Will My Creditor Renegotiate My Debt If I Threaten To File For Bankruptcy?
By Kevin Gipson, New Orleans Bankruptcy Attorney on Jul 25, 2008 in General Bankruptcy Information, Louisiana
In an interesting article on Yahoo Finance entitled: “Four Ways to Get That Burdensome Debt Paid Off”, authored by Marshall Loeb, makes several very good suggestions on how to get rid of your debt.
Three of his suggestions, pay more than the minimum balance due every month, use savings to buy down your debt, and consider taking a loan against your life insurance are all practical solutions.
However, the fourth suggestions, using the threat of bankruptcy as a negotiation tool to renegotiate your debt, is, in my experience, unlikely to cause a creditor to reduce the amount owed on your debt.
You would think otherwise, as logic would tell you that the creditor would rather some money rather than get nothing in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
Unfortunately, I see time and time again clients that come in telling me that they had tried this tactic before coming to see me to file bankruptcy and that the creditor would not negotiate with them.
I believe that there is a simple reason for this: with the outsourcing of tasks such as this by creditors, the person who is trying to collect on the debt has absolutely no authority to negotiate a reduction in the debt.
Speak with a consumer bankruptcy attorney such as those in the Bankruptcy Law Network to discuss your options.
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