With this much debt I would go bankruptcy and be done

It's not hard, I racked up over $100,000 worth of credit card debt. There is no reason to be ashamed, I learned my lesson and hopefully you were learn yours. The last thing I want when I settle my last two debts is to get credit again. If feels good to pay cash for things now.

Hi Monty. I was not too sure what you were suggesting or asking. The entire $74,000 is credit card debt, spread out on 6 cards.... so none of it is amortized. I don't have any other debts (no overdraft or loans, etc.). I personally am shocked that I was able to rack up this much credit card debt, and ashamed.... I dont know how it got this bad.

just popping my head in .. and i didn't read all of the posts.

so.. you've got $500 to pay down debts.

that's what the creditors will use to calculate what you're settling on, and what you'll need to pay..

IE... credit card companies usually require minimum payments of 3%... so.. $500/3%=$16,600 monthly servicing?!

What percentage of the $74000 is amortized over along period... otherwise,,, that's alot of credit card debt!!

Unless you can amortize this over a longer period.

I had some that would continue the interest and others that wouldn’t. If they continue the interest it will be the rate that you were charged from the creditor. If you return their calls they will not bother you at work. I would read up on the collection agency act in your province and be ready for them just in case they call your work. I believe they are allowed to call your work once just to find out where you live and get your telephone number if they can’t locate you. In your case you’re not hiding from them. I do see you’re in a difficult position because you make good money and if they know where you work they will threaten to sue. If you live in Ontario the statue of limitation is two years to sue someone from the time of the last payment. I would not write to them stating you owe the debt because this will reset the statue of limitation to sue to the date of your letter.

I appreciate all the replies. The getting called at work thing worries me. If the credit agencies call me at work then I will throw the word bankruptcy ou there. Right now I make about 41k a year and so I would be required to pay surplus on my income but it would still be cheaper. Right now I am just worried that the interest rates on the debt will start to really add up... how much interest can they charge me, are they limited what the CC company charged, or once it is in the hands of collection agency does the interest go up to like 40%??

I would advice against bankruptcy if a person can settle their debts. If they can't afford debt settlement then bankruptcy is the way togo.If collection agencies have your home telephone number they tend not to call your work. If they call the best thing to do is call them back and state to them you have no money. If collection agencies know you have thousands of dollars of debt and you mention the word bankruptcy it is possible to settle debts for as low as 10% and if you can achieve 20% then your doing good. I believe it will be very hard to get credit after bankruptcy discharge for years to come.

Debt settlements aren't new to Canada and why would someone even pay 20% of this debt when bankruptcy is $1100 at most in BC.

If the OP was not a government worker then I wouldn't be so adamant about him going bankrupt. But he is going to get at least 3 or 4 agencies calling him at work at the very least and when an agency that does actually sue sees that it's going to just get worse. It is so cheap for the agencies to sue it is ridiculous.

If anyone is planning to file for bankruptcy go see a bankruptcy trustee for free advice. I was planning to file for bankruptcy 20 years ago and the trustee introduced me to debt settlement. The debt settlement process was not introduced to Canadians till recently. If a person decides to do debt settlements make sure you do your research before you start talking to creditors or collection agencies? I have previous experience and I didn’t need a debt settlement company to do my settlements. If you think you can’t do the settlements yourself, shop around and make sure you get the best deal possible. The process is not hard; if you come to an agreement over the phone to your satisfaction with the creditor or collection agency, just make sure you get the agreement in writing before you hand over your money. The creditor or collection agency will fax the agreement to you, it’s that simple.

I would recommend going over this book and seeing what options you have, I bought it and it was great help.

http://www.collection-calls.ca/book-how-to-collection-agencies.php