Debt Settlement, debt negotiation, and debt consolidation, are terms used by firms who charge fees to negotiate lump sum settlements with credit card companies. Regrettably, these companies do a much better job of eliminating your worries with a false sense of security than they do of eliminating your credit card debt problems.

A typical consumer in debt cannot afford to pay for Debt settlement Services AND settle their credit card debts with what is left over. It would cost $2250-3000 to settle some reduction of $15,000 in debt. Debt settlement firms advise you stop paying the credit card companies and to start paying them instead. They take their fees out then wait for enough money to accumulate to make lump-sum payments to the consumer’s credit card banks. But, that typically will not happen until after those debts have been charged off and sold due to non-payment. Debt settlement firms do not deliver what they promise, according to MSNBC. Some banks will not even work with debt settlement firms, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The problem is most banks charge off credit card debt after six months of non-payment. If you cannot save enough money within six months of starting the program, then your credit card debts could charge off, leaving a seven year negative mark on your credit report. With a charge off and subsequent sale to a junk debt buyer there is no more leverage with the original creditor, the credit card bank, to negotiate away a negative credit report listing.

Junk debt buyers buy bad debt from credit card banks in large chunks for 10 cents on the dollar. If a consumer has continued paying into a debt settlement program, by the time there is money for a reduced settlement, the original creditor no longer owns the debt. Then it is time to use consumer protection laws like the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to fend off these parasites, according to the Credit Card Debt Survival Guide. If the consumer is unwise enough to settle with the junk debt buyer, the debt buyer will simply sell the unpaid balance to another junk debt buyer who will resume collection efforts. When it is all said and done, DIY-do-it-yourself is the way to settle credit card debt for reduced lump sums. That way the consumer has control of the situation and their best chance to Eliminate credit card debt .