Credit Card Debt Relief Advice

This past year we have seen such a negative turnout from all the happenings in the economy.  With millions of people losing jobs and homes it has been nothing short of devastating.  To add insult to injury credit card debt for so many people has been getting so completely out of control.

The debt situation is leaving a lot of people vulnerable to scandalous debt relief companies who claim to try and help these people out.  So seeing that I have been in the debt relief industry for over ten years now and know the ins and outs of how it works I decided to write an article about how to get out of debt without being scammed.  This article gives great insight to how debt relief companies operate so a potential client can know how to tell if a company is good or bad.

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Tags: debt relief companies, get out of debt, getting out of debt

In July of 2010 there are going to be some changes in the way interest rates are handled with credit cards.  These changes are supposed to help the consumer; however upon looking at them closely it seems more like a PR stunt than something to truly help out the American consumer.

These are some of the biggest rule changes that have been seen in years and they come as a result of over 60,000 complaints to the Federal Reserve over the past couple of years.   The complaints are over when people suddenly find themselves getting their interest rates drastically increased on their credit cards. 

One of the biggest changes is that people will no longer get their interest rates bumped up on existing balances when going a day or two late.  Instead the interest rate hike would be put on future purchases not the existing balance like the creditors do today.  However if the late payment exceeds thirty days then the interest rate increase will be applied to the existing balance as well.  Credit card companies say in their defense that the reason for increasing the rate is because these consumers are a higher risk of not paying. 

Another change made is that the creditors must give you a 45 day notice to the fact that the interest rate is going to be increased; they can no longer just bump it up overnight without warning the consumer. 

Personally I think this is too little too late! How come we have to wait until next summer for these laws to take effect?  In addition if you are still over thirty days late than you would still see the high interest applied to your previous balance.  And many people fall behind way more than one month, especially with today’ economy and job market. 

Plus these new laws will only take place on the cards issued from July 2010 and forward.  So anyone who has a card under a different enrollment agreement will still fall victim to the creditor’s abuses.  People stuck with high credit card debts should really focus on how to get out of debt as soon as they can.  One of the best ways people have been accomplishing this is through debt settlement; a method in which the consumer will save a lot of money and become debt free within a few short years.

Tags: credit cards, Debt Relief, debt settlement

Far to many people here in America are being severely hurt by this bad recession we are going through.  The recession has left millions of people in credit card debt and with pretty much no means to actually payback on the debt.  Good thing for these folks is that there are a few methods of credit card debt relief that can really help out during such rough economic times. 

One method that has been around for years helping people is the consumer credit counseling program.  This program will allow people to get the interest rates lowered on their accounts and allow them to make just one monthly consolidated payment to a credit counseling agency in which they distribute to the creditors on your behalf.  A great aspect of this program is that you will be put on a fixed payment allowing you to become debt free much faster than you would otherwise with monthly minimum payments at high interest.

The only problem with credit counseling in the current economy is that for many people the payments will still be too high to realistically manage to pay every month.  And the sad fact is that if you miss one payment to the credit counseling program the creditors will kick you off of the program thus placing you back in the hands of the creditors and high interest. 

Thankfully for an American debtor there is another very popular method of credit card debt relief that is more manageable during this recession and that is credit card debt settlement.  This process will allow the debtor to save a tremendous amount of money on what was owed.  In many cases the debtors may save 40-50% of what they currently owe on their credit cards.   Plus you will see that with debt settlement becoming debt free happens very rapidly usually within 2-3 years or less.  Another positive is that this will free up money in your monthly budget. 

However you must be made aware that with debt settlement in order to negotiate a settlement on the accounts they must fall into default, which will have a negative effect on ones credit score and also invoke collection calls.  But the long term benefits of saving money and time are more than worth it.  Being stuck in debt is like putting the death sentence on your financial future and this is the quickest and most lucrative way out of a sticky debt problem.

Tags: credit card debt relief, credit counseling, Debt Relief, debt settlement