears to Citibank, Discover or Bank of America, debt settlement may not work at all for you!
UPDATE MARCH 2012: Citibank has recently become much easier to manage, which is much smaller and comes down to lawsuits. In fact, many creditors are relaxed. I think it has to do with savings. Lenders want something as soon as possible, not nothing. This is GOOD NEWS for you!
Indeed, these hard economic times are the best time to get rid of debts as little as possible and as soon as possible! A friend of mine recently repaid $75,000 of his personal credit card debt to Bank of America for just 10% ($7,500).
Take advantage now if you have suffered from the economy and have serious debts.
What if you signed up for one of those debt settlement programs that DO NOT address these “aggressive creditors” (like most debt settlement companies that offer today)?
If you’re one of the many clients I tried to help when they came to me after leaving one of the many bad debt settlement programs, you’ll be robbed and dumped with bad creditors.
You would have spent a year or two on a program that was doomed from the start, with MUCH more debt (higher balances due to interest accumulation and commissions), ‘a lot of nothing’ for paid big money on an insensitive debt settlement with a long list of complaints… and your bills will go too far for a legitimate debt settlement to do everything you can afford. Usually at this stage it takes a large lump sum, about 65% of your total debt, to avoid bankruptcy or worse…
Beware of the “smoke and mirrors” that most debt companies are trying to reach today.
Literally thousands of debt repayment companies have jumped out of the basket in recent years. Most of them come from bankrupt subprime mortgage companies that were the cause of a series of bad loans that went through our economy before the collapse in which we found ourselves.
RULE 1. Ask for quotes only to settle a debt that requires a discharge.
Beware of sellers and newbies who try to sell you for a minimum monthly fee without even looking at your specific situation. Stay away from companies or suppliers that try to sign up for the program without referring to anything listed in TASC’s Standard Disclosure.
RULE No.2. Work only with the repayment of debt, valid for more than 5 years.
If 90% of enterprises fail in the first five years, why do you trust your financial future to an unverified startup? Stay away from startups or companies whose “business date” was in their BBB report less than five years ago. Choose a company that has proven itself over time.
RULE no.3. Only work with companies with a clean BBB reliability report.
Stay away from businesses with a long list of complaints… especially “unresolved” complaints. This is a sure sign that they are too promising and poorly working and may needlessly sue their clients. You need a company and a consultant who will be there for you throughout your program to make sure you get support and succeed in debt servicing.
In short, find out what a “good track record” means with BBB, and demand it from any company you plan to entrust to your financial future.
UPDATE FOR MARCH 2012: Due to numerous unscrupulous operators in the industry, as noted above, BBB has refused membership in many debt settlement companies in most regions of the country. This is the case when a few bad apples spoiled the barrel. Some parts of the country are still members. In addition, the BBB gave companies a “D” rating simply because they are active in debt settlement, even without having any complaints or problems with consumers in the past.
Currently, BBB does not recognize any criteria to distinguish good companies from bad ones other than the length of existence and the number of complaints.