10 steps to not paying your unaffordable credit card debt steps to not paying your unafford… ·...

10 Steps to Not Paying Your Unaffordable Credit Card Debt

1 Copyright 2009 - 2014 Vision Publishing Inc.



Table of Contents Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 3

Step 1: To get out from under burdensome unpaid credit card debt, you first need the right mindset

that will enable you to succeed. ........................................................................................................... 3

Step 2: Understand you can walk away, if you have to, from your unsecured credit card debt by

following in the footsteps of many others including myself who were in the same situation you find

yourself in today, or one you may soon find yourself in. ..................................................................... 4

Step 3: You Need to Learn to How to Fend off Unsecured Creditors (credit card banks) and Their

Debt Collectors before Making Any Decisions !!! ................................................................................. 5

Step 4: Do Not Commit Financial “Death” By Guilt .............................................................................. 6

Step 5: Understand the Credit Card Debt Aging and Debt Collection Process ..................................... 6

Step 6: Use the FDCPA and Watch for CFPB, but MORE Federal Protection for Consumers with

Overdue Credit Card Debt Is Still in the Process ................................................................................. 13

Step 7: Learn to Practice Resistance and Documentation – How to Help Yourself ............................ 14

Step 8: Understand The Arbitration Scam .......................................................................................... 15

Step 9: Avoid the Wrong Kind of Help ................................................................................................ 16

Step 10: Accept the Reality That You Cannot Afford to Pay These Debts and Make the Decision to

Stop Payment ...................................................................................................................................... 17



Introduction

At this point in your life your credit card debt burden is probably making it difficult

for you to think straight. You are at risk of, or you may have already fallen victim

to, some sort of credit card debt relief program that got you to pay money you didn’t

really have before they delivered any results. And, you ended up not getting ANY

debt reduction or elimination at all.

Step 1: To get out from under burdensome unpaid credit

card debt, you first need the right mindset that will

enable you to succeed.

It is time to stop flailing about as if you were drowning in that debt. I got my mind

“right” by educating myself about credit card debt and debt collection. (If you have

not read my story about how I successfully stopped paying $63,000 in credit card

debt, read it here.) If you too educate yourself first, then you will develop a

productive mindset that will enable you to make the right decisions and take the

right actions to put your credit card debt behind you.

You must have sufficient background and knowledge to stick with the strategies I

recommend. That means you must read and study these materials. If you are not

willing to take the time to read and learn about your situation, then DO NOT buy

my ebooks because you will have to no clue about what will and what will not work

with debt collectors and collection attorneys.

Today finances are difficult for many people. Are you having trouble paying your

bills? Is your credit card debt piling up with increased interests rates and late fees?

Have your balance limits been reduced? Have you thought about bankruptcy? Do

you feel guilty about the prospect of being in debt and not being able to pay your

bills?

Your financial problems may be the result of a job loss, a catastrophic illness, a

death in the family, student loans, a failed business venture, or just simple

http://www.creditsabre.com/how-i-found-credit-card-debt-relief/



mismanagement of your finances. Whatever the cause, are you concerned about

being controlled by your creditors?

You should never sacrifice resources that go to your or your family’s food, shelter,

clothing, transportation, healthcare and education needs to pay unsecured credit

card debt.

NOW is the time to replace your fear of the unknown consequences of being in debt

with the confidence and a plan that will get you beyond your debt problems. Now is

the time to educate yourself so you can confidently develop a plan.

After you go through this process of knowledge acquisition you will realize that

bankruptcy should be the last thing for you to consider NOT THE FIRST!

Have you been enticed by the seductive radio ads from debt settlement and

negotiation firms promising to settle your debts for you for less than 50 percent of

what you owe? Please read my books first, and seek further education online if

needed, BEFORE you pay thousands of dollars up front to let someone else handle

your debt problems for you. Eventually you will realize, like many of us have, that

you are the best person to deal with your credit card debts.

Step 2: Understand you can walk away, if you have to,

from your unsecured credit card debt by following in

the footsteps of many others including myself who were

in the same situation you find yourself in today, or one

you may soon find yourself in.

If you need help, I can help you find the right kind of help (not the kind with the

best sales pitch).

In this first ebook I’ll lighten your load by sharing in broad strokes what little

power credit card companies and debt collectors really have over you if you take the

right actions against them at the right times. Then in subsequent installations, I’ll

provide the detail you’ll need to help yourself, including the specific resources to

continue your debt relief education and, if needed, to find the right kind of help.



Until you have educated yourself, you should consider bankruptcy your last option,

not your first. If all else fails, you can always file for bankruptcy protection. But,

why do that much damage to your credit unless you have to? After reading this

book, you will realize you can solve your problems without filing for bankruptcy.

Step 3: You Need to Learn to How to Fend off Unsecured

Creditors (credit card banks) and Their Debt Collectors

before Making Any Decisions !!!

It is important to understand the realities of the debt collection industry. These

realities are why you can start feeling comfortable again right now.

If your account is in arrears, it is one of millions of accounts in arrears. If your

account is assigned to a collection agency, it is one of thousands in that batch

assignment. If your account is sold to a junk debt buyer, it is one of thousands, tens

of thousands or hundreds of thousands sold in that package of junk debt for five to

ten cents on the dollar or less. No, there is not a special place in hell for you alone because you owe money you cannot afford to pay. There is probably not even a file on you. You are just a line in a database along with everyone else.

You safety and security lie in these numbers, in the thousands of accounts and in

the pennies per dollar each is actually worth. If you resist collection attempts (after

you learn here how to properly do so), it is simply not profitable for collectors to put

more time into chasing you for your debt, when they can put that time in getting

the easy returns from other people who put up no legal resistance. Consequently

your account gets put aside in favor of other more profitable accounts, because debt

collectors do not expect to collect on 100 percent of the accounts handed over to

them. They do not even expect to collect on 50 percent of those accounts. This book

will show you how to not show any of the weakness and opportunity debt collectors

look for in each account holder. With the right actions yours can become a

There is Safety in the Number of Consumers in Debt



non-collectible account. When your account gets passed from one debt collector to

the next, that is not a sign that you are losing the battle. Instead, it means you

are winning because the last guys do not want to deal with you anymore. Most of

my accounts went to two or three debt collectors each.

Step 4: Do Not Commit Financial “Death” By Guilt

Most people are honest and feel naturally guilty about their indebtedness. They

want to do the right thing. Because you owe these unsecured debts, you can feel

guilty, fearful and helpless. Collectors know this and use it against you. They use it

to get you to admit to a debt and to re-contract with them. They also know that

guilt will prevent you from helping yourself as much as you can. Because of this

guilt and hopelessness, many people put their head in the sand and ignore written

debt collector communications. They do not open that mail. Then, suddenly out of

nowhere they find themselves with a civil judgment against them or an arbitration

award about to be confirmed, or worse their wages garnished or bank account

seized.

To be successful with credit card debt relief, you’ll need to control your emotions and

deal with these collection efforts properly, as I will show you. Remember, denying

and disputing credit card debt is a legal strategy, not a personal statement of

character.

Step 5: Understand the Credit Card Debt Aging and

Debt Collection Process

5a. Going Into Arrears f you cannot pay anything on your account, the credit card banks collection efforts

will begin, and as each missed monthly payment deadline passes, they will

intensify. You will receive letters and phone calls, weekly, perhaps even more

frequently. Fortunately, these will be auto-dialers handing off your call to the next

available customer service rep. working in the in-house collections department.

They will have no knowledge of your account except what is on their computer

screen when they talk to you. They are not paid by commission. They are just



processing your account as it heads to default. If you cannot pay anything, do not

listen to them and hang up. They’ll threaten handing your account over to a

collection agency, or possible legal action or arbitration. The Fair Debt Collection

Practices Act (FDCPA) does not protect you from original creditors calling to collect,

but their collection efforts are usually not that bothersome, particularly if after a

while, you do not take their phone calls.

Finally your account will default. That means the bank will write it off as a loss.

That usually happens after six months of non-payment. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency keeps a tight leash on banks’ bad debts and does not

allow too much time for non-performing debts to be carried on their books. Making

sporadic payments could prolong this process. That may be beneficial for you, but

probably not.

5b. Can You Afford to Negotiate a Lump Sum Settlement?

So, let’s assume that now or at some point in the near future, you cannot keep up

with your minimum credit card payments and they go into arrears. And, perhaps your credit rating has already begun to slip.

National credit card banks do not want to default your account soon after you fall behind, they will probably offer to work with you . . . but, on their terms. However,

their “help” may not be to your liking. Fees, penalties and a higher interest rate

could inflate your balance while you are making small, affordable monthly

payments to tide you over until you can pay more. You credit may also suffer as

they “help” you. You should realize, however, that for banks everything is

negotiable under the right circumstances. Those circumstances will be your non-

payment of monthly credit card debt. As you near the six month default debt date

when the bank must write off your debt, you may be able to negotiate a reduced

lump sum settlement. Of course that assumes you have a lump sum to bring to the

negotiating table. Do not negotiate a reduced payment plan. That will just prolong

the inevitable. You will miss a payment because you are having trouble paying for

everything that month, and all the money you have paid under the negotiated settlement will be eaten up by fees, penalties and interest.



5c. The Best Time to Negotiate

The best time to negotiate a lump-sum settlement, if you do have the money, for

less than the balance is in the weeks leading up to the six-month charge off or

default of your credit card debt. This is the last step to how banks attempt to

collect their overdue credit card debts. Once your account is written off it will be

placed with the bank’s collection agency (CA), then eventually sold to a junk debt

buyer (JDB) for around tens cents on the dollar.

People have negotiated payment in full at as low as 20 percent of the debt with a

credit card bank, also known as the original creditor (OC), or with the bank’s

collection agency. I was offered 25 percent right before charge off on a $4000 credit

card debt, and I could have probably negotiated that down, but I had no cash to

make the $1250 one-time payment. Usually you pay a lump sum or negotiate a

payment schedule. But, if you cannot adhere to the schedule, the negotiated

balance becomes void and interest and penalties are tacked on. Also, the bank is

required to issue a 1099 income statement to you on the amount of the original

balance that you negotiated away. So you will have to pay taxes on that portion.

But, if you income is low in the year the 1099 is issued, you’ll have some leeway

with the IRS. You can also make credit repair part of your negotiations. Everyone gets better treatment on their credit report if they negotiate for it. The issue is how much better.

5d. Collections and Negotiations before Your Account Defaults

After its default by the bank, before the account is sold to a junk debt buyer, and

sometimes leading up to the bank’s default of it, the debt is given to a collection

agency (CA) to pursue. Here the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) does

protect you. The CA must send you a mini-Miranda statement telling you you have

thirty days to dispute the debt and to request validation of the debt. When you do

that you can instruct the collection agency per the FDCPA to stop collection efforts

including calling you. They must also NOT put a negative listing (trade line) on

your credit report. That too constitutes a collection effort. If they do, they are in

violation of the FDCPA and liable for $1000 per violation in civil court. Violations



like that could present opportunities for you to retain a consumer rights attorney on

a contingency fee to sue, at no expense to you, the debt collector for their FDCPA

violation(s).

During this time, when the collection agency represents the bank, it will receive

only a percentage of what it collects from the original creditor, you can continue to

pursue negotiations directly with the bank because they still own the account, or

with the bank through the collection agency.

Debt collection agencies are powerless to do you any harm. All they can do is lie

about pending lawsuits over the telephone. If your credit card debt ever does end

up with a collection attorney, that collection agency will not receive any money for

its collection efforts against you. It is the collection attorney who will be paid.

5e. Debt Collection after a Credit Card Account Default and Sale

Once your account is sold to a junk debt buyer, the junk debt buyer will notify you of

their ownership and demand payment. They are usually not licensed to collect

consumer debts in your state because they are junk debt buyers not debt collectors.

So, in addition to disputing the debt, requesting validation and instructing them to

cease collection activities, you can warn them about their violation of the law with

their lack of a collector’s license. (You will need to check you state’s database of

debt collector licenses, usually found on a state’s web site.)

The debt validation letter (DV) is your number one defense against junk debt

buyers, collection agencies, and collection attorneys. It is a defense that,

fortunately for the debt collection industry, not many people use. The FDCPA

requires anyone attempting to collect a debt from you to notify you in writing with a

“mini-Miranda” statement that you have the right to dispute the debt and request

validation of it. You then respond to this with a debt validation letter (DV) ( disputing and requesting validation AND instructing the collector to cease

collection activities. Junk debt buyers and their collection agencies usually

disappear after a good debt validation letter. (There are sample debt validation

letters in the Debt Collection chapter as well as links to many more.)

After the DV letter, the only thing debt collectors can legally do is pursue you in

court, but shouldn’t they save that for someone who is easier to intimidate? If they

make further collection attempts, and you can document them, they can be



sued for $1000 per violation under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. You can

find consumer rights attorneys who will do that for you on a contingency basis.

At this point the junk debt buyer could:

1) Give the account to another collection agency. That collection agency may call

out of the blue before they send you a mini-Miranda telling you that you will be

receiving a court summons from their attorney suing you over this debt. And,

that NOW is your last chance to pay without court action. This is a classic,

lying, scare tactic. Do not believe it and DO NOT give you bank account

information to make a payment.

2) Give the account to a collection attorney. If this happens, the attorney, hoping to

scare you with their letterhead, will send you another mini-Miranda, which you

can reply to as you have the others. Attorneys acting as debt collectors are

considered debt collectors by the FDCPA and are liable for violations in the same

way.

3) Sell the debt to another junk debt buyer.

During this process it is imperative that you –

i) Always dispute and never admit that the debt is yours.

ii) Do not “re-contract” with anyone attempting to collect a debt from you.

Remember that the collection agency, junk debt buyer, or collection

attorney is trying to re-contract with you by getting you to admit to the

debt; by getting you to do their job for them. Their job is to prove you owe

the debt.

iii) Stay off the phone. Do not try to handle things solely by phone. There is

no record of a phone call and no reason why the collecting party should

hold up their end of the deal. Do not talk to debt collectors on the phone

unless you are attempting to negotiate a settlement that will be followed

up in writing.

4) Never settle with collection agencies and junk debt buyers. It will hurt your

credit even more. “Doing the right thing” is NOT paying a dime. The way the

debt collection industry is set up, you will do a disproportionate amount of

damage to yourself trying to repay an old debt.



5) Always respond to written debt collection communications. People who DV are

much less likely to be sued. People who do not DV are showing weakness and

opportunity. The profitable collection numbers principle applies to them.

6) Always, always document your communications. Keep copies of all letters to

collection agencies, junk debt buyers and attorneys. Send everything certified

mail return receipt requested (CMRRR) U.S. mail.

7) Never, ever give your bank account information over the phone. Remember, 100

percent of debt collectors will lie to you 100 percent of the time. There is no real

urgency that requires you to share that information, just the lies about court

action that the collectors spin to get you to submit to them.

8) In the unlikely event of a court action, always answer a court summons within

the time required and stating the appropriate legal defenses as determined by

your local rules of civil procedure. A few pages are sufficient to avoid an

immediate default judgment against you and to give enough time to prepare

your case against the typical opportunistic collection attorney. Many debt

collection attorneys send out summonses by the dozens fishing for defaulters. If

you do not reply, they can get a default judgment against you; if you do reply,

they disappear, moving on to the next potential defaulter.

9) Understand that while the debt is yours, it is your legal right to deny it, to

dispute it and to insist that the collection attorney document their case against

you, proving:

a) There was a contract between you and the original creditor;

b) They can document their ownership of the debt if they are not the original

creditor;

c) How they arrived at the specific amount of the debt they say you owe.

All of this can be too much work for an opportunistic collection attorney, who

would prefer to find less resistance with another debtor.



10) Again, do NOT take telephone calls from collectors. If they have sent you a

mini-Miranda and you have responded properly to it, you have instructed them

not to call and by doing so they are in violation of the FDCPA. If they call out of

the blue, they are just a voice on the other end of the line, and you do not discuss

your personal finances with strangers. They want you to admit to the debt and

to re-contract with them.

11) If the collection agency, junk debt buyer or collection attorney respond to your

debt validation letter with documentation (usually a few copies of past account

statements and sometimes an unsigned contract) reply CMRRR disputing the

debt, stating the documentation is insufficient and asking for more.

20-30 years ago if you were behind in payments, your bank would have called to

remind you that you credit rating would suffer if you failed to pay the unsecured

credit card debt, and that would have been the end of it. Unsecured bad debt meant

a bad credit rating for a while. Over the years, however, a whole debt collection

industry has blossomed as Americans have used more and more credit cards.

Paying collection agencies, attorneys, and junk debt buyers who prey on people

during hard times is not morally or ethically appropriate, or legally required. It

simply creates more problems for those paying and for other debtors down the road.

5f. About Collection Attorneys

According to the New York Times over 90 percent of consumers who receive a

summons for the collection of a credit card debt do not respond. That means they

lose be default. And, the credit card bank or junk debt buyer gets a default court

judgment against the consumer.

What happens to the few that do respond? The short answer is good things most of

the time. Collection attorneys are set up to send out summons and process default

judgments. Actually going to court is not their strong suit. In addition, given the

nature of credit card debt, collection attorneys have trouble documenting an

individual consumer’s debt to court standards. They have difficulty producing

signed contracts because there are none. They have difficulty documenting the total

alleged amount owed including all of the charges, payments, interest, fees and

penalties. They cannot produce a truthful affidavit from someone with personal



knowledge a specific debt. There are just too many credit card accounts perbank

employee for personal knowledge of individual accounts to exist on anyone’s part.

It is best to use a consumer rights attorney to respond.

Step 6: Read the FDCPA and Monitor for Consumer Finance Protection Bureau for More Guidelines on Fend off Debt Collections and Collection Attorneys.

Begun during the Obama administration the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau and its website https://www.consumerfinance.gov offer useful advice and instruction. as well as letters, how to guides and rights reminders to consumers who cannot afford to pay. There is also a section protecting senior citizens from debt connection scams, and sample letters to collections attorneys for those who liive only on Social Security income. While it is still working to protect consumers from debt collector abuses, now under the Trump administration, it seems to be a lot more creditor friendly. Nevertheless, there is information there that reinforces what I tell you in my content and that will increase your peace of mind going forward.

According to creditcards.com, The Credit CARD Act of 2009 does provide some

protection for consumers. It stops retroactive interest rate increases on old balances

and the practice of universal default where a credit card bank would penalize card

holders who defaulted on a debt unrelated to the bank’s card debt. It also caps late

fees and penalty fees.

The mainstay for protecting consumers against the abuses of debt collectors

pursuing overdue credit card is still the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

and related state-specific regulations in some states. Consumers have to learn how

to use this law to stop debt collectors from contacting them and to protect their

credit rating from debt collectors piling on negative listings. I have given you the

highlights of that process here and explain it in depth later in my course. You may

have heard of debt validation letters, but without the background and letter content

I provide, you will miss how to use these DV letters effectively. Otherwise for you, they could simply become one more debt relief strategy that did not work.

http://www.consumerfinance.gov/newsroom/cfpb-considers-debt-collection-rules/

http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/help/what-the-new-credit-card-rules-mean-6000.php



Step 7: Learn to Practice Resistance and Documentation

– How to Help Yourself

Resistance and documentation are the keys to beating these parasitic debt

collectors. It is important to understand that junk debt collection involves the

accounts of thousands of people.

Modern day information processing allows a collection agency to spit out thousands

of mini-Mirandas at a time, bulked mailed at 34 cents postage. Most of these people

in debt, when contacted, re-contract out of fear and become prey to the collection

industry. As a result:

1. They may negotiate a payment plan only to have the proceeds eaten up by

“interest and fees” charged by the junk debt buyer and collection agency.

They pay for a few years, but the original balance remains the same.

2. They may make a lump sum “payment-in-full” for less than the full balance

only to have the remaining balance sold to another junk debt buyer and

collections start over again.

3. They may give their bank account information to have an immediate

payment withdrawn, only to have future unauthorized payments withdrawn.

4. They may make a payment only to have the collection agency later claim

there is no record of it.

5. They do not realize any token payment made re-contracts for the debt and

extends the state’s statute of limitations on that debt, as well as the seven-

year credit reporting limit on that debt.

Why should these collectors spend time with someone who is resisting them with a

dispute and debt validation letter? They shouldn’t, and they do not. The debt

simply gets sold to another junk debt buyer.

Sometimes a junk debt buyer’s collection attorney or a legal firm that is also a junk

debt buyer will file suit to collect the junk debt. To have standing before the court



they need to document a contract between the defendant and them. They must show

the original credit card contract and document the sale of the account to them. That

is, that one account specifically, not the thousands of accounts that were acquired

with it. And, they must document how they arrived at the balance they claim is

owed. Instead of doing this, their typical approach is to get the alleged debtor to

admit to the debt. There must be a contractual connection between you and them.

You can tell how strong their case is with what accompanies the summons. If there

are no documents of this sort, they are trying to scare you into submission or hoping

you don’t know what you are doing and cannot afford an attorney. They want to

hold a court case over your head to get you to settle for unfavorable, onerous terms.

The most likely scenario, when a debt collection attorney is involved, is they will

send you a mini-Miranda as they are required to do. But, if you respond disputing

and requesting validation, they will move onto weaker victims in the current debt

pool they are working with.

7a. Repairing Your Credit Where your credit is concerned, bankruptcy is the worst option. A bankruptcy will

stay on your credit reports for 10 years. An undisputed credit card or other debt

has to come off seven years and 180 days after the date of first delinquency (DOFD).

So, you are three years ahead already before you even attempt to repair your credit.

Original creditors sell your account to junk debt buyers and afterward become less

diligent in updating or verifying that account’s details in your credit reports.

Collection agency and junk debt buyer listings can be removed fairly easily from

your credit report, if you write to them initially and properly, that is.

Step 8: Understand The Arbitration Scam

If you credit card agreement has an arbitration clause, after charge-off your bank

will refer it to a collection law firm who will threaten arbitration if you do not work

with them to pay the debt down or off. If you do not comply, within six months of

the initial attorney’s letter, you may receive notification of an arbitration

proceeding begun against you.

Credit card debt arbitration is a rigged scam. However, while statistics show the

credit card companies win over 96 percent of the time, most people who have tried

to beat it in a regular court of law have succeeded. I did, twice.



Arbitration IS beatable. The key is insisting you did not agree to it and did not sign

a pre-dispute arbitration agreement and to NOT participate in the arbitration

process. THAT would be re-contracting with the creditor and an admission of your

debt. When an arbitration award is issued against you, it must still be confirmed by

a court of law before you bank account or wages can potentially be seized or

garnished. The key is to file suit against the bank before arbitration begins or

within 30-90 days after the award (depending on state law). You charge that you

never agreed to arbitration. Then it is up to them to properly document your

agreement.

The local outsourced attorney (Every large collection agency has a national network

of local collection attorneys.) who handles arbitration matters in your court district

for the national collection law firm is used to experiencing no legal opposition from

debtors, then filing papers and getting awards with the arbitration forums and

confirmations with the local courts. They make a percentage on what they get from

you without doing any real work. If they have opposition, they will do a poor job of

defending their client; that is if they simply do not default in the face of your

lawsuit, as they did in my case. For the best result, use a consumer rights lawyer.

In the last few years most national arbitration firms have ceased handling credit

card debts because numerous states attorneys general put pressure on them to

do so.

Step 9: Avoid the Wrong Kind of Help

Any person with credit debt hanging over their head can fall victim to the siren

song of “We are professionals. Let us take care of that debt problem for you.” Any

debt relief firm that wants you to pay them and in addition give them your money

to pay your creditors monthly or with a lump sum later is the wrong kind of help.

Debt counseling and “non-profit” debt counseling, debt management, debt

settlement, debt consolidation, or debt negotiation are the terms used by profit-

motivated “professionals” offering their “expert” help for an upfront fee and a

percentage of what they can save you.

These debt relief firms are the flip side of the debt collection industry. They too

prey upon people’s inherent guilt over their debt. Only they do it by offering hope

and escape. They are seductive. They offer to solve your debt problems. You can

trust them, they say. You don’t have to worry anymore. They have contacts at the



credit card banks. They have years of experience negotiating debt settlements, and

so on.

The reality is you pay them thousands of dollars up front, most of what they will get

from you. (f you only owe a few thousand, they will tell you you are not a candidate

for their services.) Then they go to work . . . ruining your credit in the name of

increasing negotiating leverage and trying to keep your money that is already

sitting in their bank account.

9a. Finding the Right Kind of Help

Most attorneys who practice law in your community do not have much experience

defending against debt collection. There is no money in it. They are interested in

greener pastures. Typically they will want as much or more to defend you as you

owe, or they will advise bankruptcy, knowing they will be paid well as the first

creditor to be paid. However, consumer rights attorneys can be found to handle

these types of cases for reasonable fees. Also, many other attorneys now

understand how to successfully defend a consumer who owes credit card debt in

court.

Step 10: Accept the Reality That You Cannot Afford to

Pay These Debts and Make the Decision to Stop Payment

I know from my own personal experience that deciding to stop paying my credit

cards was like making a giant leap into the unknown. But, the sooner you start the

statute of limitations clock (usually three to six years) and the credit reporting

period of 7 to 7.5 years, the sooner this debt will be behind you.

What made it easier for me was I had a plan in place when I stopped paying my

credit cards. I continued educating myself and refining the plan after I stopped

payment, and . . . it worked!



10a. Adopt a Do-It-Yourself Attitude

With the right knowledge and information you can manage your financial situation

and escape the tentacles of the debt collection industry.

Everyone’s debt situation is different. Different credit card banks do things

differently. Junk debt buyers, collection agencies and debt collection attorneys also

vary their approach to pushing your guilt and fear buttons. With the foundation in

this content and access to specific, relative online forum postings and other

publications provided by this content, you can:

Never forget it is your job to diligently manage your present financial situation, and

that you can save thousands or tens of thousands of dollars doing that properly.

Treat this challenge as a part-time job paid for by the money you are saving

yourself. Many people of all education levels have done this before you, and as you

will see in the online forums, they have succeeded.

In addition, after gaining the knowledge in this book, you will have the

confidence to find the right kind of help, when and if necessary.

And remember, the majority of delinquent credit card account holders do not resist

debt collection at all, or they do it ineffectively. If you deny, dispute, and request

validation CMRRR, debt collectors or debt collection attorneys will decide to spend

their time with easier debtors.

Start putting this debt behind you today. Go to the next step of my program.

This content is not intended as a substitute for legal advice. If you need an attorney in your local area, please contact a licensed attorney in your state.

1) Understand you specific challenges;

2) Read about how others have handled those challenges;

3) Respond appropriately as these challenges occur.

10 steps to not paying your unaffordable credit card debt steps to not paying your unafford… ·...

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