Credit card company raised my interest! (1 Viewer)

I hate to bring up personal problems to people I don't know, but I figured that my friends at the HTF might be able to help me.

My financial picture is not good. But, I have never been late paying my credit obligations. Apparently, one of my creditors decided that they no longer want me to do business with them, and they raised my rate to a whopping 29 percent! They tell me that they sent me an "opt out" letter. Yeah right...mixed in with all of the 15 "credit protector" letters I get a month. Also, back in April I was recovering from back surgery so I guess I overlooked the junk mail letter they sent me. I have pleaded my case with them, and tried with no luck to close my account at the old rate. Now they want a 100 dollar payment that is all interest and NO principal! I have no way to re-pay this debt. I have tried 4 times to get a different card to try and move this money but no one will give me another card. I pulled my credit. Everything is "paid-never late" with the exception of one 30 day on my car back in November of last year. Too many accounts. Yep. And a buttload of inquiries. Now I am stuck with a 4000 dollar card that I could never pay.

My choices: Keep paying the theives at C$3%e bank 100 dollars a month for nothing, and hope that I can pay some of it with my income tax next year. Blow off the debt and ruin what is left of my credit. Go bankrupt (I have never liked this but now I know why so many people do it). Go crying to Mommy which is really ridiculous for a 40 year old man.

What I can't do: Pay it. I have negative money every month already. I can't do home equity, I just did that in November. I can't get another card to "flip" it to. I have no collateral for a loan.

Does anyone have any suggestions? It is really bad that I have less than 10 grand in credit debt, I make good money, and I can't get out of this jam! Credit cards are the DEVIL!

-Wes

Sorry to hear about your troubles.

I hate to say it, but if you think your mom/parents can help you out of this mess with the full promise that you will pay them back over time, then to save your credit rating, I'd ask for the persoanl "family" loan.

It's WAY better than being 40 with terrible credit which will haunt your FOREVER.

Just my nickels worth.

Good luck!

It's also better then paying interest only payments.

Go ask your parents for help with the promise of paying them back and not going further into debt. If my daughter at any age in her life came and asked me for help (financial or otherwise) I'd do it in a heartbeat.

don't do either of those ... you're already in a tough spot and if you do that you'll *never* get yourself out of the hole.

like others have said, perhaps a personal loan is your best bet here. it sounds like you have decent credit ... just too many inquiries.

---

believe me, i know what you're going through. it took me years to get myself back on the good credit train -- and i had to bite a few bullets along the way. but now i have nearly perfect credit ... my realtor actually told me my credit score recently went up (somewhere in the high 700's i think). so, it is doable bud ... it's just going to take some time. best wishes!

DON'T declare bankruptcy. Your problem is actually quite mild compared to some horror stories I have heard. Bankruptcy will screw your credit up for years.

KEEP paying the credit card company. Don't miss a payment. Call them and see if you can arrange a payment program, sometimes they are flexible if you are making an effort to pay them. Don't wait until they call you for missing a payment.

That said, DON'T miss a mortgage payment to pay off your credit card. Credit card debt is less important than paying for the roof over your head. The mortgage is the most important bill to pay each month. If you lose your house, it will be next to impossible to buy another one in the near future.


Sounds like you need to get a temporary second job, if you don't have one already. Yes, it will suck, but at least you'll be doing something positive to pull yourself out of this.

Another possibilty: sell your house and buy a much cheaper one. You didn't go into the details as to why you have negative money, but being house-poor is often a reason.

Do you have any assets you can sell? Now may be the time to sell them and pay off that debt.

I would be careful about borrowing from loved ones if there is no reason to believe your income is going to improve in the near future. You need to cut out ALL unnecessary expenses (yes, high-speed internet is unnecessary, as is premium channels on cable, etc.) and free up some money. Good luck!

Have you looked into a home equity loan that would pay off your current one AND allow you to pay off your credit card debt? I've done this before. Don't know what your financial picture is like, but an extra $4000 on a five year HEL at 6.5% would be less than $80/month more. Plus, the interest is tax-deductible which is definitely not the case when paying the credit card companies. Speaking from experience, if you go the home equity loan route, make sure you chop up your credit cards after paying them off to avoid the temptation to run up additional debt.

Unfortunately, some parents might not help their children if that happens. I know one fellow who had decided to resolve his credit card issue and went to his family for assistance, and he got the shaft from his elderly, miserly mother who flat-out refused to help him at all because she wanted to sit on her money and not spend a dime.

However, if my children came to me in a financial bind, my wife and I would help them in a heartbeat. Shouldn't all parents help their children out of a financial hardship?

Forty years old seems pretty well on the way to being qualified as an adult vs a child....maybe not in all cases, but usually.

Bite the proverbial bullet Wes. You dug this hole and it's best you stop digging ASAP and then start filling it in a little at a time.

Mort

There never was, and never has been, in the history of the world, an 'Opt Out' letter ever sent to anyone. They just tell you that to shut you up.

And your intrest was raised to 29% Not because you were late, but because you carried a balance. The bank knows you cant pay, so they jack your rate and bleed you like a maple tree. An theres no 'easy way out' save for winning the lottery :frowning:

Sell everything you don't need to survive - everything. Just make sure you don't piss it away. Make one big-ass payment, whatever that might be after the sell-off, you'll get some self-confidence back and boost your self-esteem the next time the bill shows up with a smaller balance.

Cancel everything that costs money - cell if you can without incurring penalties, cable, long-distance, internet, netflix, coke, pot, all of it. Eat at home. Become a hermit. Exercise.

Wes,

I suggest finding Dave Ramsey's The Total Money Makeover at your local library. Lots of sound advice for digging your way out of debt and living debt-free. Not for the weak of heart, but very sound advice.

Best of luck,
-Brett.

I just want to Vomit hearing stories like this. Credit card companies are just the Devil. Plane and simple. 29 percent HOLY SCHNIKIES.



I once dated a girl who come to find out after she left me was $40,000.00 in the hole in CC DEBT. The best part was she work in FINANCE

Not uncommon with high risk debt. Higher for more esoteric finance options such as commercial insurance policy finance...no matter what your credit rating. Me thinks a lot of people are going to be finding out the true meaning of an ARM mortgage in the not too distant future.

Mort (who wants to know what a Schnikie is)

I'll whole-heartedly second Brett_H's recommendation for the Dave Ramsey book. Dave is awesome.

Deliver pizzas at night, sell everything that isn't nailed down, whatever it takes.

A $4000 debt could be gone by this time next year, easy.

There is nothing forcing you to spend the money in the first place.

I agree with others here. sell anything that isn't essential, get rid of any recurring payments for nonessential items, get a second job, etc. $4K is relatively little to deal with. If you smoke or drink, quit. Get rid of the credit cards. If you can't pay cash for it, you don't need it.

It may not be easy, but if you got yourself into this mess, you can get yourself out. The thing to learn is how this happened in the first place so you don't do it again.

its a line from the Chris farley Movie Tommy Boy.

Ah...that explains it.

Mort (who has no idea who Chris Farley is/was but has never seen the movie anyway)

Dude! You did a mortgage consolidation in Nov and you already have $4000 on your credit card?

You are upside-down on your monthy payments. Ther is no easy fix.

Avoid the consumer credit counselor ripoffs. Mot are scams.

If you belong to a church ask if they offer financial/credit counsel.

If you have a large employer ask for personal services. Most offer confidential counsel or referral.

You cannot dig yourself out so long as your budget is upside down. Fix that or your troubles will only get worse. Much worse.

I agree with the warning about borrowing from loved ones. If you cannot guarrantee repayment in the near future then don't do it. You shouldn't make other people suffer any longer than they are willing to help.

I just reread some of your past. I beleive one other member has also mentioned that you did a REFI a few months back and you are back in the hole 4 grand already WTF. How the hell did that happen. I am just sitting here in complete shock.

Being some one who is free from the binds of the EVIL CREDIT CARD COMPANIES all I can say is goood Luck.