What Do You Do If You Cant Pay Those Bills?

So, you have decided that settling your credit card debts on your own is the better path instead of hiring a debt relief company for the purpose.If you have the skills and talents to compete with these professionals when it comes to negotiation, communication and documentation then give it a shot. After all, if a nurse with little background in taxation and the law can single-handedly take on the Internal Revenue Service and win, then so can you where debt relief is concerned.

Keep these points in mind when you are settling credit card debt on your own. These three tips will ensure that you are one step closer to successfully taking on those credit card companies.

Make Sure that Your Accounts Are Significantly Delinquent

You might want to negotiate for lower principal amounts on your credit card bills as soon as you cannot pay the minimum monthly payment required or as soon as you feel that you cannot pay your debts due to other financial obligations. Keep in mind, however, that the debt relief process cannot be availed of until and unless your credit card accounts are significantly delinquent.

Just how delinquent? Well, delinquent credit card accounts are written off as an accounting procedure once these have reached 180-plus days in the ageing method.The writeoff causes the account to drop in value significantly and third parties usually buy these for real cheap – sometimes around 4-6% of the original amount.

To avoid this from happening, the credit card company will be more than willing to settle your debts through negotiation.If the creditors get half of what you owe, thats much better than the 5% they would’ve gotten from the third party collection agencies.

Maintain Detailed and Descriptive Documentation

The days of verbal agreements holding any value are long gone and especially when it comes to credit card debt settlement.It is your word against the word of the collection agency so there isn’t a clearcut winner in this scenario.

Instead, you should maintain detailed and descriptive records of everything pertaining to the negotiation and settlement of your credit card loans.Send out the letters with accurate and comprehensive information to clearly specified addresses/addressees.After that, file the letters and other forms of communication in a binder that is easily accessible.

If you must make a conversation over the phone, keep descriptive records of it. Take note of the time and date, the persons you spoke to, their contact number and the general flow of the conversation.

Use Mail That Can Be Tracked

Once the settlement has been reached, send your payment through certified mail or any mail that can be tracked.Send the check along with a memo clarifying that the check is the full payment along with a copy of the settlement that was reached.Now, you will have pretty good documentation.

Dont forget the specific strategies that you need to use to settle the debt by yourself.Remember the three tips here and you will do just fine in this process.

There are steps that you can carry out. For more ideas about how can I improve my credit score you should read our articles about what you can do when you cant pay credit card debt

Now, when you are wondering -how can I improve my credit score? – you will know the answer(s)..