First of all, we only accept clients who are struggling with their debt. Since creditors don’t want to settle accounts for people who can comfortably afford their debt, we screen each applicant to make sure their situation is right for our program.
Once accepted, the clients make monthly deposits into an account. The fees from the program are deducted from this account, and the remainder stays in the account to be used to pay settlements to their creditors. Creditors make offers to settle during the program. When there is enough money in the account to pay a settlement, the client agrees to the settlement offer and pays the settlement directly to the creditor. The process is repeated until all creditors are paid.
Yes, but consider the fact that we only accept clients who are having financial problems so the program is not creating these effects, these effects would occur naturally.
The program will affect credit ratings, and creditors can continue to use all efforts to collect the debt. The good news is that you can rebuild your credit once you are out of debt, and being in the program reduces the collection efforts in most situations. Since most creditors gladly agree to settle, they don’t waste time and money pressuring you to pay the full amount.
Once your debt has been reduced and settled, the creditors will send you a 1099 reporting the forgiven amount as income to you. You should seek advice from a tax professional when you file your taxes. There is an IRS form available to eliminate taxes for those who were considered insolvent at the time the debt was forgiven.
The amount you save is based on many factors. Most creditors have an initial standard offer they make to everyone, and each creditor is different. We present your financial situation to your creditors showing them a proposal of the amount you can afford to repay. The creditors will continue to make offers higher or lower than the amount we projected to them. The reason for the lower offers is to entice you to pay them first.
There is no exact answer as to the amount you will save because there are so many variables. Once we review your financial situation, we can give you a more accurate estimate.