jr1129 Posted November 3, 2006 Report Share Posted November 3, 2006 This is my first post here and I have been reading thru all the archives since yesterday. We have close to 40,000 in credit card debt. I thought about going with CCCS but could'nt afford thier plan. Then was going to go with a debt settlement company but after doing my research decided to just try to save up the money myself and settle. I thought if the settlement company was going to have me save money for 2-3 years to settle I could do the same thing.Now my husband has had his pay cut in half and I have been unable to get anything saved. I would rather not file bk if there is anyway around it. We have no assets. No house, 1 car that we owe about as much as its worth. Most of our cards are in both our names although a couple just mine and a couple just his. Its several cards, largest original balance is $5000. I am an independant contractor so I don't think they would be able to garnish my wages. Currently we are 3-4 months behind on all.What I am thinking of doing if we are unable to save any money is keep one card and paying it off in regular agreed payments and then just let the rest of them go until the SOL runs out. How realistic is it to think I can do this? LOLMy thoughts are: are they really going to waste the money coming after us for 5000 when we have no house or assets?Who we are dealing with is MBNA, Capital One (4), Providian(2), Household(2), Chase, Direct Merchants.Thanks for any help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elyse449 Posted November 3, 2006 Report Share Posted November 3, 2006 So, you're currently 3-4 months behind on ALL of them? Household: It looks like you're only 2 mon behind on Household? Is that what the number next to it means? Well, if it were me, I'd call them ASAP and get my payment in to bring me up to date, make sure to include next months payment if you can. They were great in working w/ me and my dh on our situation.Capital One: What have they said? You're 4 months overdue on them? Have they already charged off? Do you know? MBNA: Same as Capital OneProvidian: Same as Capital OneChase: Same as Capital OneDirect Merchants: Same...Would you mind posting how much is owed on each one, including interest rates and then posting what sort of payment is being asked for on each of them? Then make sure to add what you have to work with money wise...You said; "What I am thinking of doing if we are unable to save any money is keep one card and paying it off in regular agreed payments and then just let the rest of them go until the SOL runs out. How realistic is it to think I can do this? LOL."I wouldn't recommend doing that. You'd be shocked at who sues and why. From what I'm reading, a judgment can sit on your credit for 10 yrs in some cases. So, maybe they won't get a garnishment, but they can attach a judgment to you and then possibly go after tax returns and what not. What you really should do, is call them immediately and explain the cut in pay that your household has suffered and see who is willing to work with you. If they've already charged off, than we need to discuss those seperately. Start with the CC your least late on and go from there. JMHO. My dh and I were in those same shoes--thankfully, our credit limits weren't too high so we didn't owe a lot. We just called them, explained that my dh had been laid off and they offered to settle w/ us and we ended up keeping two CC's, lost two though. A word of caution: Sometimes even settling w/ a CC company can be tough because if they decide to, they could jack up your interest or all out close your acct due to your actions w/ another company. My sister had a dispute w/ JC Penney's and another company actually closed her acct allegedly "due to her credit report disclosure." The good thing was, at least she didn't owe anything on it! I really need to see what you owe, current interest, etc first though. Elyse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
direred Posted November 3, 2006 Report Share Posted November 3, 2006 A renewed judgment can stay on your credit a lot longer than 10 years!I read the number in parentheses as the number of cards, which would mean 11 cards averaging $4000 each. If they were $1000 each, the chances of being sued would be smaller. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jr1129 Posted November 3, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 3, 2006 okay I see what your saying I was unsure of what info to post. the numbers I wrote next to the cards are the # of accounts. for example capital one between my husband and I we have 4 different accounts. Yes we are either 3 or 4 months behind on everything. I have'nt talked with any of them at all. And the problem is I can't afford to make the minimum payments. I am barely making the rent, utilities and groceries, car and gas.I guess I am unsure of how to proceed here. I have heard others say not to talk to them until I can make a payment so that is why I have'nt talked with them. I would like to think somehow we can salvage this without filing bk but maybe that is wishful thinking on my part.cards are: bal pymt due interestcap one: 2660 361 28.15cap one 5411 616 28.15cap one 734 135 19.49cap one 753 204 11.44MBNA 5838 388 25.49household 870 192 18.24household 6182 815 32.99direct merchants 7255 952 32.99providian 3099 348 31.49providian 4184 595 31.49chase 4300 1197 29.99Would it be helpful to send them all 10.00? the two with interst rates of 32.99 are the furthest behind.If I could work out smaller payments with them and they stop the over the limit and late fees I might be able to slavage things. I just have'nt wanted to call until I know for sure what I can do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PolarBearnCO Posted November 7, 2006 Report Share Posted November 7, 2006 I'm not a fan of bankruptcy, but do you have a choice? You don't have a house, and from the looks of it, you won't have one for 10+ years anyway. If you try to pay off a $40K debt at only 6% interest, it'll cost ya $500 a month and will take 9 years.So, why even bother paying any of them off? It's going to cost you an arm and a leg and you won't get anything out of it... no improved credit, no assets, no extra savings.Would they waste their money? Dunno. If they can get you to pay, then it won't really cost them much or anything, as they can add the fees and costs to the judgement. From what I understand, in some states, judgements can last forever (renewed), until paid. They may not be able to garnish your wages as a contractor, but will you be a contractor forever? Will you ever want social security? If you ever overpay your taxes, you'll possibly lose your tax refund. Can they go after your wife's income? These are some questions you'll want to answer to determine if you want to try to hide from this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AISLE4 Posted November 7, 2006 Report Share Posted November 7, 2006 If they do sue and can't garnish wages, they won't mind going after your bank accounts and/or investment accounts. Keep that in mind.Use this site to research settlement possibilities. If you have some money to work with, settleing the accounts might be a viable alternative to bankruptcy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joso168 Posted November 9, 2006 Report Share Posted November 9, 2006 My parents are in the smiliar situation. They have no house, car, assets.They only have bank account where their social security direct deposit into it.They have $55k CC debt. They are retired and went back to their home country. And I can't pay their debt anymore due to I have my own debt to take care also. So I decided to not paying their CC anymore. Someone told me the CC can't garnish their account to to the money came from Social Security. And I have my name in their account too, so they can't garnish it. It's crazy they charged 25% interest for the debt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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