If you’re mired deep in credit card debt, you know you’re in a no-win financial situation. It feels as if the more progress you make toward getting out of debt, the faster life puts more debt right back on top of you. Did you know that if you owe over $20,000 in high interest credit card debt, it could take you half a lifetime to get out from under it? It’s true, and many consumers find themselves far deeper in debt .
The credit card law that was enacted in 2009 has made things a bit better for consumers , but you can easilly pay more in interest than what you spent on your card in the first place . Think about this one for just a minute . If you have $20,000 in credit card debt at 22% interest and you make the minimum payment, it will take you years to pay it off, even with the increase in minimum payments mandated by the new laws. The law may indeed help consumers, but it is no debt cure.
How many years will it take? 5? Not even, think a bit more long term . How about 10 years? No, you are on the right track, but it will take longer than that until your debt is paid in full. Most credit card companies have a minimum monthly payment of 4% of your outstanding balance. That means that when you start paying on your $20,000 card your payments will be $800 a month!
Even with those hefty payments, if you pay the minimum payment, which will be lower as your loan balance decreases, it will take you almost 18 years to pay off your credit card, and cost you about $37,000! If you kept paying the initial $800 minimum, it would only take you about 34 months until you were debt free.
That’s no small potatoes. Here are some solutions to help get you out from under that debt, so you can live a normal life again.
Debt Consolidation Loan – At the height of the real estate boom many more people used this option for credit card debt relief. One of the reasons that credit cards take so long to pay off is because their interest rates are very high compared to other credit such as home mortgage or auto loan. That is because those 2 are secured loans, meaning the lender has some collateral they can use to offset their loss in the event you default on the loan. Their risk is relatively low compared to credit cards, which are unsecured credit. Unsecured means there is no collateral against your debt, so if you default, the lender gets nil, nada, zip.
It stands to reason that the lender would want a greater return to compensate them for unsecured credit than they would for secured credit because they have lower risk exposure. They are compensated for the higher risk by raising the card’s interest above the standard 5 – 8% rate for a mortgage or auto loan up to 15 – 25% that is ballpark for credit cards.
A debt consolidation loan merely converts your unsecured debt to secured debt, so the lender faces less risk and can charge you a much lower interest rate. In most cases the collateral used is the equity in your home or other real estate which you may own. You pledge that as collateral and the lender pays off your credit card balance. They give you a loan for the amount at a lower interest rate. You replace one or more high interest loans with a single, low interest one. This drops your payment substantially , and can allow you to pay off your debt much faster .
The down side to this is that, because you home is the collateral, if you can’t make the payments, the lender will foreclose on your home and sell it to pay off your debt. You’ll get what ever proceeds remain from the sale after the debt is satisfied and whatever fees associated with the foreclosure and sale are paid for. It is usually not much.
Now that so many people have zero equity or are underwater on their mortgages, the debt consolidation loan is not as common. Normally, a debt consolidation loan will not substantially affect your credit score one way or the other.
Debt Workout – This is a negotiated settlement directly with your creditors . They will normally only offer this if they fear you may declare bankruptcy . Although this is more difficulty since the bankruptcy reform legislation was passed in 2005, it can still allow you to avoid paying back a substantial part of your debt. The lender knows this, so they are motivated to settle for a reduced amount, a lower interest rate, or both. They know that if you do declare bankruptcy, they’ll get much less, or nothing at all. As noted, this can negatively affect your credit score, however bankruptcy or foreclosure will have a much more detrimental effect, so in the end this is often a wise choice .
Debt Settlement – This is a great option for those with over $10,000 in unsecured debt, in part thanks to the Obama Administration’s stimulus program. Some of those dollars are finding their way to financial institutions to compensate them for taking a loss on their unsecured debts. This is a great thing for you if you fit this description. Your relief can be subsidized by the federal government, allowing debt solution companies to make deals they would have never made in years past.
When you pursue debt settlement, you work with a debt settlement company to negotiate with the credit card company and other lenders you may have. You will pay the settlement company a fee for their services. Be sure you are aware of all the associated fees and charges before you sign any agreement. Be aware that although the company’s terms can be enormously beneficial to you, in some cases you can suffer substantial losses if you fail to follow the terms of your agreement.
Is there government money just sitting there to help me and others who are in debt?
There is a misconception that there is a large pool of dollars out there earmarked for consumers with debt problems. This is not the case, although the money does benefit consumers. It is actually provided to banks and other financial institutions to help keep them viable in the case of large numbers of bad loans or other debt. The stimulus money allows lenders to be more flexible with their settlement cases, so that the money does indirectly benefit you if you are seeking to work with your lender.
Will this kind of negotiation affect my credit?
Not enough people ask this question. Weather they are unaware about the credit implications, or are not in a position where they can do anything about it, it is a key part of choosing the proper solution . Unfortunately for you, yes, it will have a negative impact on your FICO score, but that may be a small price to pay for ultimately avoiding around half of your outstanding credit card debt, almost instantly. It will have some derrogatory effects on your credit score, but not nearly what you’d have if you were to get so deep in the hole wiht your cards that you defaulted on one or more of them . There will be time to repair bad credit later. A large number of consumers never pay off such large debts, and simply default when times are tough. Another option is that they struggle along for decades, spending tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in interest payments that they get absolutely nothing for. Many people in this situation feel that if their choice is a roof over their heads or defaulting on their credit card bills, they will choose the latter .
These are just some of your options if you find yourself in serious credit card debt, and sinking lower every month. You may feel that there is no way out , but that is not always the case . In fact, there is a good chance that you can find a solution to your problems that does not involve bankruptcy, which will follow you around for 10 years. It’s good to know that you can legally eliminate credit card debt, and can get debt free in a reasonable amount of time .