Debt Relief Quick Fixes That Won’t Tank Your Credit Score

There is a reason that people think of filing for bankruptcy protection as a measure of last resort. Even though it can make your debts disappear quickly, it leaves an ugly stain on your credit report that lasts for up to ten years. Therefore, unless you have exhausted all your other options, you should choose something that is less deleterious to your credit score than a bankruptcy filing. If you are especially resourceful, you can try to be your own bankruptcy court and negotiate directly with your creditors to settle your debt; you can even hire a debt relief lawyer to help you do this, but debt settlement is not a perfect solution, either. Like bankruptcy, it leaves a long-lasting blemish on your credit report. Especially if your debt problems are not so advanced that you are one missed payment away from losing your house and your car, you can still rely on some quick solutions that will buy you time to make payments on your debts until you are out of the danger zone. If you are in debt, but you have a job and enough mental clarity to research your debt relief options, contact a Boca Raton debt lawyer.

Negotiate for a Lower Credit Card Interest Rate

Somewhere, someone with more audacity than you is calling a credit card company and saying, “I owe you $20,000, but if I pay you $5,000, will you make the rest of the debt disappear? Pretty please with a cherry on top?” You might be tempted to do this just to prove to your detractors that you are fearless, but if you do this, it is to the detriment of your credit score. If you are feeling emboldened to call the credit card company and ask for stuff, and if you are reasonably certain that your job will continue to pay you for the foreseeable future, then a better option is the call the credit card company and ask them to offer you a lower interest rate, either indefinitely or for a fixed period of time.

Credit Card Balance Transfers

If your own credit card will not give you a reduced interest rate, you can move some or all of your balance to a different card that will. A balance transfer offers an interest-free grace period, usually six months or a year, so if you make the same payments you were making on your old card, you will make a bigger dent in your outstanding credit card debt balance.

Debt Consolidation Loans

Assuming that you are not so far gone that banks are no longer willing to lend to you, you can borrow a debt consolidation loan to pay off some of your debt at a lower interest rate. If you can get approved for a high enough amount to repay several of your outstanding debts in full, then you will put less of your paycheck toward debt repayment each month as you pay down your debt consolidation loan.

Work With a Debt Lawyer About Stopgap Measures for Debt Relief

A South Florida debt lawyer can help you carefully consider your options so you can delay the debt relief measures that seriously harm your credit score.  Contact Nowack & Olson, PLLC in Boca Raton, Florida to discuss your case.

Source:

cbsnews.com/news/more-americans-struggling-to-pay-debt-how-to-tackle-yours-now/?intcid=CNR-01-0623