A recessed economy and bursting of the real estate bubble have pushed borrowers to the point where they can no longer keep up with payments on their credit cards and consumer debt. For those searching for solutions, the decision often comes down to choosing between a variety of debt relief options. The options include debt counseling, debt consolidation, bankruptcy, and debt settlement. Of the four, debt settlement and filing bankruptcy have become the most popular of the solutions due to their advantages relating to decreasing current payments and the reductions in outstanding balances of debt.    

For consumers, the two most common filings are chapters 7 and 13. Of the two, chapter 7 allows for much better outcomes for filers with steep reductions or outright dismissals of debt. Prior to the overhaul of the bankruptcy code in 2005 chapter 7’s were immensely popular for just that reason. Since the overhaul, the choice of which of the two chapters would be available to the consumer is decided by the court depending on the outcome of a means test which is the required first step in any bankruptcy filing. The means test is essentially an evaluation of the filer’s income and expenses which is then set against debt redemption standards as set by the IRS. Measured against the IRS standards, if the borrower falls short of income guidelines he can then file for bankruptcy under the auspices of chapter 7. The guidelines for qualifying for chapter 7, however, are stringent. If the means test reveals that a borrower can pay even one hundred dollars per month toward debt, the filing will automatically go toward a chapter 13 bankruptcy. In either situation, the borrowers are required to get credit counseling and budget analysis at their own expense.   

Chapter 13, while providing some relief on current payments, is not nearly as consumer friendly as chapter 7 and carries disadvantages that convince many borrowers that the option is just not for them.   The biggest disadvantage is that once the terms of the filing are set, a borrower’s finances can be overseen by a trustee of the court. The invasiveness of having an outsider involved in day to day or monthly budgeting becomes an immediate deal killer and typically turns the borrower toward debt settlement.   

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Debt negotiation is a relatively new form of debt relief that is gaining popularity for its results in reducing credit card and consumer debt and because the process can also help homeowners avoid foreclosure by making home loan modifications more likely to be approved. There are two schools of thought on the subject; one that focuses on broken settlements, credit scores and direct negotiations while the other centers on the short and long term benefits of the practice. First, the arguments against debt negotiations:

* Broken settlements – A settlement can be broken by either the party executing the negotiation or the customer. True, there have been instances were companies didn’t follow through on their promises to see the negotiation from beginning to end. The percentage of customers involved in those situations has been small and could have been prevented with some due diligence. Many companies have been drawn into the debt relief industry by the sheer numbers of borrowers and their escalating debt starting in the late 90’s. What had started as debt counseling run by a few non-profits mushroomed into an industry populated with thousands of new and inexperienced companies offering services far beyond the scope of the original mandate of assisting indebted customers with their debts Within those thousands of companies were those that didn’t deliver on debt negotiations, counseling, or consolidation.  Customers can also break a settlement by not making enough payments to settle the negotiation. Whether by circumstance or intention, some will stop making payments during the 18 to 48 months of the settlement process.  

* Credit scores – A debt negotiation will likely decrease the credit score of a borrower that enters a debt negotiation, but it depends on what that score is at the time the process starts. A vast majority of borrowers that start a debt negotiation are already behind on payments and are consequently taking hits on credit scores so the negotiation won’t have as much of an effect. The second issue on credit scores is that the negotiation stays on the report for up to seven years. While that can be true, doing nothing will leave charge-offs and open balances on the report indefinitely. Finalized, settled, and closed accounts are ultimately a much better reflection on a credit report than accounts that appear intended and/or neglected.

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