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Just because you are the one being pursued doesn’t mean that you don’t have a way to make the bill collectors have to do their own due diligence. Moreover there are ways to protect your assets from creditors and ways to clear debts without filing bankruptcy. If it does ultimately turn to that, there are things you should know about bankruptcy and this book delves into these facts as well. Answering the questions should I declare bankruptcy, when should I declare … More >>

What You Can Do To Conquer Your Credit And Debt Problems – First Edition

Credit card arbitration is going away, much to the benefit of card holders. The latest blow to arbitration came Sunday, when Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson announced that the state had settled with the National Arbitration Forum (NAF), which administers arbitrations as put forth in standard customer agreements with issuers. Swanson had sued the St. Louis-based company a week earlier for what she said was its unfair handling of debt disputes. “This is an issue beyond any one problem company,” said Swanson. “It is a systemic industry wide problem. Consumers are giving away rights without even knowing it.” Seemingly trying to avoid the microscope that the National Arbitration Forum had been under, The American Arbitration Association said on Tuesday it will voluntarily stop participating in credit card related arbitrations until new guidelines are established.

The lawsuit accused the NAF of violating state consumer fraud, deceptive trade practices and false advertising laws by hiding financial ties to collection agencies and credit card companies. Most people that have signed a credit card agreement never realized that they were giving up the right to sue the credit card company when they feel that they had been wronged by the issuer. The other unknown aspect of the arbitration clause was that the members of the panel that would hear the case would be in the pocket of the credit card companies, selected for previous rulings in favor of credit card issuers.

The Obama Administration, having already signed the Credit CARD Act in May which regulates abusive credit card practices, recently proposed a ban on arbitration agreements in credit card agreements in their effort to expand customer protections. The credit card industry, already preparing for regulations of the Act which start its first phases in August, finds itself now on the defensive on another front, one which has provided consistently favorable rulings, allowed it to aggressively go after unpaid debts, and shielded it from class action lawsuits.

The value of the arbitration clause to credit card industry is undeniable, and is likely to be defended vigorously despite the exit of its two biggest arbitration firms. “Arbitration is a valuable way for consumers and businesses to resolve disputes in a very low cost and fair manner. Take it away and consumers will suffer,” said Kenneth Clayton of the American Bankers Association. Finding those customers that will suffer without arbitration may be difficult as the proceedings were stacked against card holders from the beginning. In her statement about the NAF settlement Swanson said: “To consumers, the company said it was impartial, but behind the scenes, it worked alongside credit card companies to get them to put unfair arbitration clauses in the fine print of their contracts and to appoint the Forum as the arbitrator. Now the company is out of this business.”

Further evidence of stacking the deck was found in a study by Public Citizen which revealed that credit card companies tracked arbitrators’ rulings and would not allow the arbitrators who ruled against them to sit on panels which involved the issuer. Public Citizen’s study also found that “Among cases with an arbitrator appointed by the National Arbitration Forum, 94 percent resulted in decisions in favor of the business.”

The end of mandatory arbitration throws a curve at the credit card industry at a time when it is facing challenges from all sides. It wasn’t long ago that if a card holder fell behind on payments, the only option was to seek credit counseling which was done on a nonprofit basis but clandestinely sponsored by the credit card companies. If credit counseling didn’t provide the desired results for the card issuers, the card holder would then be mandated to go to an arbitration which was also controlled by the credit card companies.

Now, with options like debt settlement, consumers have a much better chance at receiving an outcome that goes in their favor. Debt settlement, also known as debt negotiation, is a relatively new form of relief in which the process gets as many concessions for the card holder as possible. It is an adversarial negotiation where a law firm negotiates on the card holder’s behalf against the credit card issuers as opposed to the usual method of dealing with a system that was charged with carrying out the issuers’ agenda.

Card holders entering a debt settlement immediate see a reduction of approximately 50% on their monthly payment obligations for accounts that are being settled. In addition to credit cards, accounts that can be packaged into a debt settlement are; medical bills, unpaid utility bills, signature loans, and many other forms of unsecured debt. The settlement process then aims for full payoff of participating accounts with balance reductions ranging from 40 to 60%. The payoff schedule is then tailored to the card holders’ current financial situation with payoff times ranging in length from 18 to 48 months. Once the reduced balances have been met the participating accounts are considered to be paid in full.

According to information contained in the lawsuit against NAF, there were 214,000 arbitrations in which they participated in 2006. 94% of the card holders in those cases undoubtedly spent time and money to ultimately get a decision that was unfavorable to them. With the elimination of arbitration, it’s uncertain now how issuers will attack struggling credit card holders but with their political clout and resources they will likely find a way. The good news for struggling card holders is that with a firm negotiating their debt settlement, they can protect themselves as well.

Debt One Financial is the largest nationally based Debt Relief organization, specializing in debt relief. We understand your situation and together, with you, we will look at all the options that may be available to resolve your debt. Our goal is to provide our clients with an affordable program to get back on their feet financially within 12 to 36 months and find a real solution for the strain and stress caused by debt. With honest and informative advice, outstanding customer service, and a proven debt settlement process we can provide a fast and ethical way for our clients to become debt free and get back on the path to financial freedom.

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Debt One Financial has earned its reputation by taking an honest and informative

approach to helping people find the best solution for handling their debt.D-One provides information about debt, where you may stand and what options may be available to you to assist you in managing your debt and solutions to reduce your debt.

. Our team of debt reduction partners works individually with each client to help with their particular situation and personal goals. D-One maintains and continues to develop relationships with creditors throughout the country. By establishing cooperative and professional relationships with each creditor we are able to reach the most favorable settlement offers for our clients. We work directly and 100% for you!

Reduce Your Current Monthly Payments by Half

Get Out of Debt in Three Years or Less

Save 40% to 65% on Your Debt

Our debt settlement program is actually quite simple. We negotiate your settlements for you. Your current level of unsecured debt will be skillfully negotiated for you, and essentially you will end up paying a fraction of the debt. Generally, we reduce your debt by 40-60% of the current total.

. Low, affordable monthly payments. We will set you up with an affordable monthly payment, which is determined on a client-by-client basis between you and a counselor at Debt One Financial Based upon what you are able to pay each month into your settlement account, we can determine how many months you will be part of the program, and ultimately be debt free. Throughout the program, we communicate with your creditors, on your behalf. We assist you when dealing with aggressive, confrontational and abusive creditors or collectors.

. Settling of Your Debt. Once you have retained our services, Debt One Financial Service will commence the Service. Debt One Financial Service will advise Client of all good faith offers made by creditors and debt collectors, and of their acceptance of any offers made by Debt One Financial Service. Debt One Financial Service will not settle any account without any approval of Client, who has absolute discretion to accept or reject any settlement offer. We can only settle a debt once the full funds are available in Clients settlement account.

. We work only for our clients, not for the benefit of the creditors. Becoming debt free is the first step to becoming financially secure, and debt settlement may be your best option

Earnings Up, But Bad Debt Slaps Discover
Discover Financial reports better than expected earnings, but a mounting book of bed credit card debt is the big problem for the market on Thursday morning, which is treating Discover like a credit card needing to be cut.

Read more on TheStreet.com

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This plan was designed to Jump Start you into action, so that you can regain control of your out-of-pocket cash flow, structure the charges and payments you make to your credit cards, and get out from under that terrific debt burden. I certainly hope you follow the plan closely, so that it can do just that. But once you get into the swing of it and monitor your steady progress each month, I’m sure that you will devise ways to get it going even faster!You’ll notice t… More >>

Fighting Fire With Fire: Charging Your Way Out of Credit Card Debt