YOU Can Negotiate Credit Card Debt

Do you wake up feeling overwhelmed by credit card debt? Are you struggling each month and barely making your minimum payments? The economic crisis has left no one untouched and everybody reeling. If you are scared, confused, and need relief from credit debt worries, it is time for YOU to take control and start looking to negotiate credit card debt.

Here are four ways to negotiate credit card debt with your creditors:

1. Ask for a lower interest rate.

2. Request for late-payment, over limit, cash-advance, and annual fees to be waived.

3. Set up a longer payment plan.

4. Offer an account settlement of 25% of balance owed. (There are two disadvantages to settling your credit card debt, though. First of all, your creditors expect you to have the money ready to make your lump payment immediately. Secondly, the amount of your forgiven debt is treated as regular income, and you will have to pay tax on it.)

Running away from creditors is not the answer. Instead, you should contact your creditors immediately to reach a workable solution. Creditors want their money back and are often willing to be flexible as long as they feel you are sincere and committed to re-paying. There are many credit card debt resources available to help educate you in the negotiation process and build the confidence you need to negotiate credit card debt. The key to being successful is to come prepared and not back down.

Positive results and better terms may include lower interest rates, a longer time to re-pay, payment suspension for a time, and/or various fees waived that have been charged to your account, especially the late payment fees. Depending on your financial situation, you might also be able to reach a settlement. Every attempt to negotiate credit card debt should be made, because a personal bankruptcy stays on your financial information record for the next ten years and can often make buying a house, getting additional credit, and possibly even getting a job very difficult. It may be a faster way to address your debt, but it should only be used as a last resort.

Remember, if you do not try to negotiate credit card debt, the answers to all of your credit debt questions and worries will be "no". Do not be afraid. Be bold and ask for the relief you need. You have more to lose if you don't. Credit card companies know that when you are at a breaking point, it is better to get a percentage of something than 100% of nothing. Most people are not aware of how much power they actually have when they go to negotiate credit card debt. So be brave, strong, and confident when dealing with credit card companies. Overcoming their tactics can be difficult if you don't know what to expect. As I stated earlier, the key to being successful is to come prepared and not back down. You might consider taking time to read Scott Bilker's, Talk Your Way Out Of Credit Card Debt, for pointers and to learn more about how YOU can negotiate credit card debt. You may be able to save yourself thousands of dollars and reduce your financial burdens. It is possible!
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Bargaining with Your Credit Card Company

How to negotiate a better interest rate

A few years ago, when I had over $15,000 of credit card debt, I was often negotiating with credit card companies to get better interest rates. I took a very active approach toward minimizing my interest expense on my credit card debt, and learning to negotiate with credit card companies was a key component.

The steps to bargaining with your credit card company

These are the steps that I actually took when I was trying to negotiate credit card debt with my credit card companies.

1. Gather credit card offers

I gathered up a bunch of offers from other credit card companies. I would often get 0% credit card offers in the mail, so I just saved them up for a couple weeks until I had a few decent ones that I was slightly interested in. The reason I gathered these up was to have a baseline to negotiate from. These offers would more or less allow me to prove to my card company that I didn’t need them, because I had other offers. I could have made these offers up, but I don’t believe that lying to get what you want is ever justified - even to credit card companies.

2. Organize and make a list

From this point, I would make a list of all of my credit cards, the balances on each, the current interest rate, and how long that rate would last (if it were a promotional rate).

3. Call the first card company and try to reach the supervisor

Then I would grab the phone number off the back of the first card and start calling. (This is very important). Once I reached a customer service rep, I would try to get their supervisor. You can try to negotiate a better rate with the front-line rep if you want, but in my experience they rarely can negotiate rates with you. Most of the reps I dealt with flat out told me “no”. Either way, ask for their supervisor. Once you are talking to the supervisor, you are now talking to someone who has authority to negotiate rates (most times), and they often are much more rational and will talk to you like a human being.

4. Plead your case

Now that I had the supervisor on the line, I would argue my case in typical Matlock fashion. I would let them know that while I have enjoyed their business, I had three 0% offers from other credit card companies. I told the supervisor that I would love to stay with them, but if they couldn’t provide me with a better rate I would be forced to go with one of their competitors. Just like you would expect, this worked with varying degrees of success each time. Sometimes they would offer me 0% for a fixed time frame, sometimes they would try to pacify me with a 1% rate reduction. But I will say that they ALWAYS offered me something. So even if I didn’t get what I wanted, it was always better than not calling at all.

5. Transfer your balance if you need to

I had patience and was not afraid to leave, so if I couldn’t get the offer I wanted from the supervisor I would just kindly hang up and proceed to transfer that balance to one of the offers I rounded up in step 1.

6. Get the best offer by closing your account

Once I had my balance transferred, I would call back to that card company to close my account. Many of the credit card companies have “closing specialists” whose only job is to do any and everything to keep your business. You can ask these guys for a ride on a unicorn and they will try to make it happen if it means you will keep your account open. I found that these guys often will be able to offer you a better deal than anyone else, because they know you mean business. I rarely took advantage of their deals, because I had already transferred my balance, but it is something to keep in mind.

So there you have it - my quick how to guide to negotiate credit card debt with credit card companies. I assure you that you will have varying degrees of success based on your credit history, payment history, and other factors, but it never hurts to try. Oh and by the way, this is the same method I use when trying to negotiate late fees or any other charges from them.

If you need further help, Care One Credit is a debt relief service provider with a difference. They avoid the "one size fits all" approach you'll find in so many debt consolidation programs. Instead, they work to provide flexible, effective debt relief options for consumers who are struggling with credit card and other debt. The credit counseling services, resources and tools they offer are designed to help you pay down your debt, change the way you look at credit, and develop solid money management skills. So don't hesitate to contact them to negotiate credit card debt.

Features and Bonuses:
1. Lower monthly payments up to 57%
2. Reduce interest charges
3.Consolidate your debts into one easy payment

Options to Negotiate Credit Card Debt

Negotiate Credit Card Debt

If you’re buried under a mountain of credit card debt and are barely able to make your minimum payments, it’s time to take action. Namely, it’s time for you to start looking into ways to negotiate credit card debt to see how you can get better payment terms. Depending on your financial situation, you might either try getting a settlement, or you can negotiate better payment terms, including waiving late fees and other punitive fees.

Credit Card Debt Settlement

When trying to settle your credit card debt, what you’re trying to do is typically this: you call your creditors and offer to pay off part of your debt in exchange for them forgiving the difference. For example, if you owe $10,000, you can offer to pay $6,000; if your creditors agree to it, the remaining $4,000 is written off their books. You have to understand that every issuer has their own policy when it comes to settling debt and the terms that you get will vary, yet most of them will try and accommodate you.

Why? Because if you’re trying to negotiate a settlement, that’s because you’re near the breaking point and there’s a strong chance that soon they won’t be receiving any money from you. Even worse, you might file for bankruptcy, and since credit card debt is unsecured, they’ll be guaranteed not to receive anything at all. So the logic behind accepting a settlement that’s lower than what you owe them is that it’s better to get a percentage of something than 100% of nothing.

There are two drawbacks to settling your credit card debt, though. First of all, when you settle, your creditors expect to get paid immediately. What this means is that you can’t ask for a settlement if you don’t have the money ready to make your lump payment. This option is best for people who have savings or some other way of coming up with the necessary payment. The second drawback is one that most people don’t know, and get shocked when it hits them: the portion of your debt that is forgiven is treated as regular income, and as such you will have to pay tax on it.

Negotiating Better Payment Terms

If settling your credit card debt is not an option (and quite frankly, not many people have that luxury), you can try and negotiate credit card debt to better payment terms. If you have been a good customer, meaning that you’ve been paying your bill on time with few late payments, you should not have any problems negotiating a lower interest rate, which will lower your monthly payment. Even if you’ve been unable to keep up with your payments, it’s worth making a phone call to see if there’s anything that can be done about it. You won’t know until you try, plus it’s free to ask.

You can request that the various fees that have been charged to your account be waived, especially the late payment fees. While some companies will flat out refuse to waive them, some others will reconsider.

You also have the option of negotiating a payment plan, although the way this works with most companies is kind of counter-intuitive. If you have been making your payments on time, most of the time they will refuse to negotiate a payment plan with you. On the other hand, if your account shows that you’re several payments late and are in seriously bad financial shape, you’ll find that they’ll be much more willing to arrange a repayment plan that suits you better. Once again, it’s better to receive some money over time than no money at all.

Finally, there’s the option of turning to a professional to work out a deal on your behalf if you feel like you won’t be able to negotiate credit card debt in an effective manner. There are many resources that are available to you, both online and off. The main thing with this option is to make sure that you’re dealing with a reputable, legitimate company that will actually help you instead of putting you in a situation where you’re worse off than when you hired them.

Care One Credit is a debt relief service provider with a difference. They avoid the "one size fits all" approach you'll find in so many debt consolidation programs. Instead, they work to provide flexible, effective debt relief options for consumers who are struggling with credit card and other debt. The credit counseling services, resources and tools they offer are designed to help you pay down your debt, change the way you look at credit, and develop solid money management skills. So don't hesitate to contact them to negotiate credit card debt.

Features and Bonuses:
1. Lower monthly payments up to 57%
2. Reduce interest charges
3.Consolidate your debts into one easy payment

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How to Negotiate Credit Card Debt

If you're in over your head with credit card debt, you may feel as if you have no control at all, but that's not true. Credit card companies are surprisingly willing to negotiate credit card debt with consumers on everything from interest rates and fees to payment plans. Often, all you have to do is ask.

How to Negotiate Credit Card Debt

1. Step 1

   Ask for a lower interest rate. If you've been making payments on time, you should not find it difficult to negotiate credit card debt at a rate that is at least 2 percent below the national average. Even if you haven't been making payments on time, it's worth a phone call to see whether you can cut your interest rate slightly.

2. Step 2

   Request that fees, such as those for making late payments, using "free checks" and accessing money through ATMs, be waived. Some credit card companies won't budge on these fees. Others are surprisingly willing to negotiate.

3. Step 3

   Set up a payment plan. If you've been making your payments in a timely manner, most credit card companies won't negotiate much on payment plans. However, if you've been unable to pay for several months, you may find them willing to negotiate credit card debt and set up an affordable plan. After all, they'd rather get their money slowly than not get it at all.

4. Step 4

   Offer a lump-sum settlement of about 25 percent of the total balance.

5. Step 5

   Get all negotiated deals about your credit card debt in writing. As the old joke goes, an oral contract isn't worth the paper on which it's written.

6. Step 6

   Seek credit counseling. An experienced and reputable credit counselor may be able to work out a deal when you can't.

Care One Credit is a debt relief service provider with a difference. They avoid the "one size fits all" approach you'll find in so many debt consolidation programs. Instead, they work to provide flexible, effective debt relief options for consumers who are struggling with credit card debt and other debt. The credit counseling services, resources and tools they offer are designed to help you pay down your debt, change the way you look at credit, and develop solid money management skills. And don't hesitate to use the steps above to negotiate credit card debt.

Features and Bonuses:
1. Lower monthly payments up to 57%
2. Reduce interest charges
3.Consolidate your debts into one easy payment