Seems like you have decided to take this on yourself in the place of hiring a debt relief company. Well, if you have the talents and abilities to rival those of the professionals especially in the areas of communication, negotiation and documentation, then go on right ahead.Not too long ago, a nurse with a little bit of groundwork in tax laws took on the IRS single-handedly then so can you in the case of debt relief.
Keep these points in mind when you are settling credit card debt on your own.These top 3 strategies will make sure that you are closer to dealing with those credit card companies head-on.
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.
How deep should you be? 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 prevent this from taking place, the credit card company will be eager to settle the debt through a negotiation process.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.
Detailed Documentation
The days of verbal agreements holding any value are long gone and especially when it comes to credit card debt settlement. After all, it will be your word against the word of the collection agents and you should know by now that nobody wins in such a case.
The other option is that you maintain excellent written records of all the matters related to the settlement and negotiation process with your creditors. Always send out letters with complete information to the proper addresses and addressees. Then, file these letters and other forms of communication in a binder for easy access.
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
When you have reached a settlement, always send your payment through certified mail.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. Just remember these three tips and you should be alright during the entire process.
These are some specific steps that you can take. For more strategies on how to fix a bad credit report you should read our articles about how to avoid credit card debt relief scams
Now, when you are wondering -how can I improve my credit score? – you will know the answer(s)..