The economic melt down took away many people jobs and it left its negative effects on all kinds of businesses. As a result many peoples' lives became hell and especially those who had huge sum of credit card debts to pay. The credit card debts are unsecured debts and they have very high interest rate. Until the complete amount owed to the creditor is not paid back the amount payable keeps on increasing. Eventually it reaches to a level where it becomes virtually impossible for the debtor to pay back. Thus many debtors opt for filing bankruptcy and they over look the fact that bankruptcy comes with severe financial and social repercussions. The debtors first have to prove in the court that they are literally broke and after that the new of the bankruptcy is made public. The debtors are also then considered disqualified for any kind of loan for the next decade. But the good news is that there are other better ways to deal with this situation.
There are numerous Debt Relief programs available for the debtors with which they can settle their debts. Each program is designed for a specific purpose; those debtors who have trouble paying off their debts because of the high interest rate are recommended the Debt Negotiation program. In order to avail this program the debt amount needs to be more than $10K. According to this program the debtor can get a wavier of 40-70% on the total amount payable. The amount of the wavier is decided in context of the credit history and financial state of the creditor.
Therefore it becomes very important to convince the creditors to grant the maximum wavier. That is why the debtors are often advised to negotiate with the creditors via a Debt Relief firm. These firms have experienced and trained professionals who negotiate on the debtors' behalf with the creditors and explain their clients' case to them. These firms also provide free counseling services to their clients and teach those ways by following which they can avoid getting into the same trouble again.
Debt settlement is a legitimate alternative to filing bankruptcy. Consumers can expect to eliminate around 50% of their unsecured debt with the help of a legitimate settlement program. With the new FTC laws recently passed in July 2010, debt settlement is a much less risky option. If they don't settle your balance you don't have to pay a dime.
Check out the following link for free help from a certified debt relief specialist: