Thursday, November 5, 2009

Handling Debt Through Settlement

By Layla Vanderbilt

The recent barely-averted recession has caused us all to tighten up our belts and hold on to our money especially tightly. But for all too many, that's not enough. The real estate roller coaster has put many people into huge pits of debt. There are many solutions for tending to debt, but without a little guidance far too many debtors pick the wrong option for them, harming their credit rating for years to come. Debt counseling, consolidation, settlement and even filing for bankruptcy are all necessary and useful services for people in debt, and it's up to you to find which one is best for your situation. Bankruptcy and settlement have, for better or worse, become the most commonly used methods of getting out of debt, due to simplicity and various other advantages they provide.

Bankruptcy is most commonly filed as a chapter seven or chapter thirteen. A chapter seven is the superior option, with debt being reduced or even dismissed entirely in some fortunate cases. However, it's not up to you to decide what chapter you file under! Since 2005, significant legal revisions have made it so that the court decides which chapter a bankruptcy is filed under, not the debtor. A means test, which is the first procedure to start up a proper bankruptcy filing, evaluates your income and expenses versus the standards for redeeming the debt. Falling short of the IRS-set standards of the means test will allow you to file a chapter seven. However, if you can even pay as little as a hundred dollars monthly towards your debt, then you will have to deal with a chapter thirteen filing instead.

A means test is basically something that evaluates how much money a filer makes and what kind of expenses he has. This is then measured up next to debt redemption standards decided by IRS regulations. Based on these regulations, if the filer doesn?t meet up to the income guidelines, he is allowed to file for bankruptcy under the auspices of chapter 7. But, it takes meeting very strict guidelines to get a chapter 7. If the means test says the person is able to put as low as $100 to pay off the bills, then the person will be given the option of filing for a chapter 13 bankruptcy. In both scenarios, the borrowers must pay for and receive credit counseling and budget analysis. Even though Chapter 13 allows a bit of relief on a person?s monthly bills, it?s not as generous to consumers as Chapter 7 and has several disadvantages that make a lot of borrowers decide they don?t want to go with this method. The main negative of a Chapter 13 is that after the terms of the filing are set, the borrower?s finances may be ruled over by a trustee of the court. Most people don?t like to have an outsider involved with their finances all the time, so this makes getting a Chapter 13 very unsatisfactory and usually the borrower decides to try debt settlement instead.

Debt settlement or negotation is the new kid on the block as far as debt-handling options go. It offers many very drastic and bold advantages to entice debtors into using the service over other more traditional options. Debts bundled into a settlement often have a reduction of up to fifty percent in payment rates, which takes a huge amount of immediate pressure off of people struggling to pay back their loans. Many different kinds of debts can be rolled into a settlement, from medical and credit card to utility bills. Settlement processes can also reassure lenders that they'll be getting at least some of their money back, and informing them that you have a settlement underway will reassure them, discouraging aggressive legal measures against you.

Professional Debt settlement, also known as debt negotiation, is a aggressive form of debt relief providing advantages over debt counseling, debt consolidation, or bankruptcy filings. The immediate advantage is the approximate 50 percent reduction on payments to each account included in the debt settlement program. Accounts eligible for inclusion in debt settlement programs include bank credit cards, unsecured bank loans, department store debt, unpaid utilities, medical bills, and other forms of unsecured debt. By being proactive in pursuing debt settlement arrangements consumers can prevent wage garnishments, attachments and other legal actions. By letting creditors know that you?re actively pursuing a debt settlement program you are providing some assurance they are going to be paid at least a portion of the money due them. Creditors are hesitant to initiate any legal action while a settlement program is in effect, since it only is an additional expense with no additional return.

Debt elimination programs can reduce outstanding balances by 40 to 70%, depending on the specific creditor. In general the average account included in a settlement will be reduced by 50%. The process provides added security for assets that represent a security interest. By reducing payments and eliminating a major portion of unsecured debt relieves pressure on secured assets. Debt settlement is often combined with mortgage loan modifications to help homeowners reduce their total payments toward debt and get for new mortgage terms. Most debt elimination programs terminate within 48 months, the same account with minimum payment could take over 20 years to payoff. The settlement of accounts allows for borrowers to begin the process of re-building their credit scores faster than bankruptcy which can remain on a consumer?s credit report for up to ten years.

Quicker improvement of your credit rating ? Settling their accounts lets borrowers start being able to get their credit rating up faster than if they filed bankruptcy because a bankruptcy remains on a credit report for 10 years and on a public record forever. Debt settlement and negotiation is extremely popular with people struggling to pay off their bills due to the advantages of it over other types of debt relief, such as bankruptcy. Borrowers must still become familiar will all the methods of relieving their debt before they make up their mind on what to do. The most superior method to go through the various methods is to work with an experience lawyer who understands all sorts of debt relief methods, so they understand which one is best for them. Putting yourself on the street to monetary victory is just that easy. - 29904

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