When you use a credit card in today’s world, the credit card companies expect you to pay back the money they are letting you borrow.  Sometimes you find yourself in a bind that you can’t even come close to paying off what you have left.  Believe it or not, most credit card companies will take an offer on your balance, so that you don’t have to pay your bill off in full.  Remember, these tips are intended for people in a lot of debt with the credit card companies.

Stop making payments

If you’re having a hard time even making the minimum payments, stop making them.  When you’re paying anything to the credit card companies, they just assume that you have enough to give them the minimum, which they want.  In turn, they can continue to charge you a ridiculous finance charge.  If you stop paying the minimum payments, they will start to believe that you don’t have anything at all and they are more than willing to listen.
Once you stop making your payments, wait about three to six months and go ahead and make a call to your credit card company.

Ignore all threats

When you stop making these payments, make sure that you ignore all of the threats you’re going to receive.  You’re going to receive threats on lawsuits, garnishing of your wages, etc.  99% of the time, these companies won’t go through the hassle of taking you to court.  They have plenty of other people to deal with.  If you ignore these threats, all will be well for a few months.

Get ready to offer

Like when said in step 1, when you stop paying your payments for a few months, get prepared to make an offer, most of the times, credit card companies won’t cut off more than 25%.  If your total bill is $100,000, the credit card companies won’t cut off more than $25,000.  Make sure that you come out with any type of offer.  The worst they can do is say no.  Just be prepared to not get more than 25%.

When you start to offer the credit card companies a deal, 99% of the times your first offer will be denied regardless of what your offer is.  This will change over time and we will explain why.

Threaten bankruptcy

If the credit card companies won’t budge on your offer, tell them that you are contemplating bankruptcy.  This will turn the tables and you will now hold court.  If the card companies hear this, this is when they start to scramble.  The reason is because if you declare bankruptcy, the credit card companies may never see a penny.  They would much rather take something than nothing.

Don’t stop!

If it’s been months and it still seems like you’ve gone nowhere, don’t worry.  The companies will come to your side sooner or later with a deal.  As we mentioned above, you will most likely get less than 25% of your total bill cut off.  Remember that anything lower than your total bill is better than nothing.

Get everything in writing

When you finally reach a deal with your credit card company, make sure that you get everything in writing before you send in your last payment.  The reason you need something in writing is just in case they call you saying you owe x amount of dollars.  Once you send off your last check, chop up your credit card and never deal with them again.