Working Out a Deal with CC Companies

[mommyto3+1]

Is it possible for a credit card company to work out some type of plan with me so I can avoid filing? Like for instance lowering my balance or interest rate. Should I call and explain that we may be filing and see what they can offer?

I have 7 cards totaling 45K.

[screwedupbyRE]

pls refer to my posting.... http://www.bkforum.com/showthread.php?t=24901

we are in same boat.

[ssdsco]

treehugger1 is going down this path. You'll find a lot of info in his posts on this topic. I think he did a summary a few months ago.

[deafbroke]

Good luck trying. I tried a debt resolution company where they basically do the negotiating for you. Half the creditors worked it out with them, several others wouldn't. Ended up getting garnished, and taken to court by others (almost). Had to file chapter 7 to put a stop to it.


DB

[PaKettle]

Most people on this forum have reported negative experiences with trying to work it out with creditors.
The bottom line, in my opinion, is this:
With credit counseling or credit consolidation you will still have bad credit yet you will pay and pay and pay on those cards if you owe $45k.
Whereas if you file Ch 13 you will pay less, and be done with it for sure after 2-5 years.
And if you qualify for a Ch. 7 you will owe NO credit cards or personal loans as of about 90-120 days after you file.
You decide.
Ch. 7 really isn't all that bad. You get stressed out for a couple months if you're like me, like many people. But then it's over. And I personally now am SUPER GLAD I filed Ch. 7.
I just lost my job a couple months after my discharge, and if I had the stress of going through Ch. 7 NOW, it would be worse than it was having filed while I still had a job. Having few debts (just my car and student loan, rent and utilities) is a big plus!

Credit companies usually aren't all that cooperative about working out a lower interest rate and certainly are not likely to lower your balance.

[almost]

I went this route. I used CCCS. I had a payment of 750.00 for about 35K in cc debt. They have like a 5 year plan to get you out of debt.
Problem is, that some would not particapate in the program. so you have to pay the large CCCS payment and the others. I ended up being sued. I could not keep up with the large payments. Fall behind and you out of the pogram.
Most of the cc lowered the interest a little, but I worked it out and I still had a lot of interest to payback on principle and extra fees and extra pre CCCS program interest.

[jenopher]

I tried this with BofA visa card. Waste of my time, no luck whatsoever. They ran my credit without my consent or knowledge right then on the phone while they had me on hold. came back and mentioned something about my credit being decent and that filing BK didn't make sense for me. They tried to refer me to their in house credit consolidation program. No thanks! You triple my rate after I've been a great customer for 10 years and you really think I'm going to trust you to take over all my debt? Seriously, one late by a few days + the fee and interest caused me to be 9.00 over limit and they tripled my rate. My payment for 1K had already cleared before I got the notice in the mail or I would have cancelled it. I was so offended and no one there gave a rats a** when I called. It's just business for them, so it's just business for me to file bk as well. I did not try anymore after them, they were the main one I needed reduced, without them on board I had no other choice. I wouldn't recommend calling any creditors.