subject: Negotiating With Credit Card Companies [print this page] Negotiating With Credit Card Companies Negotiating With Credit Card Companies
When credit card debt is so large that the debtor is unable to pay it back, it becomes important to understand how to negotiate witth credit card companies. It usually will become necessary at that point to negotiate a reduced payment or a settlement. This process is not easy; however, it can be done.
The first question to ask is whether or not you have the stamina to do this yourself. Negotiating with credit card companies is not for the faint of heart. It will take patience, persistence, and a thick skin. The credit card company will not care about your specific sob story or the details of how you arrived at where you are. They are only interested in one thing and that is collecting on your debt. They will relentlessly pursue that goal with daily phone calls to you, and sometimes multiple daily calls even on weekends and holidays.
If you feel this may be too much for you to handle, seek out a third party to do the negotiations in your behalf. You can enlist or hire debt counseling or debt management companies or debt lawyers to do this for you. They will review your financial situation, help you plot out a strategy, and make the contacts with the credit card companies.
If you decide to handle the negotiations yourself you will find that they will not be very willing to reduce or settle your debt right off. In fact, the process will most likely take months. If you are current on your payments, they will do very little to help you. If you are past due, they are more willing to talk. For most of us this seems backwards. We would think that talking to the credit card company before we have to be past due makes the most sense, but the fact is they will do little more than perhaps reduce the interest. The longer your debt is past due, the less they expect to get back, and the more they are willing to settle for less. This is where the patience and persistence parts come in. Stick to your guns until they can offer a settlement that you can live with.
