Finally had the courage

Yeah. I'm aiming to at least lessen my debts by 2012. I really am doing hardcore research on how to handle card debts. I tried asking them to cancel my account and making payment deals but they just won't accept it. The interests is really so high and most of them are "demanding" me to pay the outstanding amount in like... 5 days?! Most of the time, I'm telling them "Let's deal this on court instead". Thanks a lot for the comment. Good luck to us

Thanks a lot. I'll try to look for that book.

No Im not from the Philippines. We have debt consolidation agencies and credit counselling agency. The second on is more or less governed by the authorities, thus it is prim and proper. But I'm not really sure about the debt consolidation agency and how they work. Only unauthorised loan sharks would do such harrassment here. Even then, they may be caught and fined/jailed whatever.

Are you from Philippines? I'm not too sure if your aware but some 3rd-party CAs (Collection Agency/Agents) here are really rude. Some even threat office mates and relatives just to scare the wits out of the defaulter and earn money. They even send notices of cases and summons (the 3rd-party CA and not the court) about breaking some sort of law wherein the defaulter isn't even guilty of (like fraudulent use of card, etc) Since they're 3rd party, defaulters aren't sure if the money are actually deposited into the bank or what. I read quite a lot of cases where CAs harass them and even had police go to the defaulter's house. Anyway, I'll deal with the CAs but still want to deal with my debts straight with the bank and not some 3rd-party agency. This one's also suggested to me by my lawyer friend and some financial advisors online

Thank for sharing friend. But the blog was blank. Are they updating the site?

That's funny. I was able to access the blog just fine.

I'm not too sure if you know this already but I suggest you visit the Diskarte Blog and Forum. It's a forum for credit card defaulters like us and they give real interesting advises on the do's and dont's when dealing with CAs :) The members are active and are nice enough to help and give advises :) Not a referral site: http://failuretopaycreditcard.blogspot.com

Yeah, my friend. Hide your cards somewhere you can't see them. If you get mails with offers from the bank put them immediately into the trash. Only hear the offer which want to buy your debts with a low interest and a reasonable period of time to pay. I read a similar comment made by other fellow above. For now aim your effort to the work and to earn wage. Be pacient and calm and don't be afraid of possible threats from your creditors.

Thanks a lot. I'll do just that. Quite a lot of my friends say never to give your money directly to the CA or any third-party company. You owe money from the bank so you have to pay them directly. I just wish they would agree to my term or at least work out on something that I can actually meet.

Thanks a lot for the comment :) I do have a job now and I'm totally saving up and tightening my belt just to pay off my bills. I'm planning to slowly pay off the first 2 credit cards and slowly work out to the rest. I did asked my mom about this and she's willing to help me out :) She can't give me much but she advised me that I can lessen (a bit) of what I regularly give her as my take home pay every payday. I already cut (literally) all my cards but the banks just won't allow me to cancel my card since I still have an outstanding amount. Regardless of my explanation and such.

sorry kei, i accidentally hit the post button. as i say, i would really faint if i were your mom. but good thing that you have told her already at least she won't be fully surprised off the thing that you are going through right now. you know i have always been afraid of those kinds of stuff that is why i don't have one. i hope you will get over that and hopefully you'll have it paid soon. well, i thank you for sharing this since i knew one of my friends who is having this credit thing i could warn her before this happens to her. God bless you kei and be strong! pampatangal lang ng stress. Mario Maurer's show is tomorrow! i'm sorry i didn't get the time but sure it's tomorrow.

Thanks a lot for the well wishes! Do wish me luck. A lot of people is into this situation and I'm really preparing myself for the worse. I know I can't get jailed for not paying my debts but I don't want to run away from them. I want to pay them off but the banks are just so stern on not considering my terms. I'm just a bit worried on how I will handle the CA's "harassments" in the future. As the Diskarte.com said: 1. Pay only when able 2. Always prioritize what you need first and live your life 3. You owe money to the bank. Not the agency Unfortunately I won't be able to attend the show I think I'll just drool over him on screen. LOL!

more than luck kei. i ask God to bless you. just don't be too depressed by that thought although it's really depressing but you know these problems won't be given to us if God has not seen our potentials of solving it. God has His plans for us. this one maybe is to let you learn from it and not only you but all the people who has read your discussion. well, if that's the term then you don't have to be worried by it. God's help will soon come in time. oh! then cheers to that! then let us just content ourselves with Mario on screen.

Yeah it did helped me a lot and eased my guilty feeling that I finally said it to my mom though, as I've said before, I can't really tell her the total amount. She'll faint and panic like crazy. I'm quit sure of it =(

I honestly can't be honest. The mere fact that I mentioned the amount, she almost went berserk but became calm. She's already a senior citizen so as much as possible, I don't want to burden her with that amount. There are companies that are "Willing" to help but in reality, they just mooch off additional interests and "professional fees". I'm seeking help from an online site wherein the members are in the same boat as me. I'm more than willing to pay. It's just that the interest are insanely high that the interest doubled what I originally owe. Fifty thousand (approx 1200 USD) to seventy thousand (approx 1700 USD). I owe the bank 300 thousand and when converted, it is around 7 thousand USD. Most of them came from "friends" who ran away from payments, my parents medical bills and such.

It is a bit high and since my parents' already in their senior citizens' age, I really don't want to burden them by indicating the total amount. Thanks a lot for the comment

Hi jugsjugs. Thanks for the comment. I'm a good payer in the beginning but as the interest bloated, I got trapped in it. My mistake is that I used to pay below the minimum amount and that didn't helped me pay my bill. Worse, it added into the interest more. Unfortunately I'm not from UK. I'm not too sure if there are Debt Advisers here in my country and I've been trying to look for one. I actually went straight to the bank, gave my letters, request and even proposal for a debt restructure program but they just refuse to accept it. They say the last they can do are the following: 1. Forward my default account to their 3rd-party CA and let them handle everything and I'm blacklisted from the bank. 3rd-party CA buys my account for a lower price and then, they are the ones who will try to get the amount from defaulters. They will then add an additional 20% over the amount I already owe to the bank. The 20% are the arrangement fees, etc. 2. Pay the total minimum amount due (which I can't do as of now) and they will block my card and offer me another payment scheme, with interest and I'm still blacklisted from the bank Either way, I'm blacklisted from the bank. The least I can do is pay them little-by-little, let some accounts be defaulted/blacklisted then slowly try to work it out with the bank. I know that as long as you show that you really wanna pay, some of them might listen and accept your proposal. I did some hard research about how CA works here and it ain't pretty. Threats, badmouthing defaulters, calling cops to search/do ocular of the defaulter's house without a warrant. Some even send summons/cases like fraud cards, etc. (the CA and not the court) I'm preparing for them as well as on some ideas on how to work out my debt. Thanks again for the comment :D

That's so true. A friend told me to tell my home and office mates/work that they can't reach me and to simply hide away from the CA but personally, I don't want to do that. I do have read quite a number of ways in handling CAs and some said "avoid" but not "hide" I think I'll just answer their calls and if they want to bring the case to "court" then so be it. I know most of them are just gonna scare me to get money from me but as people say, it's the bank which you owe the amount. Not some 3rd party Collection Agency. Do you think I'm on the right track?

That's such good news. I'm just starting now by juggling payment for 2 cards. I placed 3 other cards on hold since I'm prioritizing 2 card payments then if they're done, that's when I'll start working with the rest (as long as they're not yet handled by the 3rd-party CA. I won't deal with them. I just hope the bank will be willing to deal with me instead). Good luck on March deadline plan

Thanks a lot for the comment :) Maybe it'll take time for me to be ready again :)