Heh....oh jimmy, you don't surf around forums much, do you? Trust me when I tell you, as both a member of several forums AND a moderator for a forum with over 20,000 members....what you have seen here is actually the most incredibly polite disagreement I have ever seen...and I've been active since the mid-90's.

Heck, there are entire forums dedicated to flaming. And they don't hold no punches. And I've had to step into more than a few knock down battles as a mod.

Jimmyjimmyj,

We all like to have fun on here, were like one big happy family. The key is help people on here with their problems and hopefully we can save them some money while were at it.

Happy Holidays

Looks like I have created a monster with this thread.

I only belong to a few forums (this one, an audio/video one and an automotive one) but I have NEVER come across such bickering in my limited time on the interweb.

I appreciate all the advice I received here. This forum has the potential to be of great help to people, but I feel that the back and forth name calling would scare potential members away. I'm not sure what everyone here is a member of this forum for, but with the other forums I belong to, we have a common hobby and we are there to share our knowledge, and learn from others experiences. Not everyone knows about the SOL in each province, or how things on your credit report affects your chances of getting a loan etc ( I in particular am not in the business.)

Perhaps a FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTION STICKY would help people do a little research on their own before asking for help.

Again, thank you for your help/advice

j

lol...I had the line from Princess Bride in my head actually.

Best. Movie. EVER.

lol.. that sounds like a line from Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan... Rush Hour... "do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?" :)

Joe,

me having debts over $50K would be me living a lifestyle that was a little more than twice as costly as what I can actually afford. So, ummm....duh, yeah OF COURSE if I had over $50K in debt I would be approaching things differently. Hell, at what I bring in, $50K in debt would send me straight to a bankruptcy trustee post haste, do not pass go and do not collect $200.

But see....I've never even brought in $50K a year, so why or how would I manage to rack up that much debt? Plus, the manner in which I am happiest living prevents me from actually racking up that kind of debt. Because I don't actually want the things that cause it. My debts have always been small because it's really a matter of this brain of mine that would rather retain trivia about the First, Second and Third Crusades than payment due dates.

I think you do not understand the words I have been saying to you. Perhaps you should re-read my words with a dictionary in hand.

One final thought on this topic.. to put it in perspective..
We just reported that RBC lost several hundreds of millions of dollars on bad investments in the U.S. They've got reserves for that..
The banks that they lost the money with are NOT going to pay them back EVER! Those banks or investments have no remorse. It's business.

There were 8900+ bankruptcies in Canada this month, or year, or whatever...
I'm sure that doesn't even come close to the amount of money that the creditors lost on the U.S. fiasco.. 8900+ bankruptcies is chicken feed in comparison.

I don't doubt you...
It's possible to settle your debts 10% on the dollar! I knew that before.

Creditors are obviously going to do everything in their power to not let that happen. They've got big legal departments who specialize in contracts and collections. They're well versed in the law..

You have to demonstrate that you can only pay 10%... or whatever the deal is... it's also pretty harsh on your credit..

Bottom line, it's the creditors decision. If they think that they're only going to get 10% out of you, then it's foolish for them to waste even more money to collect.

There's a cost of collection that they have to add to the overall scenario.

I also know that creditors have an expense reserve for bad debts. They calculate that a certain number of debtors will default. That's built in to the price. so.. to settle your debt at 10% gives them 10% more than they would have if you declared bankruptcy, or defaulted without bankruptcy. They're a business, and this is a cost of them doing business. It's all calculated into the price.

That's why I'm not surprised that you were able to settle at 10% of the balance.

Happy Holidays....

The days are getting longer, and that makes me very happy!

Monty,

After proving to you that I settled my debts for 10%, I still get people on here doubting me. It’s pretty bad they are accusing me of fraudulently making up the letters to you. I can’t believe they doubt you, why would go out of your way to lie on my behalf. I have decided today that I will not express my opinion to people on your forum. I really don’t care if people on here settle their debts for 10% or 100%.I want to thank you Monty and Richard C for believing in me.

Happy Holidays

average_joe... it's all relative..
If you're overwhelmed with $50,000 in debt, that's one thing.

IF you're making $250,000 per year and overwhelmed with $50,000 than that's another thing.

The point is... $50,000 is alot to some, and peanuts to others.

At one point I was putting $20,000 per week on my credit cards, for business purposes. (Great airmiles & Canadian Tire Rewards) That's $80,000 per month. I paid that off every month.

My point is.. it's all relative.

I talked to a lady once who declared bankruptcy for $1000... she was overwhelmed at $1000!! I was surprised, but helped her anyway.