You may be like millions of people and have accumulated too much unsecured debt. Most likely your credit cards are at their limit and you may even be behind in some of your monthly payments. Bankruptcy credit card info show that the credit card companies make more money on late or missed payment fees and penalties then they do on interest payments. If you take time to read your credit card bill or agreement you may find that they can and will raise your interest rate to loan shark levels for just missing one payment.



Many people find they are now paying up to 31 percent interest on all their credit cards just from missing one monthly payment. You can easily see how the credit card companies have taken over the loan shark business in this country. If you have found yourself in this predicament most likely you are very stressed out and miserable. You may even be seeking the services of a bankruptcy attorney.

Before you hire an attorney you may want to consider seeking the services of a debt service company to help you out. These companies will evaluate your finances and develop a plan to get you out of debt. They are experts at debt negotiation and will be able to reduce most of you debt by just talking to the credit card companies and financial institutions that you are in debt to. You should know up front that these debt service companies are not doing this service for free and you will pay a fee for their services. In many case the services can be expensive. Never the less they are very good at debt negotiation and reducing your debt to a manageable level.

In reality debt negotiation is not rocket science and really can be done by just about anyone. Before hiring a debt service company we would suggest that you try to reduce your debt level on your own. Do not feel intimidated by the process as it is really quite easy. The key is to be persistent and establish clear goals in terms of what you are going to negotiate for. In the process you can ask for a reduction of your debt level, the total removal of the debt or a reduction in interest rates.

You can to be upfront with the creditors telling them that you are in financial trouble and need to reduce your debt level. You may even hint that you are considering filing for bankruptcy but are trying your best to reduce your debt levels. In most cases you will find that customer service representative will end connecting you to a supervisor. Have a figure in mind that you want to negotiate to. If you owe $7000 then you might want to set a target of $2500. If you they say no then the negotiation begins with, how much can you reduce the debt level?

Many times It may require you to contact the credit card company several times to meet your target level. Be persistent and be professional even they are not. Do not let your emotions get the best of you. Be polite, calm and cool during your negotiations. During or prior to your debt negotiation process you may want to consider applying for a debt consolidation loan from your bank. Again tell the customer service representative that you are consolidating your debt. In many cases they will be more than glad to help you. Whatever you do you should not pay any debts before you have done a good job of debt negotiation. Once you have a line of credit for debt reduction you can use the payoff method of debt negotiation.

Offering to pay off the debt is a great tool to use during the negotiation process. In many cases you can reduce the debt by as much as 60%. The more debt your remove the less you have to consolidate into a loan which of course saves you more money. Debt negotiation is a great tool to reduce your debt levels; however you must set up a budget and do a better job of managing your finances. Failure to do so may mean that you really will have to file for a bankruptcy.