Credit Debt counselor companies? Which work.. MAJOR CC debt by family member need help

[Vette73]

My brother-in-law has run up $110k in credit card debt. He was a day trader, yea I already know WTF was he doing, and did not have a job as that was his ?job?. He does not want to file for bankruptcy but has asked for help. We, me and my wife plus other family members, will help pay the bills and mortgage. We do this as his and my wife?s parents live with him. And before it is asked no this is not my debt. The only 2 major debts we, me and wife, have are my old student loan (most being paid off by current Gov job) and our mortgage.

Has anybody used and/or knows of a good credit counselor company. The kind that will try to negotiate a settlement with his credit card companies and then help set up a payment system he can do. He talked with one but they wanted a pile of fees and then after 3 years could not guarantee anything, except their fees. I remember there were some that were not for profit and actually did good work and helped people. That is what I am trying to find as he wants to make right and not have to use bankruptcy if he has to. He is also getting a REAL job right now. That and me and my wife are looking at their bills and cutting the cable and other things down to save money.

Thanks

 

[mugs]

I don't know the answer to your question, but I admire him for being willing to pay back the debt.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

Holy snap, that is probably the most credit card debt I've ever heard of by a private individual who isn't a celebrity or just flat rich enough to pay it off when the bill comes. The minimum payments have to be around $4k/mo.

 

[venkman]

$110K!!! Holy Crap, the Interest on that alone is probably over $1000 a month! Even a negotiated settlement would probably be in the 50-60k range at a high rate of interest and still leave a black mark on the credit score. At that point, bankruptcy maybe his best option. It would take him longer to pay it off then to have his credit score recover. He might want to skip the credit counselors and start talking to some lawyers.

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: venkman
$110K!!! Holy Crap, the Interest on that alone is probably over $1000 a month! Even a negotiated settlement would probably be in the 50-60k range at a high rate of interest and still leave a black mark on the credit score. At that point, bankruptcy maybe his best option. It would take him longer to pay it off then to have his credit score recover. He might want to skip the credit counselors and start talking to some lawyers.

I agree, especially since he does not have a college education.

But he is Asian and the stereotype is they would rather die then admit then have to file for bankruptcy. Which in this case fits. So I want to find a good company that may help. That and if bankruptcy is the best thing he will hear it form an outside group, not that white guy who married his baby sister. 😉


Also forgot to add. We WANT him to have at least some bad credit history. We don;t want CC compnaies offering 100k in money for someone that was not a born citizen, no real education, and no real job. We want his hands tied, but we don;t want him to kill himself.

 

[venkman]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975

Originally posted by: venkman
$110K!!! Holy Crap, the Interest on that alone is probably over $1000 a month! At that point, bankruptcy maybe his best option.

I agree, especially since he does not have a college education.

But he is Asian and the stereotype is they would rather die then admit then have to file for bankruptcy. Which in this case fits. So I want to find a good company that may help. That and if bankruptcy is the best thing he will hear it form an outside group, not that white guy who married his baby sister. 😉

Asian and not having a college education already put him on the Asian stereotype failboat. 😛

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: venkman

Originally posted by: Marlin1975

Originally posted by: venkman
$110K!!! Holy Crap, the Interest on that alone is probably over $1000 a month! At that point, bankruptcy maybe his best option.

I agree, especially since he does not have a college education.

But he is Asian and the stereotype is they would rather die then admit then have to file for bankruptcy. Which in this case fits. So I want to find a good company that may help. That and if bankruptcy is the best thing he will hear it form an outside group, not that white guy who married his baby sister. 😉

Asian and not having a college education already put him on the Asian stereotype failboat. 😛

Forgot to add...

Also forgot to add. We WANT him to have at least some bad credit history. We don;t want CC compnaies offering 100k in money for someone that was not a born citizen, no real education, and no real job. We want his hands tied, but we don;t want him to kill himself.

He, the whole family, came from Vietnam so education there was mostly communism is good don;t question it. That and their dad helped us, the US, during the Vietnam war so the family had nothing but a dad that spent 10 years in a communism jail and the clothes on their back.

 

[Ness]

Just make sure you aren't co-signing on anything for him.

What are his monthlies? Does he have wife/kids or anything?

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: Ness
Just make sure you aren't co-signing on anything for him.

What are his monthlies? Does he have wife/kids or anything?

He has no kids/wife. Right now the game plan is for me and my wife to take over the house bills, we don't have cable but they do so that will either be cut or gone. We will leave the basic FIOS internet so they can keep the vonage box and use the internet for job hunting and such. The other family members will take care of the house payment for now.

So the CC will be his only true bill for now. We also want him to go back to school, even if its just a AA degree. We want him to be abel to pay his bills after this is over with.

 

[venkman]

Thats the point, he WONT be able to pay his bills. Interest will pile on top of school loans, you and the other family members will be paying the non-CC bills, and I doubt a associates degree would generate the type of income for him that would cover his normal living expenses + $1000 a month in interest + the principle of the CC bills let alone starting a family. He iwll be in this never ending sinkhole forever unless he wins the lottery or files for bankruptcy.

You and the other family members can't pay the bills forever. Did he took cash advances on his CCs to fund his day trading and those stocks dropped in value? If he did buy expensive stuff (jewlery, electronics, etc) he needs to sell all of it right now.

 

[bonkers325]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975

Originally posted by: venkman
$110K!!! Holy Crap, the Interest on that alone is probably over $1000 a month! Even a negotiated settlement would probably be in the 50-60k range at a high rate of interest and still leave a black mark on the credit score. At that point, bankruptcy maybe his best option. It would take him longer to pay it off then to have his credit score recover. He might want to skip the credit counselors and start talking to some lawyers.

I agree, especially since he does not have a college education.

But he is Asian and the stereotype is they would rather die then admit then have to file for bankruptcy. Which in this case fits. So I want to find a good company that may help. That and if bankruptcy is the best thing he will hear it form an outside group, not that white guy who married his baby sister. 😉


Also forgot to add. We WANT him to have at least some bad credit history. We don;t want CC compnaies offering 100k in money for someone that was not a born citizen, no real education, and no real job. We want his hands tied, but we don;t want him to kill himself.

i respect his commitment to the asian stereotype

 

[Kelemvor]

I hope someone introduced his credit cards to Mr Scissors. And definitely don't put your name on anything as then you're liable for everything too.

 

[her209]

They will probably tell him to file for bankruptcy.

 

[SP33Demon]

His best bet is to file for bankruptcy, that's way too much. However, if you want to try to get some help, I'd recommend MMI. They are helping me eliminate my past CC debt and negotiated rates with my creditors (especially ones that I tried to talk with and had no luck). They negotiated my rates down from about 25-30% to 0, 3, and 6%. Good luck!

 

[BurnItDwn]

If his equity on his house is significantly less than his CC debt and if he has no job then it's time for him to declare bankruptcy. He might also want to consider gamblers anonymous.

 

[Vette73]

Thanks SP33Demon I will look into MMI, they have a office in fairfax VA


But yea bankruptcy is what i thought of but he does not want that. So I rather someone outside the family say it to him and maybe he will get it. He is for the most part judgement proof. His house is probable worth less then he owes, his car is still being fixed by me and its not worth much now, and no real assets.

And no we are not signing our name to his debt.

Yep I also agree even if they get his debt/% rate down he will still be unable to pay it.

 

[tynopik]

"good credit counselor company" is an oxymoron

all they do is leech money off people who can't afford it

hook him up with www.creditboards.com and the fatwallet finance forum (such as the IBJanky Story)

of course the most critical part is getting a real job (not daytrading)

or 2 or 3 jobs as the case may be

if he can't find a job, tell him to work at mcdonald's while he's looking

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Unfortunately, for that much debt, he might have to file for bankruptcy, otherwise the interest will pile on itself and become a never ending cycle.

Also, consider this to be an issue like gambling. The stock market isn't anything more than a casino based around company ownership. If you're good, then sure, there's lots of money to be made, but for most, it's a gamble.

 

[rasczak]

Mycesi.org

I've used them for the past 4 years. I'm one credit card away from finishing my debt of $8000. dropped my monthly payments over $400/mo to $235/mo. They were able to get my interest charges dropped to zero on most of my accounts so I was paying mostly principal.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975

Originally posted by: Ness
Just make sure you aren't co-signing on anything for him.

What are his monthlies? Does he have wife/kids or anything?

He has no kids/wife. Right now the game plan is for me and my wife to take over the house bills, we don't have cable but they do so that will either be cut or gone. We will leave the basic FIOS internet so they can keep the vonage box and use the internet for job hunting and such. The other family members will take care of the house payment for now.

So the CC will be his only true bill for now. We also want him to go back to school, even if its just a AA degree. We want him to be abel to pay his bills after this is over with.

FIOS could/should be dropped down to a $15/month DSL connection, assuming he isn't in a contract.

Also, do any family members have space where they can stay? Maybe get rid of their house and work on clearing debts to start over...

Out of curiosity, how long did it take for this debt to pile up after the first maybe 1-2k?

 

[venkman]

Originally posted by: tynopik
"good credit counselor company" is an oxymoron

all they do is leech money off people who can't afford it

hook him up with www.creditboards.com and the fatwallet finance forum (such as the IBJanky Story)

of course the most critical part is getting a real job (not daytrading)

or 2 or 3 jobs as the case may be

if he can't find a job, tell him to work at mcdonald's while he's looking

The IBJanky story was a guy getting out of $16k in debt while pulling 6 figures and it still took him two years.

 

[Vette73]

Yea I posted at fatwallet as well and was told about www.creditboards.com. I posted there as well but it has not come up. The Mods need to read it first since I am new I guess.


But yea we want his hands to be tied as I think he may do it again. He did not do this to be rich or anything but to make sure he can take care of the house and his parents. The road to hell... type thing.


The house is the house they were able to buy when they got to the US. So they want to keep it, though my wife wanted to get rid of it. We take in mom and 1 brother the other house take dad and the other brother. The older sister makes enough to get an apartment. But they feel losing the house woudl bring shame, again with the "Asian stereotype" type thing.

Thanks again.

 

[tynopik]

Originally posted by: venkman
The IBJanky story was a guy getting out of $16k in debt while pulling 6 figures and it still took him two years.

it was $17K in credit cards and $10k in student loans on $28k per year

the numbers may be different but the principles are the same

(i don't think the student loans got paid off in 2 years)

 

[tynopik]

the other site to look at is debtorboards.com

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: venkman
$110K!!! Holy Crap, the Interest on that alone is probably over $1000 a month! Even a negotiated settlement would probably be in the 50-60k range at a high rate of interest and still leave a black mark on the credit score. At that point, bankruptcy maybe his best option. It would take him longer to pay it off then to have his credit score recover. He might want to skip the credit counselors and start talking to some lawyers.

not to mention he'd have to pay the taxes on the difference as income.