Debt Free Solutions are usually pursued by Canadian`s in a hardship. They cannot pay more than their minimums or they are about to become behind on their payments and are seeking help to
try to find a debt free solution.
They don't want to destroy their credit with bankruptcy and want to pay back their debt, or don't qualify, or the long term repercussions make it infeasible.
The typical client cannot obtain credit. Their debt-to-income ratio is severely high. They feel that if someone could just give them a break, and 1 payment, all would be well. I have been there. It doesn't make sense to turn your backs on consumers in need who could reign in their mounting debt. At least, it doesn't make sense to you and me. To the banks - this is the ideal customer. We'll cover more about this in a future post. The fact is, that's exactly what the banks do, they turn their backs on us and say NO to consolidation loans.
The typical client exhausts all options. They worsen their credit in trying to get approved for consolidation loans. They spend hours on the phone with creditors, asking for extensions, debt counseling options, fee forgiveness. They may stumble, and be late on a payment. Suddenly, the interest rates skyrocket, the payments go up, and they end up paying THOUSANDS of dollars annually with pittance going towards the principle.
Suddenly, accounts are being charged off by the creditors.
Being at this stage can cause physical illness. Dread of the phone ringing. Incensed by being told by a collector that you are basically a bad person.
This is all typical - the desperate financial situation, the lack of making realistic progress in paying these creditors back for YEARS (paying only the minimums can take 30+ years, and up to 3x the principle debt in interest). One of the biggest credit killers is being maxed. No one will give you credit anyways.
When we talk about improving credit, we are more or less talking about people in this situation. If they are already in a debt counseling program with their creditors, missing just one payment will cause the account to be charged off. In debt negotiation, this is the plan. Debt Negotiations cannot happen until the account has passed into collections. Typical clients were headed there anyway. Of course - make sure your company EXPLAINS this to you! If they don't, you have not found your company.
When you go into collections, whether by choice (signing with a debt relief company) or not, you can choose to do nothing and endure the harassment and the threat of lawsuits. If you negotiate debt, within 24-48 months, all of your accounts will be noted that you and your creditors settled and you OWE NOTHING. This is a better situation than having a fresh bankruptcy or a bunch of accounts in collections. After you graduate, your credit will begin to heal. In fact, if you have a small card with a low balance (>$1000), typically you may keep it out of the program and have that positive reporting for the duration of your time in a program.
This is the kicker - you'll have a better chance of obtaining credit with a bunch of settled accounts than you will right now, when you're overextended. You may have a 700 credit score, but if you cannot qualify for credit, what is the point of it? Bankruptcy tells potential creditors you are a huge risk. But debt settlement doesn't go on your public record in the same way. When your credit is run, it will show that you had late payments and charge offs, but not bankruptcy. What it will show is that all the account you enrolled into a program were satisfactorily paid off.
I must stress the importance of using a reputable
debt settle firm to negotiate the debt. They will protect you from overzealous collectors, use their bargaining leverage of settling millions of dollars of debt at a time to earn more favorable reductions, they will ensure the creditors follow through on their promises because they experienced with the type of trickery creditors employ to continue exploiting their clients. They will help you with manageable payment plans, with setting up a protected trust account that cannot be seized by creditors (yes - if you bank and have a credit card with the same institution - they can do this. It's called cross-collateralization), and communicate on your behalf.
For more details, check out:
Canada Debt Free Solutions