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Debt consolidation…Reduce your monthly debt payments now.
Debt consolidation is frequently becoming a very familiar term used in these consumer frenzy-spending times when everything that is available to purchase is often presented with the availability of a hire purchase agreement.
While the goods...
Frugal Lunches: A Debt Reduction Tip
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New Book Reveals Strategy for Becoming Debt Free One Paycheck at a Time
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Secured Loan Debt Consolidation
Secured loans make your creditors feel more secure about loaning
you money. When someone takes out a secured loan, that simply
means there is collateral to back up the money they borrowed.
This could be a car, or more commonly, a house. There are...
You Don`t Have To Declare Bankruptcy To Deal With Your Debts
Considering filing bankruptcy? If your finances are in ruins and you're considering filing bankruptcy, there's a few things you should know. Bankruptcy is not your only option. Millions of people credit is devastated by bankruptcy every...
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Debt Settlement
What is debt settlement?
Debt Settlement is a process to settle your debts with the creditors. With debt settlement, a third party or you yourself negotiate with your creditors to come up with a reduced debt that you agree to pay. The reduction is usually between 30-60% of the total original debt amount.
Attributes of Debt Settlement:
Debt Settlement programs gives you a lot of options to clean your debts. It reduces your principal debt amount, eliminates your late fees, lowers your APR, and provides you the flexibility to repay your debts within your chosen time span.
Principal debt amount: Most debt settlement firms negotiate with your creditors and reduce the principal debt amount you owe. For example, in maximum cases 40-60% of the original debt amount is reduced.
Late fee charges: Some debt settlement firms waive off your entire late fee charges. It is sometimes seen that late fee charges club to form a major portion of your debt amount. Thus elimination of late fees can save hundred of dollars.
APR: Some debt settlement programs are done to reduce the high APR's for a particular account. For example, some debt settlement company may notify that APR has been reduced to 8% for the proposals accepted after 10th September 2004 and reduced to 0% for all proposals accepted before 10th September 2004.
Monthly installments: Debt settlement programs are also determined on the amount you pay on monthly installments. In this process you have to pay a single monthly amount to a debt settlement firm in order to settle your debts. The more you can pay the lesser period of time you take to settle your debt. The amount of your monthly installment is fixed by the debt settlement company based on your present financial status.
Annual time frame: Debt settlement is also chalked out on the basis of extended time periods. In such cases you have the provision to extend your time period from 2 years to 4 years or sometimes even longer. This is helpful for people who cannot afford to pay at one go.
How long does a debt settlement process take?
A normal credit card debt settlement case might take 3-9 months. If someone wanted to speed up the progress it could be shortened to 1-3 months. Someone wishing to stretch things out could find the time extended to 12-18 months. Some special debt management and debt reduction firms can even lengthen the process to 4 years or more.
How much do these firms usually charge?
Most debt settlement companies are transparent about their fee structure but you are advised to check out if there are any hidden fees involved in the settlement process. On an average the charge of debt reduction firms range from 8%-15% of the total outstanding debt.
The advantages of debt
settlement:
Debt Settlement is one of the quickest and best ways to improve your Credit Report.
Avoid being harassed by the abusive creditors.
Many collection agencies will settle a debt between 40%-60% of the original debt amount. In this process you can save thousands of dollars. You will only have to make a single payment every month.
With debt settlement your time will be saved and your debts will be eliminated within 2 to 4 years. It is also less likely that you will have to fight the creditor later to actually delete the negative listing.
The disadvantages of debt settlement:
Your credit will be affected in a negative manner. This will be reflected on your credit report for the next 7-10 years. However, despite this fact consumers still opt for debt settlement and avoid bankruptcy.
There is a probability that creditors will continue to harass you throughout the process of negotiations and may even sue you or garnish your wage. However, only one creditor may garnish you at a time, and in some states, you may not be garnished at all. ˘ Some debt settlement companies will only accept you, if you have $10,000 or more in credit.
7 attorney tips for debt settlement:
Be honest but represent your financial position to be unfavorable.
If considering bankruptcy, say so. But do not incur any other debt after saying so.
Never disclose where you work or bank.
Don't hire a lawyer if you are not sure that you are in good standing when compared to your creditor.
If you are contacted more than one creditor for the same debt, be sure that your account is sold off to a second creditor. This indicates that you have avoided the first creditor really well.
If the creditor agrees to settle for full then make sure that your account status also shows "satisfied in full".
There are high chances that you may have income tax on the debt owed after settlement. The creditor might send you a 1099-C at the end of the financial year. You are then required to report the amount listed in the 1099-C as income.
You can get more resources from these pages :
http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/help.html
http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/debt-solution.html
http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/debt-free.html
About the Author
Janet Williams is a contributing writer to http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/ and is currently working on a special section in the site called do it yourself where you can eliminate your debts and become debt free.
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| Advertisements Promising Debt Relief May Be Offering Bankruptcy |
| Cautions consumers about ads in newspaper, magazine and telephone directories that offer quick fixes for debt problems. |
| www.ftc.gov |
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| Welcome to Debt Relief International |
| Welcome to the web site of Debt Relief International. |
| www.dri.org.uk |
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| Debt relief steps, your free guide to debt help. |
| Articles on debt relief, and credit management and repair. |
| www.debtsteps.com |
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| Factsheet - Debt Relief Under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries ... |
| The HIPC Initiative is a comprehensive approach to debt reduction for heavily indebted poor countries pursuing IMF- and World Bank-supported adjustment and ... |
| www.imf.org |
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| Special report: debt relief | Special reports | Guardian Unlimited |
| February 6: A year ago the Guardian set out to track the west's promises of action for Africa on aid, trade, health and debt relief. As G8 finance ministers ... |
| www.guardian.co.uk |
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| Debt Relief Options - Findlaw for the Public - |
| Welcome to Debt Relief Options. This section contains information about the ... To begin, select one of the Debt Relief Options topics from the list below ... |
| bankruptcy.findlaw.com |
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| William Brewer |
| The Brewer Law Firm. William E. Brewer, Jr., Attorney at Law Board Certified Consumer Bankruptcy Specialist. 619 N. Person Street Raleigh, NC 27604 ... |
| www.debtrelief.com |
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| Debt Relief - InCharge Debt Solutions |
| There are many ways to get out of debt, for good, and it may be easier than you think. The first step is knowing your options, the second step is taking ... |
| www.incharge.org |
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| Economic Policy and Debt |
| May 2006, IMF And World Bank Support Cameroon’s Completion Point Under The Enhanced HIPC Initiative And The IMF Immediately Grants 100 Percent Debt Relief ... |
| www.worldbank.org |
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| Economic Policy and Debt - The Enhanced HIPC Initiative |
| The Initiative’s debt-burden thresholds were adjusted downward, which enabled a broader group of countries to qualify for larger volumes of debt relief. ... |
| www.worldbank.org |
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| Debt relief - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| Debt relief is the partial or total forgiveness of debt, or the slowing or stopping of debt growth, owed by individuals, corporations, or nations. ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
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| Debt Analyzer, Debt Reduction Software, Home Page |
| Debt Elimination at its best! Potential savings of hundreds or thousands of dollars! Build debt reduction, timed elimination or consolidation schedules. |
| www.debtanalyzer.com |
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| Superior Debt Relief |
| We help you get rid of credit card debt much faster than you may believe possible with credit card debt settlement and negotiation tactics, providing debt ... |
| www.superiordebtrelief.com |
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| Debt Relief - Social and Economic Policy - Global Policy Forum |
| Aid Inflows, Debt Relief Yet to Translate into Reduced Poverty (March 20, 2006) ... Fearing that the IMF could tie debt relief to economic benchmarks, ... |
| www.globalpolicy.org |
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| Debt Relief - Global Policy Forum - Social and Economic Policy |
| Debt Relief - Global Policy Forum - Social and Economic Policy. The Debt Relief Page Has Been Moved to: ... |
| www.globalpolicy.org |
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| BBC NEWS | Business | Q&A: African debt relief |
| BBC News looks at the progress of international debt reduction efforts, and the sticking points which continue to hamper the process. |
| news.bbc.co.uk |
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| Debt Relief Australia - Start Reducing Debt Today! |
| Debt Relief offers Australians in debt assistance with finding the most appropriate debt relief solution. |
| www.debtrelief.com.au |
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| Debt Consolidation Australia, Debt Relief & Bankruptcy Information |
| Specialising in debt agreements, mortgage refinancing and bankruptcy. Company profile, calculators, solutions, media releases, testimonials and existing ... |
| www.foxsymes.com.au |
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| Oxfam - Debt and Aid - Debt Relief for Nicaragua: breaking out of ... |
| Oxfam policy paper on relationship between international debt servicing and poverty. Linked to table of contents and also zipped for download. |
| www.oxfam.org.uk |
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| What debt relief means for Africa | csmonitor.com |
| This weekend's $40 billion debt cancellation deal could spark major improvements in the lives of the world's poorest people. |
| www.csmonitor.com |
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