Debt settlement works and can be very good for the debtor under the right circumstances. Whether the debtor is a consumer or a business,care must be taken in certain areas to try to ensure the debtor’s success. Whether you’re talking consumer debt settlement or business debt settlement,these are the points where debt settlement programs fail.
- Insufficient cash flow. This is the most common reason for failure. Cash flow is relative to debt. The higher the amount of debt the greater the cash flow required for success. There’s no hard and fast rule here in terms of a ratio. It is best determined by the debtor’s goals as to how quickly he/she wants to get the debt resolved. An often overlooked factor in determining whether or not someone has adequate cash flow to succeed is how the debt is distributed among creditors. Let’s say Mr. X has $50,000 in debt distributed somewhat evenly between 10 creditors. This means he would owe each one about $5000 and there would be a fairly even and predictable flow of settlements during the course of his program. Now,let’s look at Ms. Y. She also has $50,000 in debt and 10 creditors. However,in her case about 75% of her debt or $37,000 is with a single creditor. The remaining $13,000 is distributed among the other 9 creditors with each one having no more than about a $1500 balance due. To ensure a somewhat smooth and successful debt settlement program Ms. Y is going to need a greater cash flow than Mr. X. The reason is that large account. Creditors tend to be more aggressive in their collection efforts when balances are large than they are when balances are relatively small. Even if Ms. Y’s nine smaller accounts are settled quickly,she may not be willing to deal with aggressive collection efforts over the relatively long period of time required to accrue sufficient funds to settle that large account.-
- This brings up another common point of failure in debt settlement programs. Often times debtors find the reality of aggressive debt collectors,law suits and so on much more difficult to handle than they originally imagined,even when these things are properly disclosed at the outset of the program. No matter what a debt settlement company might say regarding their methods for handling debt collection efforts against their clients there is one thing they can’t change: The creditors are under no obligation to cooperate with any debt settlement company. They have every right under the law to try to collect the money that’s owed so long as they comply with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Thus they can write,call,sue,etc until their debt is satisfied. An honest and professional settlement company discloses these things to its clients and makes sure the clients understand the above facts. After hearing all the disclosures,clients enroll and think it will all work out. Then they get their first nasty letter or phone call,for example,a collection attorney demanding payment or a lawsuit will be filed. At that point they get stressed and decide they’re better off filing bankruptcy,even though they adamantly stated they did not want to file bankruptcy when they enrolled in the program.-
- Another common point of failure in debt settlement programs is additional financial hardship. Mr. X or Ms. Y went through something that put them into a hardship situation prior to seeking settlement help. They get all the disclosures and are willing and able to deal with the collection calls,threatening letters,lawsuits or whatever else they might encounter in the course of settling their debt. When they enroll their cash flow is adequate,relative to the amount of debt they have,for them to successfully complete their settlement program. Then at some time in the course of their program they have something else happen that further depresses their income or reduces their cash flow in some way. This could be job loss,accident,illness,disability,increased basic living expenses,divorce,etc. At this point they can no longer afford the debt settlement program and it fails.-
There can be other reasons for debt settlement programs to fail,not the least of which could be improper or incomplete disclosures to the clients as to how the program works and what they can expect.
Assuming honest and proper enrollment in a debt settlement program the above are the most common reasons for failure. Whether you’re looking into consumer debt settlement or business debt settlement,keep the above in mind and your chances of success will increase.