There are plenty of articles available on the Internet about credit card debt settlement. Read enough of them and you will be either scared to death of debt settlement or excited about the possibility of becoming debt free in a relatively short amount of time. Each case is different, but depending on individual circumstances, debt settlement is often a great alternative to filing Bankruptcy if you have sufficient income to fund settlement in a one to three year period. I just wrapped up the final settlement for a client and her story turned out better than anticipated and is worth sharing. My client’s name has been changed to protect confidentiality, but these results are real.

What Can A Credit Card Debt Settlement Attorney Do For Me?

Client Background

Marsha came in with approximately $20,000 in credit card debt; spread over 5 different credit cards. She incurred this credit card debt during a brief period of unemployment, which led her to rely on her credit cards as supplemental income. Once she regained employment she made decent money, but found that making the monthly credit card payments would still be difficult due to her every day living expenses. While meeting with her, we developed a plan to put away money in a dedicated savings account to accumulate the money I would need to settle her debts. The amount she would deposit on a monthly basis was far less than what she would have paid to her creditors monthly.

Settlement

During the course of my representation, we received great news about ten months in. Two of Marsha’s creditors notified her that they would no longer attempt to collect her debt. They completely discharged her debt and she now owed nothing. This immediately wiped out over $15,000 in debt owed. With just under $5,000 in debt to settle, the rest of the debts were settled over a shorter period and as the client had funds available. A $2,000 debt settled for just over $500. Her $1,500 debt settled for $400. And the final debt of $600 settled for a little under $400. This last debt settled for more than I would like, but Marsha had already saved tremendously on her other debts and was more than happy to get this last deal done so she could officially declare herself to be debt free.

In all, Marsha paid approximately $1,300 in settlement money for $20,0000 in debt, which calculates out to 6.5 cents on the dollar!

As any attorney will tell you, results vary from client to client and by no means is this indicative of results that may be achieved in the future for other clients. This just turned out to be a great ending for a client that just needed a little help to get her up and running again.

Graduation

I like to think of my clients as “graduates” when they complete the debt settlement process. They are committed to continuing to live a life free of debt. They learned their lesson the hard way and don’t ever want to talk to me again. That does not offend me because it means I’ve done my job. Marsha no longer worries when the phone rings because she knows there will be no more collection calls. She’s learned to live a frugal life within her means. We are now in the process of getting her in the right hands to start repairing her credit so she can qualify for better rates on a car loan. Most important, she’s putting money aside for her retirement.

So to answer the question posed in the title of this blog post: THAT’S what a debt settlement lawyer can do for you! If you think debt settlement might be a good option for you, I welcome you to call and schedule a Free debt consultation to learn more about your options in dealing with debt.

Cheers to a healthy, prosperous and debt-free 2015!