Debt Relief Information - Credit Card Debt Elimination

Credit Card Debt Elimination

Believe it or not, the government and credit card companies are trying to make it easier for you to keep your credit intact and get out of debt at the same time.

The Government's Role in Credit Card Debt Elimination

Recently, the Congress passed a bill into law called the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005. This requires credit card companies to make an addition to credit card statements that gives consumers an approximation of how long they'll be in debt if they just make the minimum required monthly payments. This Act also requires anyone who's filing for bankruptcy to go through some sort of credit card debt elimination program first. The Act really allows people to take a long, hard look at their financial situation while considering the best way to eliminate credit card debts.

Credit Card Companies Respond

Currently, most credit card companies make the required monthly minimum payment 2 or 2 1/2% of your unpaid balance. However, in an effort to reduce the amount of time it takes to pay off this revolving door of debt, many credit card companies are increasing this amount from 2 or 2 1/2% to 4%. For some, this is good news because it reduces the amount of time they're paying off credit card debt, and it reduces the overall amount they'll pay in interest. But for others, this is bad news because they are barely able to get by with what their minimums are now. For those people, there are credit card debt elimination options to help eliminate credit card debt.

Methods of Credit Card Debt Elimination

There are many, many credit card debt elimination programs, and we've outlined a few below:

Credit Card Debt Consolidation - A credit card debt elimination that involves negotiation with your creditors to get your credit card balances reduced and your interest rates lowered. Then the new, lower balances are combined and you make one monthly payment to the debt consolidation company instead of several monthly payments to credit card companies. Because of the reductions, you can become debt free in about five years.
Credit Card Debt Consolidation Loan - A loan given to you to pay off your credit card balances. Although you pay off your credit cards immediately, you still have the loan to pay back. However, the interest rate on the loan is so much lower (generally half of what you're paying now) that you can have it paid off in five years or less. (Compare that to the 18 years you'd be in debt if you continued paying only the required monthly minimums.)
Debt Consolidation Mortgage - A debt elimination tool that allows you to borrow from the equity in your house to pay off your unsecured debts. Your payment is combined with your mortgage, and you get the same interest rate as your mortgage. In some cases, the interest is even tax-deductible (check with your tax advisor to see if this will work for your tax situation).
Student Loan Debt Consolidation - Combines all of your outstanding student loans into one and locks in a much lower, fixed interest rate for you and reduces your monthly student loan payments.
Debt Settlement - Allows you to pay off your debts at 30-50 cents on the dollar, but you have to pay the new amount off immediately. (Some debt management companies will give you one to three years to pay it off though.)

If you think one of these credit card debt elimination methods is right for you, search our Related Resources page to find a debt management company and get started on the process today! Get the information that you need to make the right choice about debt elimination services. You can fill out many secure forms online that will give you some insight into the debt elimination programs that may work for you.

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