Posted on November 19, 2009 at 10:54 am First off, finally a website that has up to date information from real people dealing with the same problems I am! Beats the heck out of old info and unreal stories! I admit that I am in way over my head with debt and I want to take care of it NOW one way or another. I have a newborn and I want to look forward to her future and future with my wife without my past screwing it up. Quick cliffs of my financial life (been in this sorta debt for 5+ years): About $22,000 in CC debt spread over 4 cards (capital 1, amex, boa, dicover) with no more than $6500 on any card. My wife is not working due to indefinite maternity leave. I was a computer technician working a long term contract. Of course with the economy the way its been that contract quickly got terminated. Long story short I am now at a job only making $23,000/year. My monthly payments on all cards are $464. It's to the point where these CC are starting to cause friction between me and my wife. Of course I won't stop making the mortgage or car payments, paying for groceries, power, etc thats a necessity. So that brings me to try and settle the debt with the CC and be done with it because I don't see it getting any better in the near future. I've read and read a lot on the internet about what happens and how to proceed. I've talked it over with my wife and she agrees that this might be the only way out. Her main concern is can anything happen to our house or cars, and will they garnish my wages to get paid. I've all but made my mind up that I am going to stop paying my bills and let it play out. Any comments or questions are more than welcomed. Also any helpful hints about how to handle certain CC companies would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Posted on November 19, 2009 at 8:12 pm Hi Keb,It's good that you guys have a good set of priorities, considering that you put your mortgage, car, and utilities first. Also, making payments on your CC's is better than not making any payments at all.Settling your debt will be able to help you out to a greater extent. It will help you eventually get out of debt and at the same be able to re-establish your financial situation. It's also a better alternative to bankruptcy.As for your house and your cars, just keep on making payments to your lenders. Try to set up a payment arrangement with them to see what can be done. As long as you're making timely and complete payments to your mortgage and automobile creditors, you do not run the risk of losing these pieces of property.

Posted on November 20, 2009 at 5:45 am Thanks for your input wondergurl. Like I said I just want to make sure I get all my P's and Q's in order before I stop making payments within the next month. I didn't think anything could happen to our house or car if we keep making payments. Now my question is how to proceed when the calls start coming in. Do I answer them or ignore them at first? If ignore when is a good time to answer (4-6 months?) or just wait until I start getting letters in the mail. Will the CC companies sell to JDB without me knowing? And would it be better to just deal with the JDB as they are going to pay maybe .05-.10 per dollar for my debt and would maybe settle with me for .25-.30 per dollar. Is settling with the CC company going to make any difference to my credit over settling with JDB? Thanks again guys!

Posted on November 20, 2009 at 6:27 am Also I see a lot where people are saying there's a $10,000 threshold before you can settle. Is that $10k on 1 card or just total?

Posted on November 20, 2009 at 10:06 am Keb, the threshold depends on the company, but it usually is between $5k-$10k and that is the amount of total debt required usually. there are limits on the balance of each account you would like to enroll but again, that varies.In regards to your payments, I would still keep paying them until you are actually enrolled with a company (unless you plan on trying to settle with them yourself, which i wouldn't recommend)Just be very careful about what company you go with because there are a lot of sketchy companies out there that just take clients money and then fold up and disappear, but it sounds like your doing your homework.If you have any questions or want any information I would me more than happy to help you out, just send a message my way and I wish you the best of luck with your newborn and situation. (I also just had a daughter who is turning 1 in 2 weeks so i understand your concerns as I am in the same boat pretty much)

Posted on November 20, 2009 at 10:38 am In case you are wondering about the name.Proper-Prior-Planning-Planning-Prevents-Piss-Poor-Performance.If you would like to hear about my experience in solving my debt (which was easy) I would be more than glad to tell you how my experience was.Highs and Lows!

Posted on November 20, 2009 at 11:23 am Thanks JaZy. Why do you suggest to keep making payments until I'm enrolled with a company? If I get enrolled and they take over won't the CC companies just see that I've been making my payments and not deal with them? I have been looking strongly into Hoffman Brinker Roberts as a company to help. But I'm wondering how long that will take to get in with them and how much it will cost! Thanks again and please keep the info coming guys!!

Posted on November 20, 2009 at 11:38 am Not at all keb, you keeping current with your payments now until you are enrolled will just keep them off your back for now until you have the professional backing and support of a company to help you out.I cannot speak for each DS company and how they do things because I don't know the exact regulations and how each company runs. I will use the company that I have a good knowledge of as an example though.When you enroll you will be set up with an escrow account in your name. Your monthly payments to the company will be put into your account to save up and use for the negotiations. While you are paying the DS company, you won't be paying the CC companies, so this is where your accounts become delinquent and the CC companies will start to worry about receiving their money. The negotiation process will probably take around 4-6months to get rolling while the company starts working with the creditors.I'm not familiar with HBR but I will do some research regarding them for you so i can give you more information in comparison but I do know the company i know of does do great work and actually offers clients an option of how they want their debt settled.I worked with this company and they did a great job of working with me and around my situations which is why I started learning about the way things work with the industry. also note that each state is different since each attorney general has different feelings towards the debt settlement process.If you would really like to go into more detail you can contact me whoever you'd like and we will discuss different options in more detail.

Posted on November 20, 2009 at 11:46 am Keb 88 has many valid points and has apparently done his homework as should you.What has you drawn to this one company when there are thousands.Have you done research yet about this company or any other. Please respond!

Posted on November 20, 2009 at 12:05 pm Px7 I have been doing my homework for weeks now! I am 100% about settling my debt and up until I found this website 2 days ago, 100% sure about doing it myself.  HBR was just the first company I saw a thread about and started doing research on them. I know there are plenty of other companies out there but HBR was just one that I commented on. Maybe I shouldn't have used the word strongly as I have just started the process of having a company handle this for me. Thanks