settlement yes/no views

[hard_times]

Hello all. My first posting and I hope it's a good one and hasn't been asked..........

The SOL in my state is 4 years. My debt is less than a year since last payment. If I choose to lay low and wait 3 more years with no legal action then another 3 more years everything goes away (7 years total).

If I work out a settlement, for example, 3 years after last payment, then I reset the 7 year clock and the total time on the credit report is 10 years.

Now, not only does a settlement reset the 7 year clock I also have to deal with the IRS for the forgiven amount. So that begs the question. If I don’t settle and just leave it alone, does anything get reported to the IRS?

If both those are correct then isn't it unfair that someone who chooses try settle old debts to the best of their ability suffer the longest/hardest? Why is trying to do the right things works poorly in your favor? I must say that not paying my debts as agreed wasn't my intention. As many others I fell on hard times and spent all my savings to survive.

Thanks for the answers.

[brokeinok]

Often pondered the same thing myself..... why won't they work with you when trying to pay off debt, if defaults are such a HUGE problem for the credit industry then why do they try so hard to give you no other alternative but to default.