Debt Settlement- Striking a Favorable Deal with Creditors

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Debt Settlement money in wallet

Last Updated on July 8, 2017

Financial stability can be achieved when you increase your savings for the future, set up an emergency fund, invest, cut out unnecessary purchases and take control of debt. Steps like using credit cards responsibly and making arrangements with creditors will enable you to prevent debt from taking over your life.

Reducing Debt Balance

If you have debt and seek to settle it by paying less than what is actually owed, a key step is to try and lower your debt balance. Creditors may be willing to accept less than the total you owe when you negotiate. Begin with an offer to pay a lower percentage of the amount you owe and gradually negotiate towards an amount that both you and the creditor can agree on.

Make an attractive offer and if you want to ask creditors to settle for a substantial percent of the amount you owe, making a lump sum payment is preferable. Requesting a large reduction of debt and monthly payment plan may not yield the desired outcome.

Adjusting Repayment Terms

If creditors agree to certain terms including a lower payment and reporting the agreement as paid in full rather than settled, ensure that everything is confirmed in writing before you make the payment. This will serve as your proof if the creditors do not honor the agreement. You can also use it when you need to rectify your credit report incase creditors report incorrectly. Read debt settlement reviews here.

Making Debt Manageable

  • Being in debt and unable to make payments is a situation that many consumers struggle with. Although you may not want to deal with creditors or debt collectors, you have to make an effort to control your debt and reduce what you owe through the debt settlement process.
  • Reducing debt through settlement will help to improve your credit when you pay off negotiated debt. Credit scores are influenced by the amount of debt that people have as compared to their income.
  • Debt problems affect numerous households and debt settlement allows consumers to negotiate with creditors and debt collectors to lower what they owe in order for them to be able to pay something back and get back on the right financial track.

Debt Forgiveness and Payment Plans

Using debt settlement offers you the chance for debt forgiveness and a payment plan that works for your situation. People may negotiate debt settlement with their original creditors or collection agencies. The creditor may agree to a percentage of the total debt as payment and let the rest go since being paid something is better than not receiving any money.

Conclusion

When you owe money and cannot pay the entire amount back, the outcome of the debt settlement process will be determined by your creditor’s willingness to get as much as possible. Although you owe the entire balance, if you are unable to pay all of it back the creditor that you owe may still want some of the money.

Debtors who settle are perceived better than those who completely default. Depending on the amount that you can afford to pay, you can negotiate debt balances downwards or work out a favorable deal for your circumstances.