Hey folks. First, I wanted to say that this forum has been a life saver for me. I have been able to gather so much information about credit card debt, and it has opened my eyes to the mistakes I have been making by paying out 800 bucks per month on credit card interest. So here is my quick story, and I will follow with just a couple questions I have. I will make it quick.
We (my wife and I) have a large house payment (2,600.00 per month), a couple vehicle payments (800 per month), a couple school loan payments, and other normal monthly bills. We have never missed a payment on anything in the 15 years we have been married. My wife lost her teaching job a couple years ago due to the state budget (Illinois) and her income went down drastically.
We have been playing catch up ever since. A couple weeks ago we re-worked our budget, and to our surprise, not only are we paying out 800.00 per month to service credit card debt (all minimum payments), but the balance on the cards has barely moved. In other words, they are HAMMERING us on interest.
We are spinning our wheels with the CC's. SO, I made the decision (after reading this forum) to stop paying them altogether, and start stock piling money into savings to save up for settling these cards. It is a huge weight off of our shoulders to stop wasting the 800 per month for interest only!!
Here are the facts. Total credit card debt is spread out between 3 banks, all total about 34K. There are 7 credit cards total, and the 3 banks are Chase, Bank of America, and Commerce bank. The largest portion of the debt (13K) is with Commerce bank, followed by Bank of America, and finally Chase. We are not overly concerned with the hit to our credit score, because we built our house 10 years ago on 40 acres, and plan to die here.. so we won't be financing a home.
Also, we do all of our banking with our local bank, and the bank president is a personal friend of mine, so I have access to money with no questions asked. Our house is also financed through this bank (500K) so they generally jump through hoops to help us.
Here are my questions...
1) I know that there are basically 2 ways to settle. With the OC before charge-off, or with the debt collector after charge-off. I am shooting for settling at 10% with all of these cards. Am I right in thinking that AFTER charge-off is the best bet??
2) Of these 3 banks, are any of them likely to sue? Obviously if they do, I will certainly answer if I am served.
3) IF they sue: In college I lived with a high school friend who was in law school. He ended up being our states attorney, and now has his own law firm. I know he would be happy to help me if I made a simple phone call to him. If I am sued, would it be wise to retain him?
Obviously there would be cost involved in this, because I would never ask him to do it for free. I know from what I have read that often times the attorneys that sue are not very organized, and often times lack the evidence they need to get a judgement.
4) If you have 3 credit cards with the same bank, do they add the 3 cards up and settle on 1 big debt? Or will I be settling with each card separately??
5) Last but not least: We are keeping 1 card active, and continuing to pay on it. It has a 1,000.00 balance on it. We are never using it unless it is an absolute emergency. One of the other cards we are stopping paying is with this same bank. Will they close out this card as well if we keep paying it on time? (It's a Commerce Bank card)
Thanks in advance.... sorry I wrote a tome, but I wanted to be thorough.
We (my wife and I) have a large house payment (2,600.00 per month), a couple vehicle payments (800 per month), a couple school loan payments, and other normal monthly bills. We have never missed a payment on anything in the 15 years we have been married. My wife lost her teaching job a couple years ago due to the state budget (Illinois) and her income went down drastically.
We have been playing catch up ever since. A couple weeks ago we re-worked our budget, and to our surprise, not only are we paying out 800.00 per month to service credit card debt (all minimum payments), but the balance on the cards has barely moved. In other words, they are HAMMERING us on interest.
We are spinning our wheels with the CC's. SO, I made the decision (after reading this forum) to stop paying them altogether, and start stock piling money into savings to save up for settling these cards. It is a huge weight off of our shoulders to stop wasting the 800 per month for interest only!!
Here are the facts. Total credit card debt is spread out between 3 banks, all total about 34K. There are 7 credit cards total, and the 3 banks are Chase, Bank of America, and Commerce bank. The largest portion of the debt (13K) is with Commerce bank, followed by Bank of America, and finally Chase. We are not overly concerned with the hit to our credit score, because we built our house 10 years ago on 40 acres, and plan to die here.. so we won't be financing a home.
Also, we do all of our banking with our local bank, and the bank president is a personal friend of mine, so I have access to money with no questions asked. Our house is also financed through this bank (500K) so they generally jump through hoops to help us.
Here are my questions...
1) I know that there are basically 2 ways to settle. With the OC before charge-off, or with the debt collector after charge-off. I am shooting for settling at 10% with all of these cards. Am I right in thinking that AFTER charge-off is the best bet??
2) Of these 3 banks, are any of them likely to sue? Obviously if they do, I will certainly answer if I am served.
3) IF they sue: In college I lived with a high school friend who was in law school. He ended up being our states attorney, and now has his own law firm. I know he would be happy to help me if I made a simple phone call to him. If I am sued, would it be wise to retain him?
Obviously there would be cost involved in this, because I would never ask him to do it for free. I know from what I have read that often times the attorneys that sue are not very organized, and often times lack the evidence they need to get a judgement.
4) If you have 3 credit cards with the same bank, do they add the 3 cards up and settle on 1 big debt? Or will I be settling with each card separately??
5) Last but not least: We are keeping 1 card active, and continuing to pay on it. It has a 1,000.00 balance on it. We are never using it unless it is an absolute emergency. One of the other cards we are stopping paying is with this same bank. Will they close out this card as well if we keep paying it on time? (It's a Commerce Bank card)
Thanks in advance.... sorry I wrote a tome, but I wanted to be thorough.
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