Credi Card settlements

**Tambit24** · 12-27-2010, 05:53 PM

Maybe somone on here can help me out. I owe about $10,000 or so between 3 credit cards. All with the same company. APR are at 29.99% on 2 and 19.99% on 1. I called trying to see if there was something I could do to pay these off seeing as times are tough paying my bills currently. They offered me a settlement of $3200 and said it would leave a red mark on my credit score for 7-10 years. I've been told by other people that it only stays on there for about 3-4 years. Would it be worth taking this settlement? I still have a personal loan out and a truck loan out that I would be paying off and another credit card from a diff company that I could slowly use ( like $100 or so a month that would be paid off right away) to build my credit back up. Plus, all the money I would be using to pay the credit cards off (about $500 a month) I could use to pay off everything else faster and actually start saving money. I know I messed up by getting the limits to where they are. Some of it was on stupid things like a bigger tv, but alot of it was from when work was slow and I still needed gas and groceries, or when a car needed repairs. Any help would be greatly apprieciated.

***FireGuy*** · 12-27-2010, 05:57 PM

Unless I was planning on buying a house in the next decade I would jump all over that one.

**Times Roman** · 12-27-2010, 06:32 PM

Settle for $3200. This is a sound financial decision. Make sure you keep the rest of your credit as agreed. If your financial situation should improve, and you look to buy a house, some of these "dings" can be overlooked. Especially if, when buying a home, you can clearly afford the payment.

**coonhunter** · 12-27-2010, 06:40 PM

Settle Bro you will be amazed how easy it is to fix something like that. I owed 25k on my truck and I called and offered 13k today and they took it. released my title and when it reported to my credit I disputed the settled for less than owed portion and all three credit reporting agencies removed it. by the way it only dinged my credit like 20 points anyway. You probably have that much of a ding just because your cards are maxed out anyway. I would bet you a hundred your score goes up 90 days after settlement.

**Tambit24** · 12-27-2010, 07:08 PM

k, thx all for the help.

**yungone501** · 12-27-2010, 07:18 PM

Credit cards are the devil in plastic...

Especially for a yungone like myself. At one time, i had 3 cc's...for me it was ALOT easier to whip out a card for a $20 purchase then to whip out an actual $20 bill, wtf?

These are not for the faint of heart. Now my philosophy is if i cant buy it with the money in my wallet/bank, i cant afford it.

**RussianVodka** · 12-27-2010, 07:58 PM

Sounds like a good deal. In 1-2 years you will be getting new credit card offers. If you could put 20% down payment for a hose, bank will close eyes for you "dings"

**Sage** · 12-27-2010, 08:42 PM

Your mortgage interest rate will be above average by a few points when purchasing a house within a couple of years or so (same goes for future car loans). But if you live with your parents or in a cardboard box, take what’s on the plate.

**Tambit24** · 12-27-2010, 09:45 PM

I didn't see myself buying a house anytime soon with the rates and min payments I had to pay. Hopefully with these bills out of the way, I can save a nice chunk for a down payment. I'll just have to stick it out at my current apartment a lil longer.

**ReX357** · 12-27-2010, 11:56 PM

Originally Posted by yungone501

Credit cards are the devil in plastic...

Especially for a yungone like myself. At one time, i had 3 cc's...for me it was ALOT easier to whip out a card for a $20 purchase then to whip out an actual $20 bill, wtf?

These are not for the faint of heart. Now my philosophy is if i cant buy it with the money in my wallet/bank, i cant afford it.

That's a good way to see it. I f*cked my credit up too and I'm doing it all cash now. I'd rather save for something then have a payment. Only payment are internet, tv, phone, energy, rent & car insurance. That's it

**MuscleScience** · 12-28-2010, 12:21 AM

The messed up thing is when AIG took bailout money, they didnt get their credit screwed for 7-10 years. In fact they gave out bonuses to all there execs!

**coonhunter** · 12-28-2010, 03:07 AM

Guys credit is not that serious. I have borrowed way more money not using my credit score than I ever have using it. Just like anything else knowledge is power not money.

**DSM4Life** · 12-28-2010, 10:07 AM

Originally Posted by Tambit24

Maybe somone on here can help me out. I owe about $10,000 or so between 3 credit cards. All with the same company. APR are at 29.99% on 2 and 19.99% on 1. I called trying to see if there was something I could do to pay these off seeing as times are tough paying my bills currently. They offered me a settlement of $3200 and said it would leave a red mark on my credit score for 7-10 years. I've been told by other people that it only stays on there for about 3-4 years. Would it be worth taking this settlement? I still have a personal loan out and a truck loan out that I would be paying off and another credit card from a diff company that I could slowly use ( like $100 or so a month that would be paid off right away) to build my credit back up. Plus, all the money I would be using to pay the credit cards off (about $500 a month) I could use to pay off everything else faster and actually start saving money. I know I messed up by getting the limits to where they are. Some of it was on stupid things like a bigger tv, but alot of it was from when work was slow and I still needed gas and groceries, or when a car needed repairs. Any help would be greatly apprieciated.

29.99 % ! Holy $hit. I had this with Discover after i missed one payment in 5 years. I called up to try and explain and they pretty much told me to go F myself. Little did they know i had the entire balance in my bank account so with the same Discover rep i paid balance and closed the account. The guy was kissing my a$$ for an hr trying to get me to not close it. They are the worse CC company !

Why not see if you can get a new CC with a lower interest rate and transfer the 10K to that new card then cancel the others ? If you do this you want to pay attention to BALANCE TRANSFER percentage. Normally CC will give you a good deal on balance transfer because they want you in their grips. I did this with two CC i had got an interest of 2.99% for the life of my card as long as i dont use the card. When the card came in the mail I cut the card.

**DSM4Life** · 12-28-2010, 10:08 AM

Originally Posted by coonhunter

Guys credit is not that serious. I have borrowed way more money not using my credit score than I ever have using it. Just like anything else knowledge is power not money.

Wait until you go buy a car/house. My credit score was so good i could see the sale rep salivating as he read my scores off to me. From there on i had the upper hand.

**Tambit24** · 12-28-2010, 01:16 PM

Thx DSM. I didn't even think about doing a balance transfer. I'll have to look into that.

**Tambit24** · 12-28-2010, 06:29 PM

Just called chase up to settle on the cards, instead they put me on a payment plan and dropped all my APRs down to 6% and did the same on my wifes card. Pretty happy with the help I got. Plus, no bad marks on my credit score at all.