Most of the short sale sellers that we help are selling a home because of financial problems. They can't afford the payments and sell their home to avoid foreclosure. Because of this, I am very familiar with helping my customers who have financial problems. Many of them are struggling to buy groceries, keep the power turned on, and pay for gas to get to work.
They are struggling to pay for the necessities just to survive and feed their family. In most cases, they have missed payments on credit cards. The credit card companies think that you should pay them before you buy groceries. If you are in this situation, do not give a dime of your money to any credit card company.
A credit card is an unsecured debt. They don't have any collateral to get their money back with. They can't come get your car or take your house. Because of that, they cram hundreds of people into cubicles and "sick em" on people in financial difficulty. They make hundreds of calls each day. They lie and threaten people to scare them into paying.
If you are having financial problems, then just take a break from these people. Get them off the phone as quickly as possible. Hang up if the conversation has gone longer than 30 seconds. Don't believe any threats to sue you. I estimate that 90% of the threats to sue are never carried out. Even if they do sue and get a judgment they can only garnish 25% of your wages. I estimate that 95% of all unpaid credit cards will never result in a wage garnishment. Now, I'm not saying you shouldn't pay them.
But, get your life back on track before you do. Get all of the necessities paid for first. Every other payment should be caught up on before you pay them a dime. You should have an emergency fund of $1,000 or more before you pay them. Your kids, healthcare for the entire family, and all other necessary expenses should be taken care of. If your car is having problems and needs to be replaced, then buy a new car. Once you have everything in order financially, then you can start working with the past due credit cards.
But don't just pay them off in full. Most of them will accept a 10-20% of the original balance. Pay them what you think is fair. When paying them off never send them a check or give them your debit card info. Some of their contracts have clauses that allow them to charge you more than you had agreed on the phone. Get everything signed and in writing. Then mail them an untraceable payment method like a money order. That way they can't take every dime out of your bank account.
They are struggling to pay for the necessities just to survive and feed their family. In most cases, they have missed payments on credit cards. The credit card companies think that you should pay them before you buy groceries. If you are in this situation, do not give a dime of your money to any credit card company.
A credit card is an unsecured debt. They don't have any collateral to get their money back with. They can't come get your car or take your house. Because of that, they cram hundreds of people into cubicles and "sick em" on people in financial difficulty. They make hundreds of calls each day. They lie and threaten people to scare them into paying.
If you are having financial problems, then just take a break from these people. Get them off the phone as quickly as possible. Hang up if the conversation has gone longer than 30 seconds. Don't believe any threats to sue you. I estimate that 90% of the threats to sue are never carried out. Even if they do sue and get a judgment they can only garnish 25% of your wages. I estimate that 95% of all unpaid credit cards will never result in a wage garnishment. Now, I'm not saying you shouldn't pay them.
But, get your life back on track before you do. Get all of the necessities paid for first. Every other payment should be caught up on before you pay them a dime. You should have an emergency fund of $1,000 or more before you pay them. Your kids, healthcare for the entire family, and all other necessary expenses should be taken care of. If your car is having problems and needs to be replaced, then buy a new car. Once you have everything in order financially, then you can start working with the past due credit cards.
But don't just pay them off in full. Most of them will accept a 10-20% of the original balance. Pay them what you think is fair. When paying them off never send them a check or give them your debit card info. Some of their contracts have clauses that allow them to charge you more than you had agreed on the phone. Get everything signed and in writing. Then mail them an untraceable payment method like a money order. That way they can't take every dime out of your bank account.
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