You did not mention if your creditors are hounding you or if there have been any creditors who have tried to take you to court for repayment. It sounds like the only money you reasonably have to repay any debts would be the money tied up in your house. I seriously doubt any court would force you to sell your home but it depends on what state you reside in (note- I am not a lawyer so my commentary here is not based on fact, just my opinion).

You can try talking to a debt settlement or debt management company to help you out but to be honest, you may not have enough income to cover even a reduced monthly payment. If that’s the case, you may want to reach out to a social service organization in your state to see what your options are and to see what your state laws are so you can determine if your home is at risk.

Best of luck to you

By the same token, you need to ask yourself, with $30K in credit card debt would you be able to get a mortgage at all? That depends on your income level and your ability to pay off that debt AND the mortgage simultaneously.

So assuming you cannot afford the credit card debt and the mortgage payment you may want to deal with one at a time and the credit card debt is upon you now - deal with that first, then you will be more eligible for a mortgage.

Like you said, you are only 27 years old, get rid of the credit card debt first (preferably without debt settlement if you are able to do so), you have many years ahead of you when you can enjoy a new house.

Your credit card debt can be handled by a debt settlement company (if you want to reduce your balance) or a debt management company (if you prefer to just reduce interest rates).

Your foreclosure is handled by what’s called a loss mitigation company who try and use legal means to prevent foreclosures.

I suggest you view each debt problem seperately and seek out help for each.

I wish you the best of luck.

I have met with the companies I suggest to people when they request debt help which I hope gives you some added level of comfort (my research). However, the company I suggest to you may not be a good fit for you but that is something only you can decide. I believe the companies I know and suggest offer a professional and reliable service with many years experience and thousands of clients to back that up.

Spend some time on this website and read through some of the hundreds of pages of information, articles, and Q&A’s regarding debt solutions. Your best offense against getting scammed is to educate yourself. The more you understand about your debt relief options, how they work, and what questions to ask the professional debt relief companies you are considering, the better off you will be. You will be more confident in your decision making process and you will sleep better knowing as much as you can.

Some banks are more desperate to collect portions of the outstanding balances these days since many banks are having financial difficulties while other don’t want to get a reputation that they reduce balances easily thereby creating a situation where everybody asks for a balance reduction. Thank Again.

Debt settlement will hurt your credit for many years so if you go that route you will not be able to get a home loan until enough time has passed for you to complete the program AND rebuild your credit score. If you enter into a debt settlement program before you get the home loan, I’d be shocked if the pre-approval was honored at all.

If you are able to get a home and then enter into a debt settlement program, you are taking a huge risk because you are adding debt and there is never any guarantee that the debt settlement program will be successful. It depends on:

1. The amount of your debt
2. The age of your debt (how far behind are you, if at all)
3. Who your creditors are
4. Which debt settlement company you decide to use
5. Etc…etc…

So, in my opinion, a new home loan would be adding debt on top of debt you are already having trouble paying….just my 2 cents. Good luck.

Debt settlement amounts and percentages vary greatly. Sure I’ve heard of people settling for as little as 20 cents on the dollar which would make your original $34,000 in debt only $6,800 BUT you cannot count on such things as every situation is different as is each creditor’s willingness to settle.

If you don’t take that settlement you may risk getting sued so bargaining too hard is not always the smartest thing to do especially if you have the $24,000 to pay them back. If you do not, well then, you may be forced to try and settle for more.

But remember, legally you owe them this money so if they are willing to knock $10,000 off the bill, that’s pretty good especially if you are not using a professional settlement company to assist you.

Best of luck to you.

If you cannot get an attorney to assist you, depending on what state you are in, you should be real sure that you do not have the money to pay back the loan. A judge will likely evaluate not only your work situation but possibly also your assets in determining if there is a way for you to repay the money. The state laws come into effect here which is why you should at least make some calls to some local bankruptcy attorneys to see what your alternatives might be. Many bankruptcy attorneys can provide you with all types of debt assistance (not just bankruptcy) and you can often get a free consultation with them before deciding to become a client (if you mutually agree that it would make sense to become a client).

Sorry I don’t have a better answer for you but you need legal asistance and I am not a lawyer. Best of luck to you.

So how do you get out of debt?

I can only think of 3 possible debt solution options none of which are without financial and/or personal sacrifices:

1. The best option- You sound financially savvy so I am sure this no brainer option has occured to you but it must be stated….Can you make personal alterations in your lifestyle to pay down the debt? Do you have assets that can be sold? Do you have a lot of equity in your home? If so have you looked into a reverse mortgage?

2. Debt Settlement - This option is only for you if your income is not so unsteady that you cannot make a reduced fixed monthly payment to the debt settlement account. You should ONLY go down this road if #1 is not an option for you because your credit score will suffer severlely for many years.

3. Bankruptcy - Everything I said about debt settlement applies to bankruptcy too especially the part about your assets. You must have true financial hardship to file bankruptcy successfully so be sure you’ve exhausted all asset sales, money saving lifestyle changes, etc. before considering this. Of course your credit will be damaged for an even longer period of time so I am not sure your situation sounds desperate enough to warrant this option.

So, in short, there are no easy answers with the possible exception of a reverse mortgage. Do your research and decide what the best solution is for you.

All companies build their fees into the monthly payment quote they provide you during your initial consultation. You need to be very clear as to exactly how much of the payment they quote you is going to fees vs. going towards building up your account which will eventually be used to pay off the debts once they are negotiated. Add all the fees up over the entire length of your program and they should be around 15%.

The various ways in which the fees are collected are as follows (in order from most common to least common fee structure for debt settlement companies):

1. All or a very large percentage of your first few payments go to the fees then the amount decreases in month 3 or 4 and hold steady the rest of the time you are in the program.

2. All or a very large percentage of your first few payments go to the fees then the amount decreases in month 2 or 3, then you pay a monthly maintenance fee (like $50), and then you pay a percentage of the savings the settlement company is able to negotiate for you after each settlement is reached (like 25-35% of the savings). This makes the fees more based on performance so the more they save you the more money they make, however, realize that if they save you a lot, the total fees may be way more than 15% (not a bad thing since they saved you more money!).

3. The fees are totally based on performance so you pay nothing until the settlements are reached. This is a rare fee structure.

I hope that clears up the question. Be sure you understand ALL the fees involved in any program before signing up and DO NOT base your decision on who to use based solely on the fees charged. The cheapest companies are often the worst (or outright scams).

What you need to consider is this: Are you able to pay back everything you owe? If you have the money but don’t want to pay or if you have assets you can sell to pay down your debt but you don’t want to then you are in the wrong. You must bite the bullet and pay what you owe if you can even if it crimps your lifestyle. If you are unwilling to do that, then there is a greater risk of your creditors using the most aggressive tactics against you like filing suit.

However, if you are REALLY not able to pay what you owe, then you need to seek out help. Professional debt relief services may be able to put together a program for you that gets you out of debt over time. A good debt help company knows how to minimize the chances of a lawsuit mostly because they have established relationships with the decision makers at all the major credit card companies.

I suggest you find a debt relief company and see if what they have to offer can guide you through your situation. Best of luck to you.

Even if you were able to negotiate the debt down to half of the $11,000, the $5,000 in assets still would not cover it and, of course, would leave her with zero money. Obviously, that is not an option. So you can take the lawyer’s advice if you believe what they have told you based on your state laws, etc. or you can find the money from somewhere else to pay the bills.

Unfortunately, neither decision sounds very good but that’s really all there is as far as I can tell. That is a tough situation and a judgement call only you and she can make together. I wish I had a better answer for you…good luck.

The reason why some debt settlement companies prefer a separate account, is so that you actually separate the “settlement money” from your “regular spending money”. By making that monthly payment into a 3rd party account it helps some people keep a separate pool of money that they know is being saved for the settlement. It also helps many to resist the temptation to spend that settlement money for other things while it builds in the account.

Debt settlement takes discipline and a firm commitment to wanting to finally get out of debt. Too many people enter debt settlement programs but don’t finish them often due to their lack of commitment. Best to you.

Take a look at what he signed, it will all be in the fine print which, I know is painful to read but it will probably answer many of your questions. Each contract is different and when you sign it, you agree to it. Too many people don’t realize the terms imbedded in what they are signing and it’s unfair they bury it in small print but unfortunately, that’s what they are able to do. Best of luck to you.