Negotiating Debt Settlement !

Confession: I have a bias against debt settlement companies that charge by the month. It gives them a financial incentive to delay settling your case. Delay can be strategic, that is: for your benefit. But you shouldn't pay more to employ that strategy. If your settlement is being delayed, who is really benefiting? You'll never know.

For example: You may get a better deal after an original lender or credit card issuer places your account with a collection agency. The collection agency will have the debt for a limited period of time - say 120 days - before sending it back to the original creditor. As the "return" date nears, the collection agency may be willing to accept a lower settlement before sending back the account and losing it. After 120 days, the account may be referred out to a second collector. It is now an "older" debt. Less valuable. Collection has already failed. The second collector should take less than the first. Another possibility is that the debt is sold to a "debt-buyer", a company which buys defaulted debt and collects for its own account. Debt collectors tend to give bigger discounts toward the end of the month as they seek to pad their monthly collection statistics. You may wish to wait and make your move at "dealing time". There'll be another bargain in 30 days or so as they again seek to pad their monthly stats. A settlement may be reached on the last or next to last day. A negotiator who is paid by the month may not take advantage of these end of month deals, if your next monthly payment will arrive in a few more days.

You shouldn't pay extra to take advantage of delaying strategies.