Help Yourself to Debt Relief

Unfortunately, due to the financial recession that we have been facing as Americans for quite some time, many Americans have been dealing with personal financial hardships. Because the average American has at least a couple thousand dollars in charge card debt, this is the point where for thousands of consumers, credit card debt can become overwhelming. However, with so several fraudulent companies out there these days, thousands of consumers want to take care of their debts themselves. The good news is that with the information in this article, consumers will be able to handle their debts on their own in most cases.

First off, before consumers can make a plan to bring their debts down, they have to know what debts they have. With debt relief, as with anything else, preparation is key! Consumers should make a list of their charge cards starting with the highest APR and ending with the lowest annual percentage rate charge card account. The list should include the name of the bank issuing the credit card account, the balances, the APRs, the account numbers, and the minimum payment accepted by the issuer. Once people have this list, it is time to start working on getting rid of these debts.

The next thing Americans should do is call the bank that issues the credit card account with the highest annual percentage rate. At first, with most banks Americans will have to navigate through the automated system to get to a live representative. Once with a live representative, the consumer should say “Hi, I was looking over my charge card account statements and I noticed that this account has the highest interest rate out of all of my accounts. I like the charge card accounts and rewards that come with it but I can't see paying this high of an annual percentage rate, is there anything you can do to help me with getting the rate lowered?”. After asking this question, the representative will usually place the consumer on hold.

When the representative comes back, there will be one of 3 answers:

Answer #1: “Congratulations, your credit card account qualifies for a lower annual percentage rate of ___. I will go ahead and put this into affect today. Is there anything else I can help you with?”. If consumers receive this answer, it's time to hang up the phone and move on to the next account.

Answer #2: “Thank you for holding but, it seems like this is not my department, I will go ahead and get you to a representative that can help you with that.”. If consumers receive this answer, simply hold for the next representative and restart the process.

Answer #3: “Unfortunately, your account does not qualify for a lower interest rate at this time because ____”. If Americans receive this answer, it is important to take a note of the answer and do what it takes to fix the problem that is stopping them from getting lower interest rates.

After the first call, people scratch the charge card off of the list that reduced the APR for them. This will leave the charge cards that still have high APRs. It is time to place another, well, more humbling call. At this point, consumer should call the remaining banks and say “Hi, I am calling because I am facing a financial hardship but would like to work out a way that I can pay you back what I owe you. Unfortunately, I can't afford the payments anymore because _____. Can you help me with this?”.

After this is said, Americans will be transferred to the financial hardship department. The financial hardship department is going to gauge the level of financial hardship and help the consumer with the best probable outcome.