Debt settlement firms want you to have at least $10,000 in credit card debt. They want $1500-2000 of that $10,000 in fees paid first before they begin working on settling your debt. They tell you to stop paying your credit card and to send those payments to them for their fees and to save for a lump-sum settlement.If the debt settlement firm says they can get a $5000 settlement for that $10,000 of debt, how long will it take you to saves $7000, which includes $2000 in fees? What happens if they cannot settle with your credit card company? What happens to the account that has not been paid? What happens to the money paid to the debt settlement firm, and what about your credit rating?To bank $7000 you will need to save $500 per month for 14 months. At that rate, it will be over a year before you can settle that $10,000 of debt for 50 percent. The credit card companies typically charge off unpaid debts after six months. They often sell those charged-off debts within the year.That means your debt is owned by a junk debt buyer before the debt settlement firm has settled it. It also means the bank has no motivation to remove that debt's bad mark on your credit report and that the negative listing will be there for seven years.The junk debt buyer will make an effort to collect the debt, and you need to be ready for that, according to the Credit Card Debt Survival Guide. On the other hand, if you are unaware and waiting for the debt settlement firm to finish what they started, you could be vulnerable to a debt collection attorney.So, the debt collectors are at the door. That debt is obviously not settled. The settlement fee is used up. Your credit is tarnished. But, you still have $5000, if, and a big if it is, the settlement firm put the money in a third-party escrow account.Matt Highlander spent months researching strategies for credit card debt relief. Read the complete 230-page Credit Card Debt Survival Guide

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