Can I Really Settle My Debts For Pennies On The Dollar?
By Brett Weiss, Maryland Bankruptcy Attorney on Jan 29, 2007 in General Bankruptcy Information, Maryland
Generally speaking, the longer most credit card companies go without being paid the more willing they (or the collectors they sell your account to) are to cut deals for lump sum pay-offs for less than the balance.
Maybe you’ve seen the companies who promise to settle your debts for pennies on the dollar. They tell you to stop paying your credit card bills completely, and send money to them for 6–12 months so that they can build up a lump sum to settle your debt with. Once they have enough money (in addition to their enrollment fees, monthly maintenance fees, consultant fees, settlement fees, etc.), they claim that they’ll try to settle your debt for usually around 50 cents on the dollar. Sometimes it works but even if it does, there is still a lot of cleanup and expense to you.
The problems are:
- You can do this yourself and save their usually exorbitant fees.
Most companies charge, in addition to the start-up and maintenance fees, a percentage of the reduction in the amount. - The credit card companies usually refer your account to collection agencies, who call to harass you, send you nasty letters, and can sue you. You are advised to stop answering your phone or change to an unlisted number to avoid the often daily (or even hourly) nasty calls. You can’t stop the letters, short of moving, and can’t stop the lawsuits.
- Your credit score is severely damaged for 7 years, due to the charge-offs on your credit record and the reporting of the account as “compromised”.
- You will have to pay taxes on the reduction in debt. The IRS considers this “income” to you, and the credit card companies normally file a 1099 for the amount of the reduction. So, if you settle your $10,000 credit card bill for $6,000, you’ll have to pay taxes on the $4,000 you save.
- You will usually pay a whole lot more—often tens of thousands of dollars more—to settle your debts in this fashion than dealing with them in a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13.
If you’re even considering doing something like this, add up all of the fees, costs, and taxes before you sign anything, and see if doing this makes sense financially. Often the small net savings are outweighed by tax liability and the stress of dealing with collection agency calls, letters, and lawsuits for an extended period of time.
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