Debt Reduction- Advice On Credit Card Debt Reduction, Debt Reduction Services, And Debt Reduction Plans

threeplusonedollarbills asked:


Maybe without paying the interest at all. Debt reduction will raise my credit score enabling me to buy a house. My credit score is 609. I need and would like to have a score of about 660 to 749. The house and the payments on the mortgage will raise my credit score and limit even more.

Wesley Mcdonel

T asked:


I foreclosed on both of my properties.
I have a condo that I owe 100k.(My primary residence and appraised at 25k) I own land that I owe 27k.(appraised at 9k) I have no other debts except my mortgages totalling $127,000. I bought both properties in 2006.

I walked away from my condo and land because they were bad investments with cancerous loans. I got stuck with interest only loans.(no equity)
My accountant told me the IRS will stick me with a income tax bill for 10k next year when I file taxes again in 2012. She says to file bancuptcy.

In the past 5 years I’ve tryed short sale, died in lieu, loan modification, principal reduction, and the list goes on and on. No luck.

Should I file Chapter 7 bancruptcy? Any suggestions?

Darrin Burnie

Renee asked:


1. Which of the following is not true concerning Income Tax Refunds? (1 point)
a.It is advantageous to receive a large sum of money in the form of a refund so that you can use the money to pay down debt.
b.You are essentially giving the government an interest–free loan.
c.It means that you are having too much deducted from your paycheck.
d.You haven’t properly evaluated your personal tax circumstances.

2. When claiming dependents, they must meet the following criteria EXCEPT: (1 point)
a.the dependent must be a relative.
b.the dependent must reside with you for the entire year.
c.the dependent must be under nineteen years of age unless he or she is a full–time student (under 24 years old).
d.the dependent was unable to provide over half of his or her support for the year.

3. If you opt to put money in a medical flexible spending account rather than trying to amass enough medical expenses to itemize on your tax return, you are taking advantage of _____. (1 point)
a credit
b.withholding
c.a deduction
d.an exclusion

4. A form of taxation in which everyone pays an equal rate of taxes is called a _____. (1 point)
a.progressive tax
b.regressive tax
c.flat tax
d.net tax

5. A form of taxation in which the highest income earner pays the largest percentage of taxes is called a _____. (1 point)
a.progressive tax
b.regressive tax
c.flat tax
d.net tax

6. A form of taxation in which the lowest income earners pay the largest percentage of taxes is called a _____. (1 point)
a.progressive tax
b.regressive tax
c.flat tax
d.net tax

7. Which of the following is not considered part of your gross income? (1 point)
Everything of value you received during the year
a.Bartered goods and services
b.Everything of value of that you received from April 15th to December 31st
c.Money you win on a game show

8. Which of the following is not true about your adjusted gross income? (1 point)
a.It is your income minus deductions
b.It is your income plus your deductions
c.It determines whether you are eligible for additional tax breaks
d.It is your gross income minus deductions

9. Which of the following is true about standard deductions? (1 point)
a.They are tax breaks that you can claim without having to itemize
b.They are listed just above the total taxable income on the 1040 tax form
c.They reduce your tax bill rather than your taxable income
d.You must itemize in order to take advantage of this deduction

10. A dollar–for–dollar reduction in your tax payment is called a _____. (1 point)
a.deduction
b.flat tax
c.credit
d.debit

Cleo Prinz

backflip asked:


My husband and I have lived tight for a few years now, and have racked up 10K in credit card debt. Due to recent reductions in daycare and promotions, we will now have at least an extra $1500-2K month in income which we are thrilled about!! We need to pay our debt off, and have been reading about different strategies. Dave Ramsey is very popular…he suggests starting with your lowest balanced card and paying it off first, then “snowballing” that money after the smaller cards are paid off to begin paying off the bigger ones. Which makes sense. He also says that by paying off the smaller ones it empowers you and gives you a feeling of accomplishment. Then, I’ve read you should ignore your balances and pay off the cards with the higher interest rate first as they obviously are costing you more money in fees. Not sure what is best, any suggestions from anyone out there who is/has done the same thing?

Hannah Lewis

Sarah Ann asked:


At this time my credit score is in the excellent range…761. However, since my fiance lost his job in the last 1 1/2 years all the financial burden has been on me. I do not make enough money to cover all the bills so I have had no choice but to use credit cards to get by….even though I **** doing this. Of course….I am up to my neck in debt now and almost to the point where I have to make some kind of serious decision and change concerning my financial situation. I have talked with debt reduction companies but the payment would be so high I couldn’t afford it. As for bankrupsy….I know the word makes me cringe but I’ve also heard it’s not the end of the world. At this point I would like to hear from someone who’s been through it and could advise me. My apartment lease runs out May 1 and I need to find a smaller, less expensive apartment however, should I decide to file for bankrupsy should I do it now or wait until I’ve leased the apartment? It’s all so confusing and I don’t know what to do. Please advise.

Thanks

Noella Reels

Michael E asked:


Into the banks for 30M. Hoping for a negotiation/reduction to pay them off and get fiscally sound again! Payments along with regular bills just to much. Suggestions and intelligent one please?

Ollie Osmer

Leslie C asked:


I don’t have credit card debt, but I have a rather high phone bill of roughly $8800. When I called the phone company- after the customer rep I was speaking too told me what my bill was about to be- I was told I would be able to reduce the total bill since I wasn’t previously offered an int’l calling plan. After an hour of waiting on the line, the rep came back to say his mngr approved said reduction. I find out a month and $1000 later they decided to revoke the changes. Would bankruptcy help this issue, or am I stuck trying to find a way to pay this off…??

Mary Tasler

DANIEL GUILDAY asked:


TV ads claim (example) $45,000 owed, debt reduced to $22,000. Too good to be true? How is my credit affected? What are the costs?

Frances

protool11 asked:


I am almost exactly $200,000.00 dollars in debt and I am single with one income and earn around $2,200.00 per month.

The highest paying job I had after 5 years on college has been at $19.00 an hour where I worked for two years before getting laid off. Ever since, I have not been able to get a really good paying job with my degree.

Here are my debts:

$16,000.000 (and rising) to the IRS. After I bought my home, the IRS stopped working with me and everything became all threats with them answering every question with “I see you have a home, we don’t have to work with you-we can simply put the tax lien against your home) which they did.

I’m desperate to get from under this debt and I have heard stories about people making ridiculous settlement offers to the IRS and paying pennies on the dollar but the only settlement they will offer me is around $15,900.00 (a $100 dollar reduction) IF I pay right away.

And this amount is originally $7,000.00 with the rest being penalties and fees.

I owe $85,000.00 on my home
I owe $14,000.00 in medical bills
I owe $13,000.00 in credit card bills
i owe $5,000.00 in miscellaneous bills
I owe the utility company $2,500.00
I owe Sallie mae (I had my student loans consolidated) $70,000.00.

I can’t pay on any of them right now besides my home and my payment on that is $832.00 per month. I also live away from my home out of state and I pay $400.00 dollars for an efficiency.

Should I file bankruptcy? Which chapter should I file and how do you think it will help me?
PS-

I forgot to mention I just had a judgement filed against me by the lawyers for my HOA for 1,700.00 dollars and NOooooooooo I DO NOT want to sell my home. It will be lightyears before I’m able to buy another one.
The first answer given is why I want only “knowlegeable” folks to answer because they take the home if you file Ch. 7 NOT Ch. 13.

Sharice Gillyard

.faith.hope.love.toil.tears. asked:


I make my payments on time every month to my cards, but wont be able to soon.
I have reached out to my 2 credit cards numerous times telling them I may file for bankruptcy and they wont get anything, and asking for them to lower interest rate so I can make my monthly payments and actually see my balance go down instead of mostly toward interest. I was refused on any time of payment plan, settlement offer, or interest rate reduction.
NEXT: I spoke at length with Take Charge America, who will set me up on a 5 year payment plan (after the banks negotiate with THEM apparently), and I will pay off my full balance in 5 years, along with about $4k in interest and $2400 or so in fees to the company. Cards will be closed.

OR: I use Credit Solutions and I default on my cards so they can negotiate with the banks on my behalf and present me with settlement amounts which could be half if not more of the balance! I pay them $200. for 18 months and my debts to cards is paid within 36 months, if not sooner, at almost $12k less than what I owed.

BUT: Credit solutions has many scary reviews online. I spoke at length with 2 of their reps and they explained the process to me and it sounds like garden variety debt settlement, so.. i dunno. Which company? Anyone have any experience with either?

I also just called the collection dept. of my cards again and told them all this, can THEY offer me a settlement or payment plan so that there are no 3rd parties and the bank gets their money. They said nope, sorry. So i am kind of backed into a corner of having to use one or the other

Xavier Valentine