Tips To Negotiate Credit Card Debt
If you and your debt negotiator have decided to call your creditors in an effort to negotiating credit card debt, you should have a clear plan of how to proceed. You are obviously struggling to pay your bills. Perhaps your creditors have been calling you and you have been too afraid (or embarrassed) to answer. You must remain calm and unemotional when you call to discuss your options for easing your debt burden.
The credit card company will probably want to work with you, particularly if you are in arrears. Thus, you must know what to ask for with regards to getting out of debt. Do you need a lower monthly payment? Are you hoping to have late payment or over-the-limit fees waived? Are you seeking out a better annual percentage rate (APR)? Are you on the verge of bankruptcy and looking to settle the account? Depending on what you need, you should be clear with your request.
One option if you are merely struggling to pay is to ask for a reduction in your interest rate. Some APRs border on usury, costing you hundreds of dollars in finance charges each month. Let’s say you have one credit card with a 12 percent rate and another at 27 percent. You could call the latter and ask for a rate that is closer to the other card you are paying. If agreed, you should have a reduced monthly payment, which could make it easier for you to pay on time and get out of debt more quickly.
If you are constantly over your limit, the first thing is to stop charging altogether. That said, you may be facing over-the-limit fees because you are so close to the limit that the interest tacked on each month pushes you over. Call and ask for the fees to be waived until you have the chance to pay down what you owe and have a “cushion” for the interest to be added. The same can be done for late fees; if you are struggling, ask for a courtesy waiver with the promise that you will send some amount every month, even if it’s less than the minimum due.
Finally, you can ask for a settlement fee, which is basically a lump-sum payment of part of what you owe. Just be sure to get any agreement in writing from the company, so that they cannot claim you defaulted later on.