[GCH]

First time user. Me and my husband owe 20,000 to wells fargo and 15,000 to bank of america. We lost our house a couple of months ago. We just could not afford it anymore. We always paid off our credit cards before by paying more than the minimum payment. Since we bought our home in 2005, we started living off the credit cards, since most of the check went to the mortgage. Now we are struggling to pay them off. We have not been late yet. I was wondering how to go about settling with them. Does anyone have any advice? Has anyone ever settled with W.F. or B.O.A? Advice will be appreciated!

[spyderglass]

Before you settle them, they will want you to try a payment plan.
They will close the account and if you 'haggle' with them enough you can probably get a payment plan of 35 dollars a month (if you can do more then you should). They pretty much freeze the account which means no fees and no more interest. When I was working collections we offered more payment plans than settlements, anyway a settlement looks worse than a payment plan. You end up paying off the whold debt with the PP. Also, if you can put one large payment for your first month you can usually talk them into waiving a few fees. Make sure you explain your situation as well, then the collector will have more of an incentive for helping you out. Hope this helped.

[GCH]

I called wells fargo today. I explained our situation. She felt bad that we lost our home and are in debt, but she said they couldn't help. She also explained that there is no DMP. She did give me a couple of numbers for ccs. My balance is to high on both cards and the interest is killing us. I was wondering what is the difference and what is better from debt consolidation and debt settlement?

[stevetcg]

BOA will drop your interest to 1% and forego all late fees if you call and work with them. You may have to be already late in order for this to occur though - I was.

A few years ago I was in a similar situation, but with much more CC debt. I went to InCharge Debt solutions and they got the interest down and a reasonable payment. They are a certified non-profit so while they will ask for a $90 setup and $50/mo admin fee, you can choose not to pay it. Personally, I paid the setup and refused the monthly. You can Google them easy enough.

[spyderglass]

A settlement looks worse on your credit than working with CCS

[goldie_9256]

I settled w/ WellsFargo.. 40cents on the dollar. They were very nice, actually. I also settled w/ BOA.. 40 cents on the dollar as well. I was only about 4 months behind in paying these bills. I received settlement letters, etc.

[mygirlsdad77]

Simple... don't buy a house you cannot afford. And don't spend more money than you make. Just a thought. I don't make much, but I also don't spend much. Is this really too hard to understand. Basically, all you have done is ruin your credit. And we all know that credit is king in the messed up world of ours. I truly hope things work out for you and you can get back on your feet. Just learn the lesson of living within your means(not having to depend on banks and such)

[spyderglass]

I settled w/ WellsFargo..40cents on the dollar. They were very nice, actually. I also settled w/ BOA..40 cents on the dollar as well. I was only about 4 months behind in paying these bills. I received settlement letters, etc.

Excellent, at least you don't have it hanging over your head (as much!):)

[Bimmeraddict]

I was in credit/mortgage collections (abt 7yr of which with bofa) for years and to be able to settle you have to have the $$$ to settle.
I'm not telling you do this because the right thing to do is to pay everyone however since you have already lost your home. Use the money you have and file a bankruptcy. If you can get a ch7 you can actually get your credit on the road to recovery quicker then cccs which some states require you attempt the cccs thing before a ch7 will be granted. The foreclosure is the worst bruise in the business. The bank feel if you don't pay your house you don't and can't pay anyone. This can't be reversed now. The banks are really in trouble with people similar to yourself because they have no leverage. I mean what are they going to do put a lien on house? Garn you? Which they can and will if they can find your ft employment. Its entirely up to you though...