Credit Card Debt Settlement

Authored By: Marjorie Salada

Have you started receiving credit card debt settlement notices in the mail? Have you been receiving collection calls? If this is the case, you have probably been in debt and been dealing with financial difficulties for quite some time.

Creditors are sometimes willing to settle the account for a lesser amount if the credit card account is seriously delinquent or has been written off. This creditor will usually accept the settled amount in one payment and the payment has to be made within a short period of time.

Now you may wonder why a creditor would settle for less than what is owed. Your credit card issuer is trying to reduce their losses and they have concerns about you paying this debt. Your credit issuer feels that recovering some of their money is better than not getting any of it back. Keep in mind that accepting a settlement may affect your borrowing ability in the future with this creditor, but it is a better option than bankruptcy or doing nothing at all.

A creditor will not usually settle on an account that is current. Normally, the account has to be at least 90 days delinquent before they will talk settlement and many credit card companies will wait longer than that. Here are a few things you should be aware of before agreeing to a settlement.

1. Your settlement payment may not completely satisfy the debt. There is a possibility that the uncollected portion of the debt could be turned over to another collection agency for further collection activity, but this is not the norm.

2. The IRS considers the amount of the debt that has not been satisfied as income. Any amount that exceeds $600 will be report on a 1099, to the IRS, by your creditors. You will be required to pay taxes on this amount.

3. Know what's on your credit report. If the debt is not on their at all, it is not recommended that you do anything with this debt. If it is showing as being "charged off," this is negative note on your credit report. If you settle, it will be noted as "settled for a lesser amount" which as also somewhat negative, but not as bad as doing nothing about it at all.

The best thing to do is to try to deal with the original creditor. Communicate with them in writing. If they will not deal with you, contact the collection agency in writing. If at all possible, try to negotiate a repayment plan on the balance. If you decide to settle the debt, get the terms of the settlement in writing to avoid problems on down the road. Once you have paid the debt, ask for a “release of debt” as proof that the company has agreed that the debt has been satisfied.

The best thing that you can do for yourself is to examine the curcumstances that caused your debt to get to this point and to put a plan in place that will prevent you from ending up there again.

Marjorie Salada is the owner of debtmanagement1.com, a website that contains information on getting and staying out of debt. If you are looking for information on debt consolidation, debt settlement, debt counseling or how to manage credit card debt this site is an excellent resource.

Article Source: http://www.FinanceNook.com
Your One-Stop Quality Finance Article Source

Home | Debts | Debt Relief

Read Additional Related Articles from the Debt Relief Category

Listed below are more articles related to the above article.

People interested in the above article "Credit Card Debt Settlement" are also interested in the related articles listed below:

Stuff Happens: Be Prepared - By : Cheryl Johnson
The Debt Free Living Recipes - By : Cheryl Johnson
Debt Free Living: Justifying A Non-Purchase - By : Cheryl Johnson
Get Out Of Debt! - By : Tomas Morkenson
Are You Looking For Debt Help? - By : Tremper Phorgman
Credit Counseling Clients Hurt by New Bankruptcy Requirements - By : Charles Essmeier
Get In Control Of Your Credit Card Debt - By : Michael D. Strauss
How To Tackle Your Super Bad Credit - By : Yap Kee Chong
Credit And Debt Counselling In The UK - By : Roy Thomsitt
Get Out Of Debt - Ways To Solve Debt Problems - By : Carrie Reeder

Read more related articles in Home | Debts | Debt Relief

Return Home

FinanceNook.com Home

Featured Sites

Internet Marketing
Website marketing strategies and tips for promoting a business online

Small Business Marketing
How to get more customers or clients than you ever dreamed possible

Social Bookmarking

Bookmark on del.icio.us

Popular Articles

RSS Feeds

FinanceNook.com Home | Top of Page

United States of America . United Kingdom . Canada . Afghanistan . Albania . Algeria . American Samoa . Andorra . Angola . Anguilla . Antarctica . Antigua & Barbuda . Argentina . Armenia . Aruba . Australia . Austria . Azerbaijan . Bahamas . Bahrain . Bangladesh . Barbados . Belarus . Belgium . Belize . Benin . Bermuda . Bhutan . Bolivia . Bosnia-Herzegovina . Botswana . Brazil . British Virgin Islands . Brunei Darrusalam. Bulgaria . Burkina Faso . Burundi . Cambodia . Cameroon . Cape Verde . Cayman Islands . Central African Republic . Chad . Chile . China . Colombia . Comoros . Congo . Congo (Dem. Rep.) . Cook Islands . Costa Rica . Côte d'Ivoire . Croatia . Cuba . Cyprus . Czech Republic . Denmark . Djibouti . Dominica . Dominican Republic . East Timor . Ecuador . Egypt . El Salvador . Equatorial Guinea . Eritrea . Estonia . Ethiopia . Falkland Islands and Dependencies . Faroe Islands . Fiji . Finland . France . French Guiana . French Polynesia . Gabon . Gambia . Georgia . Germany . Ghana . Gibraltar . Greece . Greenland . Grenada . Guadeloupe . Guam . Guatemala . Guinea . Guinea Bissau . Guyana . Haiti . Honduras . Hong Kong . Hungary . Iceland . India . Indonesia . Iran . Iraq . Ireland . Isle Of Man . Israel . Italy . Ivory Coast . Jamaica . Japan . Jordan . Kazakhstan . Kenya . Kiribati . Korea (North) . Korea (South) . Kuwait . Kyrgyzstan . Laos . Latvia . Lebanon . Lesotho . Liberia . Libya . Liechtenstein . Lithuania . Luxembourg . Macau . Macedonia . Madagascar . Malawi . Malaysia . Maldives . Mali . Malta . Marshall Islands . Martinique . Mauritania . Mauritius . Mexico . Micronesia (Federated States) . Moldova . Monaco . Mongolia . Morocco . Mozambique . Myanmar (Burma) . Namibia . Nauru . Nepal . Netherlands . Netherlands Antilles . New Caledonia . New Zealand . Nicaragua . Niger . Nigeria . Niue . Norfolk Island . Northern Mariana Islands . Norway . Oman . Pakistan . Palau . Palestine . Panama . Papua New Guinea . Paraguay . Peru . Philippines . Poland . Portugal . Puerto Rico . Qatar . Reunion . Romania . Russia . Rwanda . Sahara . Saint Helena . Saint Kitts and Nevis . Saint Lucia . Saint Pierre & Miquelon . Saint Vincent & The Grenadines . Samoa . San Marino . São Tomé & Príncipe . Saudi Arabia . Senegal . Serbia . Seychelles . Sierra Leone . Singapore . Slovakia . Slovenia . Solomon Islands . Somalia . South Africa . Spain . Sri Lanka . Sudan . Suriname . Swaziland . Sweden . Switzerland . Syria . Taiwan . Tajikistan . Tanzania . Thailand . Togo . Tongo . Trinidad & Tobago . Tunisia . Turkey . Turkmenistan . Tuvalu . Uganda . Ukraine . United Arab Emirates . Uruguay . Uzbekistan . Vanuatu . Vatican City (Holy See) . Venezuela . Vietnam . Yemen . Zaire . Zambia . Zimbabwe

Template Design by Larry Lim | Powered by Article Dashboard