What should I do if I cannot pay all of my bills.  According to Dave Ramsey you need to prioritize.  The necessities need to come first.  Food, Transportation and housing should be your top priorities.  If you can’t pay your credit cards you may just need to let them go for now.  You will find that your mortgage company will be alot easier to work with than your credit card company.  Mortgage companies are taking extraordinary measures to work with you.  In fact Fannie Mae has stopped eviction and foreclosure proceedings until Continue Reading »

Can you go to jail if you do not pay your credit card bill?  No, If you stop paying your credit cards, your life will become a lot more difficult.  The first thing that will happen is that your credit score will drop like a rock.  A few late payments can drop your fico score as much as 200 points.  Your credit card company is going to raise your interest rates and start tacking on late fees.

When Will Creditors Starting Calling Me If I Get Behind On My Bills? Continue Reading »

If you are behind on your bills and are being hounded by your creditors, the experience can be unsettling.  Many people are curious as to how long it takes for their past due accounts to be turned over to a third party collections company or collection agency.

It Can Take 90-120 Day For Your Account To Go Into Collections Continue Reading »

What happens to my fico score if I am reported late? If you are late paying on your credit card bill by thirty days or more, it will get reported to the credit bureau as a late. I have seen credit scores drop as much as 100 points just by having one late payment. If you are trying to buy a home and the credit late is within a 12 month period it may keep you from being able to buy or refinance your home.

Does having to pay the late fee automatically mean that I will be reported as late to the credit bureau? Continue Reading »

When can a creditor call me? I think that most consumers believe that a collection agency cannot make calls to try and collect a debt on Sunday. A creditor is allowed to call you on Sunday. The provision that allows calls to be made on Sunday is spelled out in the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act.

Can a creditor call me on Sunday if the debt is with a collection agency?

If the debt is still with the original creditor they can definitely still call. Even if the debt is with a collection agency they can call from 8am to 9pm. If the collector calls outside of these times, they could be in violation of the fdcpa or Fair Debt Collection Act.

When you settle debts through a debt negotiation program, will you get a 1099 for what you save? You will not get a 1099 if you can demonstrate that you are financially insolvent. IRS Publication 908 states that you must owe more than you have in assets at the time of the debt settlement agreement with your creditor. You would only pay tax on the amount of solvency you have. If you save $5000 on a debt settlement agreement and have $1500 in assets, you would pay tax on $1500. Speak with a tax adviser or tax professional to see how this would apply to you before registering into a debt settlement program.

Do I have to pay income tax if I am in a debt negotiation program? Continue Reading »

What can I do if the creditor is wrong? Just because a bill collector is requesting money from you does not mean that you actually have to pay them. Just because they claim to have documents supporting the debt does not mean that they actually do. Do not let them push you around into paying money that you do not owe. There are two things you can do to to prove you do not owe the money and the debt collector is wrong. Continue Reading »

Can I negotiate my bills myself? Debt Negotiation, Debt Mediation or Debt Settlement is something that you can probably do on your own if you have a little education behind you. The first thing I would get familiar with is the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act of 1977. If you have thick skin for dealing with nasty and abusive creditors calling you all the time I would say do it. If you do not want the hassle you may want to hire a third party debt settlement company to handle your old collections. Continue Reading »