Don’t Know What to Do with Massive Credit Card Debt?

 If you’ve accumulated more credit card debt than you can handle, you may have this sick, nauseous feeling in your stomach not knowing what to do. You realize it’s not going away until you do something about it. As a bankruptcy attorney, I find that this type of debt is a common reason why people file bankruptcy. It’s a trap that a lot of people fall into.
Listen! Not because you’re making minimum payments means that you have your debt “under control”. As I’m sure you’re already aware, the outrageous interest rates that the credit card companies usually charge ensure that you’re going to be paying them for a very long time. For people with huge amounts of credit card debt, this could take decades or a lifetime. Don’t be deceived.
To get out of debt, you need to be pro-active. You can take forever to chip away very slowly by making only minimum payments but imagine how much money you’d be paying in interest. This could be money going to your retirement plan, your kids’ education or your savings account.
Some people will take equity out of their home, their retirement plan or savings, etc. to avoid bankruptcy. What happens most of the time, however, is that once the credit cards are paid off, it is too tempting to start using them again. And so, within a short period of time, the credit card balances are back up again. It takes a lot of restraint and discipline not to run them up again and unfortunately, not everyone has that kind of discipline.
If you have the cash, negotiating a 40 to 60 percent reduction with creditors may be an alternative to filing bankruptcy. Where bankruptcy is the only option, wiping them out through Chapter 7 or consolidating them through Chapter 13 can provide immediate relief.
For a free confidential consultation, please call my Valencia office at 661-775-4880, and learn more at www.santaclaritabankruptcylawfirm.com.