Any unpaid credit card debt will bring you to the attention of the bank quickly. You’ll need to arrange to get up to date or they’ll send your account to “collections” and if you fail to resolve the matter then you’ll learn about being “charged off”, receiving dozens of calls a day from creditors, and possibly finding the counsel of an attorney. None of which are pleasant.

If you are unable to maintain correct monthly payments and your account becomes unpaid, you must contact the credit card company and keep them informed of your financial situation and how you’ll manage any monthly payments in the future. Typically, there is no “special deal” to be made and they’ll freeze your account, raise your interest rate and send your account over to collections.
A charged off account means the bank has probably sold your account to a collecting agency. They then own your debt and will use methods open to them to collect from you, including but not limited to filing a law suit against you.

These actions will be marked on your credit record and remain on your credit report for seven years after they are paid off. That seven year period doesn’t begin unless you pay the amount owed in full.
You’ll need to take action to stop your unpaid debt going the whole way to court. A debt settlement company might be the answer. Debt settlement companies can’t settle the debt once it has reached the court room. It’s important to take action before it reaches that stage. If you take action with a debt settlement company before this happens, you will not see ‘collections’ on your credit report.
If you allow a debt settlement agency to negotiate the deal for you, it is possible to pay half the debt on an easy to make, single monthly payment, for all of your credit card debt.

Make sure any agreements you make are in writing. This works both ways. Don’t just rely on what someone at the company says to you over the telephone; make sure they follow up with it in writing.

Unpaid credit card debt doesn’t just go away, but with careful planning and the right team on your side, you can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 17th, 2009 at 4:25 pm and is filed under Blog, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.