Signing up to a credit card debt settlement program is a leap in the dark, with a lot of potential downsides. While debt settlement is certainly the most effective way to reduce your credit card debt, without taking up the bankruptcy option, it requires some due diligence if you want to get the best out of it

1. By Dermot Farrell
Copyright © 2012
http://www.creditcarddebtsecrets.org
The Secret Behind Credit Card Debt – Copyright 2012 – http://www.CreditCardDebtSecrets.org

2. Signing up to a credit card debt settlement program is a leap in the dark, with a lot of
potential downsides. While debt settlement is certainly the most effective way to reduce your
credit card debt, without taking up the bankruptcy option, it requires some due diligence if
you want to get the best out of it
The first steps which you must take, if you decide to take up a credit card debt settlement
program, are as follows:
i) Selecting the right company
ii) Monitoring the progress and keeping the process moving forward
iii) Overviewing the debt settlement company
Starting with the first point, then let’s see then how to make credit card debt settlement
work for you:
i) Selecting the right company:
There are a great many credit card debt settlement companies in the market
place, however, for credit card debt settlement to work effectively it is really
important to select a good debt relief company to represent you.
With credit card debt settlement, the debtor stops paying their creditors until
they have a reasonable amount of money saved, at which stage the debt relief
company begins the negotiation process with their client’s creditors. As a
consequence of the debt settlement process, the debtors credit score inevitably
ends up been downgraded. Whilst this is a given, and is even ok, considering the
bonus side of debt settlement, whereby the debtor often reduces their debt
mountain by as much as 50% , it is still important to keep an eye on the process
in order to reduce collateral damage as much as possible.
There are two important factors here:
Firstly if the debt settlement process goes on for a long period of time, the credit
score of the debt will be really badly affected.
Secondly, if the debt relief company mishandles the negotiation process then
miscommunications can result, which may rattle the creditors and may even result
in court cases been filed against them.
So if you want to know how to achieve credit card debt settlement without any of
these results, then selecting the right company is a vital first step.
The Secret Behind Credit Card Debt – Copyright 2012 – http://www.CreditCardDebtSecrets.org

3. In order to select the right company, it is important to check out the better
Business Bureaus’ (BBB) website http://www.bbb.org/us/consumers/ . Here you
can look up a review of the credit card debt relief company, because the BBB
reviews and rates all major debt settlement companies.
Although, do bear in mind that the BBB also tends to judge debt relief companies
a little harshly, so it is also a good idea to Google the debt settlement companies
name with the word “complaints” writing beside the name, in order to assess the
level of complaints against this company.
So don’t take either the BBB or the Google result too seriously, however, if the
combined response is one which is overwhelmingly negative, then it is a wise idea
to look to another debt relief company in order to bring about credit card debt
settlement.
ii) Monitoring the progress and keeping the process moving forward:
It is really important for you to also take a look at your finances, and make sure
that you are doing your bit to help the debt reduction process along. Alter all, it
was poor financial habits which brought you into credit card debt in the first
place. So the only way to get out of credit card debt and stay out will demand
some degree of financial restraint on your part.
This entails budgeting, which means that you have to stop spending and start
making some savings. And the first step, if you are seeking credit card debt
settlement, requires that you stop making purchases with your credit cards.
Secondly you have to start living within your budget, so if any sudden expenses
come up, at least you can make payment without having to use your credit card.
Finally, if you want credit card debt settlement to work for you, then it is really
important that you figure out how exactly you are going to make the final credit
card debt settlement on each of your outstanding credit cards!
Remember, with credit card debt settlement, the debtor has to make a one off
settlement, which is usually in and around 50% of the original debt amount. Also,
the time frame tends to be within a year, or a little over a year from the time
when the process began.
In most cases, simply saving the money which would normally have gone to make
monthly repayments will probably not be enough, so you will have to either save
some money or sell off some of your assets if you want to make the credit card
debt settlement.
The Secret Behind Credit Card Debt – Copyright 2012 – http://www.CreditCardDebtSecrets.org

4. Whatever you do, don’t stick your head in the sand. At the outset of the credit
card debt settlement process you need to know that it is possible to make the
final settlement, if it looks like impossibility, then think again, because it is a waste
of time taking up with credit card debt settlement and reneging half way along!
iii) Overviewing the debt settlement company:
If you want to make a good credit card debt settlement, then overviewing the
debt settlement company is a must. Never presume that they are professionals,
so take the time out to contact your creditors when you begin the process and let
them know that you taking up with a debt settlement program, this in it will
reduce some phone calls from them.
Also keep the pressure on the debt settlement company, because left to their
own devices they will usually drag the process out, which will have a more
adverse effect on youth credit score and potential court cases.
If you are wondering how to make credit card debt settlement work for you, then follow
these simple steps and everything will work out good in the end. The problem, with credit
card debt settlement, is that too many debtors simply sign up to the first debt settlement
company that comes along without thinking about the consequences.
While the points which we have raised sound negative, and might even induce you to give
up on the idea of seeking credit card debt settlement, do bear in mind that these are simply
the facts. Everyone wants the 40% or 50% reduction in debt, but few debtors want to
accept the responsibility which goes along with the debt reduction process. Credit card debt
settlement can work for you, however, it takes a little bit of responsibility and a little bit of
research on your side in order to get the most from the credit card debt settlement process!
The Secret Behind Credit Card Debt – Copyright 2012 – http://www.CreditCardDebtSecrets.org