Been considering a credit debt negotiation settlement?  Well I’ve got good news and bad news.  The good news is that you really can negotiate a debt settlement and save thousands in principal, interest and fees.

However, the bad news is that, unless you are a debt negotiations expert, you really can’t do it on your own.  The law is just too complex, and most of us simply don’t know our rights.

You could hire a professional debt negotiations firm to represent you - they are often very successful at getting your debt reduced by as much as 50% or more.

The trouble is that these companies usually charge thousands of dollars for their services, and the odds are, if you had that much hanging around, you would have been paying off your credit card bills in the first place.

So what exactly can you do if you’re stuck with a mountain of debt and harassing calls from creditors and collection agencies?

I’ve found a company that offers a great solution for a fraction of the cost of most debt negotiation firms.  The company is called Zipdebt, and they offer a unique combination of educational packages and phone consultations with a real live debt negotiations expert that prepare you to actually take on your creditors yourself - and win.

The owner of Zipdebt has made a great offer for my readers - he’ll knock $25 off any order.  Just enter code AFF-069 when you order any of their packages, and the $25 will be deducted automatically from your order.

So check out Zipdebt’s packages, and possibly save yourself thousands of dollars.  It really is an excellent way to attack your debt.

Technorati Tags: Credit Debt Negotiation, Debt Negotiation Settlement

Here, at Personal Bankruptcy Avoidance, we have been trying to teach people what they should do before making a decision to file for bankruptcy. We have made emphasis numerous times of the harsh consequences that bankruptcy will bring to a person’s financial life.

We have also called bankruptcy a “last-resort method”; meaning, people should always think twice before making such tough decisions; because once you file for bankruptcy, all your financial life will be seriously affected.

The California bankruptcy system offers some legal and financial aids that are for the sole purpose to be used by those who file for bankruptcy.

Today we want to offer a way out for those people that have already made that one last decision and have filed for bankruptcy by explaining a little bit about overdraft agreements, and how they can help someone improve their situation.

One of our clients, Caitlin Stewart, has recently filed for personal bankruptcy, and she just joined our program in order to recover her financial stability and regain her credit capacity.

Martin Rogers, our California bankruptcy expert, will surely help her with any questions she has.

Caitlin Stewart:  What are overdraft agreements? And Am I allowed by the California bankruptcy law to use it?

Martin Rogers:  According to the California bankruptcy laws, people who have filed for bankruptcy are allowed to make use of revolving credit accounts that have a direct relation with their bank account. These are called overdraft agreements. These accounts have a limited credit and within that amount you, as the owner of the account, can make withdrawals even if you do not have enough money in the account.

An important point about these accounts is that after the owner has withdrawn money, he or she has to pay the generated capital and interest. People have to be very careful about fulfilling the mandatory payments and above all, always pay the interest charges. Maintaining a healthy financial relationship with this type of account will be vital to recover your credit history.

Caitlin Stewart:  Will using this type of account surely help me?

Martin Rogers:  The California bankruptcy laws have created this type of mechanism to help people in certain and specific situations, such as bankruptcy. The most important thing to do after surviving bankruptcy is to recover your credit score by paying on time the capital and interest charges, which credit bureaus will into your account’s behavior; and they will eventually promote the growth of your credit score. The California bankruptcy system is intended to promote the development of these specific bankruptcy cases, where people can show that they can lead a debt free life whilst fulfilling all of their financial responsibilities.

Caitlin Stewart: According to the California bankruptcy system how do I improve my credit capacity beyond that point?

Martin Rogers:  The California bankruptcy system allows people who have a constant growth on their credit reports to equally grow on credit capacity. After the credit picks up over the normal limit by using overdraft agreements, the person can apply for credit cards in order to increase the actual credit score.

Another interesting way of increasing your credit score is requesting a small unsecured loan to make acquisitions or to buy small things. Repaying these kinds of loans will add up more to your credit history, and you will ultimately gain once again the serenity of being out of debt and having a balanced financial life. In time, you will regain your normal financial life, and you will be able to use any bank or credit resource as you could in the past. The main difference is that this time, you will know how to manage it better and avoid debt successfully.

To file for bankruptcy in the California Bankruptcy system, you need the best legal advice possible. Choosing the wrong attorney could cost you your home, vehicles, or other possessions. The decision is too important to trust it to the yellow pages or slick TV commercials.

Choose California bankruptcy well established, well respected and highly skilled attorneys from law firms that deal exclusively with consumer bankruptcy.

By using our free confidential legal evaluation, you can be on your way to achieve the financial solutions you seek. We can help you protect your assets and get the fresh start you deserve.

To learn more:

http://www.personal-bankruptcy-avoidance.com/Bankruptcy/TX-Texas/Bankruptcy-TX-Texas.shtml

http://www.personal-bankruptcy-avoidance.com/Loans/TX-Texas/Loans-TX-Texas.shtml

Technorati Tags: california bankruptcy, recovering from bankruptcy

The ideal is to live within your means, spending less money than
you make. It is a sure way to stay out of credit card debt.

The Solution

But if you are reading this, chances are you’ve already
accumulated too much credit card debt. Here are your
options:

Option #1: One thing you can do if you have outstanding balances
on high interest credit cards, is to do a balance transfer onto
a lower interest credit card.

Of course you first need to have a balance transfer offer from a
credit card company, with a card that has a lower interest rate
than the one you are trying to pay off. Visa, MasterCard,
American Express, and Discover all have a variety of different
cards, with different interest rates. By transferring your
balance to a card with a lower interest rate, you can save
hundreds if not thousands of dollars in interest charges. You
can compare these cards online (see resource box at bottom).

If you get lots of offers (as you will if your Equifax Score is
higher than 690 - rated “good” - and you may even get a few
while rated “fair”) you will be able to pick and choose among
balance transfer offers. Look for ones that keep the low rate
until you have paid off the balance transfer completely. In some
cases, you may want to accept one that raises the rate after
some months, as long as that new rate is lower than the one you
have on the card you are trying to pay off.

Sometimes the best balance transfer offers come with a new
credit card. You will find reviews of some of the best at creditoffersre
view.com. Do remember, however, not to apply for too many
at once - sure to lower your credit card score.

A Few Things to Remember

For ease in understanding, we will call the high interest card
you are paying off Card A, and the one you are transferring
balances to, Card B.

1. Be careful to continue making payments on Card A. until your
payment shows up (you can check most credit card balances on the
credit card website, by logging into your own account.)

2. Try to time it so your transfer pays that month’s payment. Do
this by making the balance payment right away when you have just
received your statement for Card A. That gives several weeks for
the payment to post. Then you will not need to make a regular
payment that month and can apply more to some other card.

3. Experts vary on their advice about what card to pay off
first. I prefer to pay off the highest interest card first, but
others say the satisfaction of paying off a card with a smaller
balance (because you can pay if off quicker) is important to
your motivation to keep paying down that debt. I get my
satisfaction in seeing the interest and minimum balances drop
drastically as I pay down the very high interest rate card.

4. Be careful to leave a few hundred on Card B so its next
interest charge will not make you overdrawn. Apply as much as
you can to Card A, but not all of it.

5. Be aware that almost all cards doing balance transfers with a
very low interest rate offer are going to apply any payments you
make to those lower transfer balances first. So it is best if
you only do a balance transfer to a card that is totally empty.
If you have charges on it at its normal interest rate, they will
continue to accrue finance charges at the higher rate all the
time the lower rates transfers you did later are being paid
down.

Option #2: You can also transfer your balance from a high
interest card to one with a low introductory interest rate - If
you are like most of us, you probably get these in the mail all
the time. “Limited time offer!” “Pay no interest for 6 months!”
“0% till next May!” All of these cards offer an introductory low
APR (sometimes 0%) when you get their credit card. But you have
to be careful if you use this option. Use it only if you plan to
pay off the balance BEFORE the grace period ends. If not, you
might end up paying more than you would have originally.

Option #3: Another option is to get a credit card debt
consolidation loan - it can take a lot of the stress out of
trying to juggle credit card accounts. It allows you to
consolidate all your credit card debt into one easy payment at a
fixed interest rate. This rate is almost always lower than the
one the credit card companies will give you. The draw back is
that you have to be very careful who you get such a loan from,
especially is they promise they will negotiate lower credit card
payments, so that you are not paying all you owe. If it is from
a credit counseling agency like that, it may harm your credit
rating.

Before applying for any credit card, you may want to discuss
with your financial advisor which credit card’s best for your
unique financial situation.

How good is a bankruptcy alternative form bankruptcy? Bankruptcy is a legally-declared inability of an individual or organization to pay their creditors. It is legal process by which people and businesses can eliminate all, or a portion, of their debts by extending the time to pay-off their debts under the protection and supervision of a court and trustee.

Once an individual receives a bankruptcy-discharge, hes no longer obligated on those discharged/erased debts, and giving the debtor a fresh start financially. Yet as already mentioned, bankruptcy cannot always protect one from creditors efforts to collect secured-debts. It cannot wipe-out all debts, plus, the new bankruptcy law has made it harder for some to file bankruptcy. The new bankruptcy law was intended, to eliminate the bankruptcy of convenience. It makes sense then that indebted consumers/businesses want to seek a bankruptcy alternative. Debtors still need to find some other way to manage their increasing debt, but there are a lot of things that bankruptcy can and cannot do, and also the ensuing financial disadvantages in the future. To avoid the negative impacts of personal bankruptcy, individuals-in-debt should recourse to a number of bankruptcy alternative(s).

Bankruptcy Alternative(s):

No Action. Judgment from creditors could do nothing to the indebteds judgment proof of really not having anything for payment. It couldnt do anything more on the financial situation. It is unlikely that creditors could collect anything against the judgment, particularly if the debtor doesnt expect to have regular income or property a creditor could attempt to seize.

Self Money Management. Debt comes from spending more than one’s income. The most obvious solution is reducing monthly spending to allow room for unwanted debts that could be easily remedied by creating a personal budget and analyzing expenses to find areas to reduce expenses reducing food costs, taking public transportation, and eliminating unnecessary telephone and cable-television services.

Negotiation With Creditors. While negotiation may also buy the debtor some time to rebuild their finances, most creditors are also familiar that bankruptcy is an ordinary option for the indebted so they are willing to negotiate a settlement so that they receive a portion of their money, instead of also risking loses in a bankruptcy.

Debts-Consolidation. Borrowing from one lender at a low interest rate, replacing many payments to many different creditors with one monthly payment, plus taking care of guarantee-property could provide sufficient funds to repay a number of higher interest rate debts (such as Credit Cards) thereby simplifying the debtors monthly budget.

Formal Proposal to Creditors and Individual Voluntary Arrangements Plan. A formal proposal or deal with the creditors instead of against the creditors may be a wiser bankruptcy alternative allowing a debtor to reach a formal repayment arrangement with their creditors usually over a 5-year-period.

Bankruptcy would not be just a financial and emotional and mental burden; hence taking one bankruptcy alternative might just save you. Avoid the debt-trap as much as possible - save, and be saved.

EDITOR’S ANSWER: Believe it or not you’ve taken the best step you can. By contacting a lawyer, and working with him you won’t have to file bankruptcy. You can have him contact all debtors and perform a “consolidation” of sorts or file a chapter 7 or 13 bankruptcy. A chapter 7 wipes everything away and stays on your credit report for 10 yrs. A chapter 13 is a legal debt consolidation where a judge tells your debtors that they will accept this or nothing at all.. Good luck.

[NOTE:  I also highly recommend checking out the services offered by Zipdebt.com.  They are a great alternative to bankruptcy, and start out incredibly reasonably for what you get (like live phone consult and six months of email support).  Plus, they offer a 365 day money back guarantee, so you literally have nothing to lose by giving it a shot.  It involves doing work yourself, but the results can be so worth the effort.]

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Technorati Tags: bakruptcy attorney, how to avoid bankruptcy

 Along with increasingly exessive late fees and other surcharges, credit card interest has continued to climb in many cases DESPITE the decline in the Fed rates. 

So take a look at this man’s take on the subject.  The intro to the video reads:

“A step by step video talking about the reality of credit card debt, and how the credit card companys are really charging you 83.3% interest.”

Duration : 0:9:59

Technorati Tags: Card Credit debt, eliminate debt

While I thoroughly agree with this man’s contention that something should and must be done to reign in credit card companies from abusing their customers with unfair interest rate hikes and over limit fees and the like, I don’t necessarily agree with his conclusion - that bankruptcy is the only current option available for people with large amounts of credit card debt.

In fact, in my experience and from my studies on the matter, there are definitely viable alternatives to credit card bankruptcy.

Specifically, it can be possible to negotiate with your creditors to reduce the amount you owe substantially and to reduce or eliminate the interest and fees you owe as well.

In fact, the very threat of declaring bankruptcy has been and remains the key weapon in your arsenal as a debtor - the credit card companies know that, should you eventually declare bankruptcy, they could very well lose everything. 

Therefore, they can at times be convinced to take less than 100% of your principal (sometimes less than HALF!).  It is essential, however, that you do your homework and know exactly how to approach them, or you could get burned, and badly.

That’s why I’ve long recommended that people check out the services offered by Zipdebt.com, which offers great support and training to teach you exactly how to approach your creditors and negotiate a fair settlement - one that you can actually afford to pay off.

But this video does make an excellent point.  Contact your legislators and voice your support for credit card reform!

Duration : 0:2:6

Technorati Tags: bankruptcy, Card, chapter13, Chapter7, Credit, debt, relief

EDITOR’S ANSWER: Your Husband should look into an SBA Loan (Small Business Administration). If you have a house to use as collateral, that might make getting a loan easier, but he will have to draft a business plan. Have him speak with a loan officer at a local bank about his options.

[NOTE: Another way to lower debt is to negotiate directly with creditors. The best way I've found to do this is with the support and training packages offered by Zipdebt.com. ]

Technorati Tags: dissolve debt, mortgage payment

EDITOR’S ANSWER: You need to take some time and learn about money management. It sounds like an old, worn out line but it is true. Using credit cards can help “balance” your money to some degree but it needs to be used wisely. By balance I mean that it can help you during low points of available cash. For people being paid monthly, credit cards can be a real help.

The only proper way to get out of debt is to pay it off and manage your money better. 

[Again, you could also check out Zipdebt.com for their support and training packages that show you how to negotiate a settlement on your debt.  Of course, if you can still afford to make payments, by all means definitely do.  But if you have fallen way behind, then it is time to get serious and contact Zipdebt, or at the very least study up on your rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act at your local library.]

Technorati Tags: Eliminate Credit Card Debt