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HomeBlog BlogDo You Make These Mistakes With Debt?
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Do You Make These Mistakes With Debt?

May 2, 2013 by National Debt Relief

man looking at reportIf you’re laboring under a load of debt, you have several good options. Unfortunately, it’s also possible to make some serious mistakes when dealing with debt.

Mistake #1: Ignoring your debts

While ostriches don’t really stick their head in the sand to avoid danger, this has become a metaphor for ignoring it. And one of the biggest dangers is to ignore your debts. This is because debt is something like having a bankruptcy in your public record. It just never goes away until you either file for bankruptcy or pay it off. And even a chapter 7 bankruptcy will not clear all debts.

Mistake #2: Making only the minimum payments each month

Lenders, especially the credit card companies, love it when you make just the minimum payments on your debts each month. In fact, the credit card companies’ entire business case is built around this. If you check one of your credit card statements, you’ll likely find that the minimum payment you’re required to make is about the same as the interest you’re being charged for that month. This means none of your payment is going against your balance. You could literally keep paying on a $10,000 credit card debt for 28 years – if you make just the suggested minimum payment every month.

Mistake #3: Not knowing your rights

One of the biggest mistakes you could make is to talk to a creditor or debt collector on the telephone without knowing that you have rights. Even honest debt collectors and Lord knows there are not many of them, will use tricks to get you to pay them. Most collectors work on commission so that if they collect nothing from you, they earn nothing. This means they have a huge incentive to try to intimidate you into paying your debt. For example, a debt collector might start calling you constantly – day and night. You can avoid this kind of treatment by knowing your rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

Mistake #4: Not getting everything in writing

Never give any information to a debt collector or agree to pay a debt or start a payment plan without getting everything in writing. This is definitely a case where it pays to be careful. If a collector refuses to provide you with information in writing, it’s probably because he’s hiding something.

Mistake #5: Not understanding your options

Regardless of what a lender or debt collector may tell you, you always have options. You could send the collection agency what’s called a “cease and desist” letter to stop it from harassing you. Once you’ve done this, you could explore other options for taking care of your debts such as consumer credit counseling or a debt consolidation loan. Either of these will stop debt collectors dead in their tracks. For instance, if you choose credit counseling and have a debt management plan, the credit counseling agency will assume the responsibility for handling your creditors. All you’ll be required to do is send the agency a check each month.

Mistake #6: Failing to negotiate with creditors

Almost every debt can be settled and for less than what’s owed. You can almost always negotiate with a debt collector because his agency purchased your debt for pennies on the dollar. This gives the collector a great deal of latitude.

Credit card companies will also negotiate but if, and only if, you’re around six months behind on your payments. The reason for this is because most credit card companies sell debts after 180 days (six months) and they’re smart enough to know they can get more by negotiating with you then from selling your debt.

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National Debt Relief is one of the largest and best-rated debt settlement companies in the country. In addition to providing excellent, 5-star services to our clients, we also focus on educating consumers across America on how to best manage their money. Our posts cover topics around personal finance, saving tips, and much more. We’ve served thousands of clients, settled over $1 billion in consumer debt, and our services have been featured on sites like NerdWallet, Mashable, HuffPost, and Glamour.

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Easy National Debt Relief Caller: April Transcribed WE 1/17/2021 April: Our call may get recorded. What financial concerns had led you to seek out National Debt Relief's services? RILEY: I guess just not being able to pay my debt. April: What had you choose National Debt Relief over other companies that provide the same service? RILEY: Really just researching online. Everything that I had read about them seemed pretty positive. April: What service or program did National Debt Relief help you to get through? Like a payment or consolidation program, anything like that? RILEY: I just do bi-monthly payment to them, and then they reach out to my debt account, I guess, that negotiated everything for me. So, it’s pretty easy. April: Can you walk me through the process of what you went through to enroll for the services? RILEY: God, it's been like two years, so I kinda don't really remember. I just had to fill out some stuff online and then talk to them on the phone. I had to give them all my account information and everything. And then they worked out a payment plan for me. And they communicate with me like once a month with my statement. And whenever they have communication with my accounts, they have called me and had me verify before they've done anything and whatnot. April: That sounds like a really good service there. RILEY: Yeah. April: At this point, are you still in the program or have you completed it at this point? RILEY: I'm almost done. It was, I think, a two-year plan. So, yeah, I think I just have one other account that I'm paying on. April: How about any interactions with the negotiators? You said they will call you at any time that there was maybe an account activity that they want to confirm with you first. RILEY: Uh-huh [yes]. April: So, how is the interaction with them when they reach out to you and you're able to discuss with them? How is that interaction? RILEY: It's been super easy and positive for me and relieves a lot of stress and anxiety. So, yeah, it’s been very easy. April: And then how has National Debt Relief been able to work with you in terms of your payment plan? RILEY: I basically just told them what I could afford, and they figured it out. And they have offered COVID relief if I need to stop payment for the time being or whatever. Fortunately, I haven't had to do that. So, I don't really know how that would have worked, but that was an option. But they're always like, “Call us if you can't make payment, and we'll figure something out for you.” April: What are your thoughts about the cost in relation to the quality of the service you received? RILEY: I'm really happy with the program. [unclear 0:04:22] as far as I know. I don't have any complaints. April: Has working with National Debt Relief impacted your life? RILEY: Yeah. April: How would you say that it's impacted your life at this point? RILEY: It just has relieved a ton of pressure and stress, financial stress, anxiety. I'm not living paycheck to paycheck now to pay my interest, so that’s been nice. April: Have you had other experiences to National Debt Relief that perhaps you want to share with us in regards to your experience with them? RILEY: No. I think that’s it. April: On a scale of 1 to 5, where would you rate National Debt Relief, if 5 stars is that you recommend to your friends and 1 star is you're very dissatisfied? RILEY: I would say 5. April: In a few words, how would you summarize overall the National Debt Relief in your experience with them? RILEY: Just easy and stress-free. April: Would it be okay for us to also utilize your commentary as a review that we can publish for National Debt Relief? And that would go to public webpage here, but that's to help other consumers make good choices if they're also in the same market. RILEY: I guess. Would it have my first and last name? I don’t— April: Only the first name. And if that's an issue, we do the first letter. RILEY: [unclear 0:06:03] you want my full name. April: Not at all. So, we only do the first name as an option. We can also do the first letter. So, it's really up to you on which option you prefer. But just the first name. We don't do last name. We don't post anything personal like your phone number. RILEY: Yeah. I think you can use my first name. April: I do offer a link that we can also send you with a direct link to your review. So, once it's published, you also get to see directly. Is that something you would like to have sent to your email? RILEY: No.

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Riley Barker
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