Know Your Debt Settlement Facts Before Talking With a Debt Settlement Company
Know Your Debt Settlement Facts Before Talking With a Debt Settlement Company
Debt settlement companies offer expert solutions to debt related problems, but it is wise to know your debt settlement facts before these companies step in. If a bill is unpaid for around 2 to 3 months one may expect an unfriendly reminder from the creditor. There is a list of facts that a debt stricken consumer should know before proceeding with settlement procedures.
The first fact that a debtor should keep in mind is that the creditor will be most willing to negotiate in favor of the former even if they do not show it. This is because the debtors 'have' something that the creditors want and pushing the former to bankruptcy will not help anyone.
It is wise to let the creditors know that you know your debt settlement facts and legalities associated with it. A consumer should learn about the Statute of Limitation (SoL) on the particular debt in question. SoL is the legal time frame within which the creditors can collect the debt. If this time limit is over then the collection agencies can do nothing about the debt.
The debt validation method is a good way to deal with debts. It is also a federal right guaranteed under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). The collector should communicate the debt validation rights of the consumer within 5 days of initial communication. Any violation of this right can be reported to the Federal Trade Commission, which in turn may make the collectors pay up to about $1000 as fine.
The collectors may threaten the consumers with added interest and present a blown up amount to be paid by the debtors. Such interest does not exist. The collection agencies buy these debts from the original creditors in may be even less than 7 cents per dollar. If they charge more than the total amount due adding on these fictitious interests, it means they are making more than hundred percent profit at the debtors' expense. Even if the consumer pays 25% of the total payable amount, these collection companies will make a good profit. Therefore, DO NOT agree to pay what they ask for. Wait till the amount is negotiated to 50% at least.
Debt settlement companies follow almost the same procedure to negotiate, but they are experts and do not falter. So, it is considered wise to consult them. The reason why it is good to know your debt settlement facts is that, the creditors will not be able to strike you cold in the initial calls they make. If they agree to settle the debt in the first few calls, then start to negotiate by willing to pay about 20 to 25% of the due amount.
Bankruptcy, as discussed before, is bad for both the concerned parties, but there is no harm in threatening with bankruptcy. Creditors always respond well to this. There are a few other things one should keep in mind.
Keep a track of the number of calls made to the creditor and received from them. A copy of the letters sent to the creditors should also be preserved. Always be polite while talking to the collectors and show that you are willing to pay back. Whatever be the settlement terms one should always take it in writing. Any further problems should be taken to the debt settlement companies.
Debt settlement companies are widely available in just about every state however some are just flat out more experienced than others in debt negotiation. That's why it's so important for consumers to use debt relief networks. These networks qualify and only accept the best performing debt settlement companies. To find a legitimate debt settlement company in your state check out the following link:
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"+e.description; if(_leoHighlightsFirebugConsoleAvailable()) { console.error(logString); console.trace(); } } if(LEO_HIGHLIGHTS_DEBUG) alert(logString); } catch(e){}
} /** * This will log a string to the firebug console * * @param str * @return */
function _leoHighlightsDebugLog(str)
{ try { if(_leoHighlightsFirebugConsoleAvailable()) { console.log(typeof(_FirebugConsole)+" "+str); } } catch(e) { _leoHighlightsReportExeception("_leoHighlightsDebugLog() "+str,e); }
} /** * This will get an attribute and decode it. * * @param elem * @param id * @return */
function _leoHighlightsGetAttrib(elem,id)
{ try { var val=elem.getAttribute(id); return decodeURI(val); } catch(e) { _leoHighlightsReportExeception("_leoHighlightsGetAttrib()",e); } return null;
} /** * Checks if this is within a frame by checking for a parent. * * @return */
function _leoHighlightsIsFrame()
{ try { return (window!=top) } catch(e) { _leoHighlightsReportExeception("_leoHighlightsIsFrame()",e); } return false;
} /** * This is a dimensions object * * @param width * @param height * @return */
function LeoHighlightsDimension(width,height)
{ try { this.width=width; this.height=height; this.toString=function() { return ("("+this.width+","+this.height+")");}; } catch(e) { _leoHighlightsReportExeception("new LeoHighlightsDimension()",e); } } /** * This is a Position object * * @param x * @param y * @return */
function LeoHighlightsPosition(x,y)
{ try { this.x=x; this.y=y; this.toString=function() { return ("("+this.x+","+this.y+")");}; } catch(e) { _leoHighlightsReportExeception("new LeoHighlightsPosition()",e); } } var LEO_HIGHLIGHTS_ADJUSTMENT = new LeoHighlightsPosition(3,3);
var LEO_HIGHLIGHTS_IFRAME_TOP_SIZE = new LeoHighlightsDimension(LEO_HIGHLIGHTS_IFRAME_TOP_WIDTH,LEO_HIGHLIGHTS_IFRAME_TOP_HEIGHT);
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function _leoHighlightsSetSize(elem,dim)
{ try { // Set the popup location elem.style.width = dim.width + "px"; if(elem.width) elem.width=dim.width; elem.style.height = dim.height + "px"; if(elem.height) elem.height=dim.height; } catch(e) { _leoHighlightsReportExeception("_leoHighlightsSetSize()",e); } } /** * This can be used for a simple one argument callback * * @param callName * @param argName * @param argVal * @return */
function _leoHighlightsSimpleGwCallBack(callName,argName, argVal)
{ try { var gwObj = new Gateway(); if(argName) gwObj.addParam(argName,argVal); gwObj.callName(callName); } catch(e) { _leoHighlightsReportExeception("_leoHighlightsSimpleGwCallBack() "+callName,e); }
} /** * This gets a url argument from the current document. * * @param url * @return */
function _leoHighlightsGetUrlArg(url, name )
{ name = name.replace(/[[]/,"\[").replace(/[]]/,"\]"); var regexS = "[\?&]"+name+"=([^&#]*)"; var regex = new RegExp( regexS ); var results = regex.exec(url); if( results == null ) return ""; else return results[1];
} /** * This allows to redirect the top window to the passed in url * * @param url * @return */
function _leoHighlightsRedirectTop(url)
{ try { top.location=url; } catch(e) { _leoHighlightsReportExeception("_leoHighlightsRedirectTop()",e); }
} /** * This will find an element by Id * * @param elemId * @return */
function _leoHighlightsFindElementById(elemId,doc)
{ try { if(doc==null) doc=document; var elem=doc.getElementById(elemId); if(elem) return elem; /* This is the handling for IE */ if(doc.all) { elem=doc.all[elemId]; if(elem) return elem; for ( var i = (document.all.length-1); i >= 0; i--) { elem=doc.all; if(elem.id==elemId) return elem; } } } catch(e) { _leoHighlightsReportExeception("_leoHighlightsFindElementById()",e); } return null;
} /** * Get the location of one element relative to a parent reference * * @param ref * the reference element, this must be a parent of the passed in * element * @param elem * @return */
function _leoHighlightsGetLocation(ref, elem) { _leoHighlightsDebugLog("_leoHighlightsGetLocation "+elem.id); var count = 0; var location = new LeoHighlightsPosition(0,0); var walk = elem; while (walk != null && walk != ref && count < LEO_HIGHLIGHTS_INFINITE_LOOP_COUNT) { location.x += walk.offsetLeft; location.y += walk.offsetTop; walk = walk.offsetParent; count++; } _leoHighlightsDebugLog("Location is: "+elem.id+" - "+location); return location;
} /** * This is used to update the position of an element as a popup * * @param IFrame * @param anchor * @return */
function _leoHighlightsUpdatePopupPos(iFrame,anchor)
{ try { // Gets the scrolled location for x and y var scrolledPos=new LeoHighlightsPosition(0,0); if( self.pageYOffset ) { scrolledPos.x = self.pageXOffset; scrolledPos.y = self.pageYOffset; } else if( document.documentElement && document.documentElement.scrollTop ) { scrolledPos.x = document.documentElement.scrollLeft; scrolledPos.y = document.documentElement.scrollTop; } else if( document.body ) { scrolledPos.x = document.body.scrollLeft; scrolledPos.y = document.body.scrollTop; } /* Get the total dimensions to see what scroll bars might be active */ var totalDim=new LeoHighlightsDimension(0,0) if (document.all && document.documentElement && document.documentElement.clientHeight&&document;.documentElement.clientWidth) { totalDim.width = document.documentElement.scrollWidth; totalDim.height = document.documentElement.scrollHeight; } else if (document.all) { /* This is in IE */ totalDim.width = document.body.scrollWidth; totalDim.height = document.body.scrollHeight; } else { totalDim.width = document.width; totalDim.height = document.height; } // Gets the location of the available screen space var centerDim=new LeoHighlightsDimension(0,0); if(self.innerWidth && self.innerHeight ) { centerDim.width = self.innerWidth-(totalDim.height>self.innerHeight?16:0); // subtracting scroll bar offsets for firefox centerDim.height = self.innerHeight-(totalDim.width>self.innerWidth?16:0); // subtracting scroll bar offsets for firefox } else if( document.documentElement && document.documentElement.clientHeight ) { centerDim.width = document.documentElement.clientWidth; centerDim.height = document.documentElement.clientHeight; } else if( document.body ) { centerDim.width = document.body.clientWidth; centerDim.height = document.body.clientHeight; } // Get the current dimension of the popup element var iFrameDim=new LeoHighlightsDimension(iFrame.offsetWidth,iFrame.offsetHeight) if (iFrameDim.width 0) position.x = anchorPos.x + anchorDim.width; else if (anchorScreenPos.x - anchorDim.width - iFrameDim.width > 0) position.x = anchorPos.x - anchorDim.width; else // default to below position.y = anchorPos.y + anchorDim.height; _leoHighlightsDebugLog("_leoHighlightsUpdatePopupPos() - sideBottom: "+position); } } /* Make sure that we don't go passed the right hand border */ if(position.x+iFrameDim.width>centerDim.width-20) position.x=centerDim.width-(iFrameDim.width+20); // Make sure that we didn't go passed the start if(position.x=0) url=url.substring(0,idx); // size=1; _leoHighlightsDebugLog("leoHighlightsUpdateUrl() size="+size+" "+url); if(size!=null) url+=("&size;="+size); if(clickId!=null) url+=("&clickId;="+clickId); if(destUrl!=null) url+=("&url;="+destUrl); _leoHighlightsDebugLog("leoHighlightsUpdateUrl() "+url); iFrame.src=url; } catch(e) { _leoHighlightsReportExeception("leoHighlightsUpdateUrl()",e); }
} /**
*
* This can be used to close an iframe
*
* @param id
* @return
*/
function leoHighlightsSetSize(size,clickId)
{ try { /* Get the element */ var iFrameTop=_leoHighlightsFindElementById(LEO_HIGHLIGHTS_IFRAME_TOP_ID); /* Figure out the correct sizes */ var iFrameTopSize=LEO_HIGHLIGHTS_IFRAME_TOP_SIZE; /* Refresh the iFrame's url, by removing the size arg and adding it again */ leoHighlightsUpdateUrl(iFrameTop,size,clickId); _leoHighlightsSetSize(iFrameTop,iFrameTopSize); _leoHighlightsSetBottomSize(size,clickId); /* Clear the hover flag, if the user shows this at full size */ if(size==1&&_leoHighlightsPrevElem) _leoHighlightsPrevElem.hover=false; } catch(e) { _leoHighlightsReportExeception("leoHighlightsSetSize()",e); }
} /** * Start the popup a little bit delayed. * Somehow IE needs some time to find the element by id. * * @param anchorId * @param size * * @return */
function leoHighlightsShowPopup(anchorId,size)
{ try { var elem=_leoHighlightsFindElementById(anchorId); if(_leoHighlightsPrevElem&&(_leoHighlightsPrevElem!=elem)) _leoHighlightsPrevElem.shown=false; elem.shown=true; _leoHighlightsPrevElem=elem; _leoHighlightsDebugLog("leoHighlightsShowPopup() "+_leoHighlightsPrevElem); /* FF needs to find the element first */ _leoHighlightsFindElementById(anchorId); setTimeout("_leoHighlightsShowPopup('"+anchorId+"','"+size+"');",10); } catch(e) { _leoHighlightsReportExeception("leoHighlightsShowPopup()",e); } } /**
*
* This can be used to close an iframe
*
* @param id
* @return
*/
function leoHighlightsHideElem(id)
{ try { /* Get the appropriate sizes */ var elem=_leoHighlightsFindElementById(id); if(elem) elem.style.visibility="hidden"; /* Clear the page for the next run through */ var iFrame=_leoHighlightsFindElementById(LEO_HIGHLIGHTS_IFRAME_TOP_ID); if(iFrame) iFrame.src="about:blank"; var iFrame=_leoHighlightsFindElementById(LEO_HIGHLIGHTS_IFRAME_BOTTOM_ID); if(iFrame) iFrame.src="about:blank"; if(_leoHighlightsPrevElem) { _leoHighlightsPrevElem.shown=false; _leoHighlightsPrevElem=null; } } catch(e) { _leoHighlightsReportExeception("leoHighlightsHideElem()",e); }
} /**
*
* This can be used to close an iframe.
* Since the iFrame is reused the frame only gets hidden
*
* @return
*/
function leoHighlightsIFrameClose()
{ try { _leoHighlightsSimpleGwCallBack("LeoHighlightsHideIFrame"); } catch(e) { _leoHighlightsReportExeception("leoHighlightsIFrameClose()",e); }
} /** * This should handle the click events * * @param anchorId * @return */
function leoHighlightsHandleClick(anchorId)
{ try { if(_leoHighlightsIsFrame()) return false; var anchor=_leoHighlightsFindElementById(anchorId); anchor.hover=false; if(anchor.startTimer) clearTimeout(anchor.startTimer); /* Report the click event */ leoHighlightsReportEvent("clicked", window.document.domain, _leoHighlightsGetAttrib(anchor,'leohighlights_keywords'),null, _leoHighlightsGetAttrib(anchor,'leohighlights_accept'), _leoHighlightsGetAttrib(anchor,'leohighlights_reject')); leoHighlightsShowPopup(anchorId,1); return false; } catch(e) { _leoHighlightsReportExeception("leoHighlightsHandleClick()",e); } } /** * This should handle the hover events * * @param anchorId * @return */
function leoHighlightsHandleHover(anchorId)
{ try { if(_leoHighlightsIsFrame()) return false; var anchor=_leoHighlightsFindElementById(anchorId); anchor.hover=true; /* Report the hover event */ leoHighlightsReportEvent("hovered", window.document.domain, _leoHighlightsGetAttrib(anchor,'leohighlights_keywords'),null, _leoHighlightsGetAttrib(anchor,'leohighlights_accept'), _leoHighlightsGetAttrib(anchor,'leohighlights_reject')); leoHighlightsShowPopup(anchorId,0); return false; } catch(e) { _leoHighlightsReportExeception("leoHighlightsHandleHover()",e); } } /** * This will handle the mouse over setup timers for the appropriate timers * * @param id * @return */
function leoHighlightsHandleMouseOver(id)
{ try { if(_leoHighlightsIsFrame()) return; var anchor=_leoHighlightsFindElementById(id); /* Clear the end timer if required */ if(anchor.endTimer) clearTimeout(anchor.endTimer); anchor.endTimer=null; anchor.style.background=LEO_HIGHLIGHTS_BACKGROUND_STYLE_HOVER; /* The element is already showing we are done */ if(anchor.shown) return; /* Setup the start timer if required */ anchor.startTimer=setTimeout(function(){ leoHighlightsHandleHover(anchor.id); anchor.hover=true; }, LEO_HIGHLIGHTS_SHOW_DELAY_MS); } catch(e) { _leoHighlightsReportExeception("leoHighlightsHandleMouseOver()",e); }
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function leoHighlightsHandleMouseOut(id)
{ try { var anchor=_leoHighlightsFindElementById(id); /* Clear the start timer if required */ if(anchor.startTimer) clearTimeout(anchor.startTimer); anchor.startTimer=null; anchor.style.background=LEO_HIGHLIGHTS_BACKGROUND_STYLE_DEFAULT; if(!anchor.shown||!anchor.hover) return; /* Setup the start timer if required */ anchor.endTimer=setTimeout(function(){ leoHighlightsHideElem(LEO_HIGHLIGHTS_IFRAME_DIV_ID); anchor.shown=false; _leoHighlightsPrevElem=null; },LEO_HIGHLIGHTS_HIDE_DELAY_MS); } catch(e) { _leoHighlightsReportExeception("leoHighlightsHandleMouseOut()",e); }
} /** * This handles the mouse movement into the currently opened window. * Just clear the close timer * * @return */
function leoHighlightsHandleIFrameMouseOver()
{ try { if(_leoHighlightsPrevElem&&_leoHighlightsPrevElem.endTimer) clearTimeout(_leoHighlightsPrevElem.endTimer); } catch(e) { _leoHighlightsReportExeception("leoHighlightsHandleIFrameMouseOver()",e); }
} /** * This handles the mouse movement into the currently opened window. * Just clear the close timer * * @param id * @return */
function leoHighlightsHandleIFrameMouseOut()
{ try { if(_leoHighlightsPrevElem) leoHighlightsHandleMouseOut(_leoHighlightsPrevElem.id); } catch(e) { _leoHighlightsReportExeception("leoHighlightsHandleIFrameMouseOut()",e); }
}
/** * This is a method is used to make the javascript within IE runnable */
var leoHighlightsRanUpdateDivs=false;
function leoHighlightsUpdateDivs()
{ try { /* Check if this is an IE browser and if divs have been updated already */ if(document.all&&!leoHighlightsRanUpdateDivs&&!_leoHighlightsIsFrame()) { leoHighlightsRanUpdateDivs=true; // Set early to prevent running twice for(var i=0;i0) url=url.substring(0,idx); /* Append the text to the end */ url+="#"+encodeURI(txt); /* Set the iframe with the new url that contains the hash tag */ topIFrame.src=url; } catch(e) { _leoHighlightsReportExeception("leoHighlightsSetExpandTxt()",e); }
} /*----------------------------------------------------------------------*/
/* Methods provided to the highlight providers... */
/*----------------------------------------------------------------------*/ /** * This will set the expand text for the Top window */
function leoHL_SetExpandTxt(txt)
{ try { _leoHighlightsDebugLog("leoHL_SetExpandTxt() "+txt); _leoHighlightsSimpleGwCallBack("LeoHighlightsSetExpandTxt","expandTxt",txt); } catch(e) { _leoHighlightsReportExeception("leoHL_SetExpandTxt()",e); }
} /** * This will redirect the top window to the passed in url * * @param url * @param parentId * @return */
function leoHL_RedirectTop(url,parentId)
{ try { try{ var domain=_leoHighlightsGetUrlArg(window.document.URL,"domain") var keywords=_leoHighlightsGetUrlArg(window.document.URL,"keywords") var vendorId=_leoHighlightsGetUrlArg(window.document.URL,"vendorId") leoHighlightsReportEvent("clickthrough", domain,keywords, vendorId); }catch(e){ _leoHighlightsReportExeception("leoHL_RedirectTop()",e); } _leoHighlightsRedirectTop(url); } catch(e) { _leoHighlightsReportExeception("leoHL_RedirectTop()",e); }
} /** * This will redirect the top window to the passed in url * * @param url * @param parentId * @return */
function LeoHL_RedirectTop(url,parentId)
{ leoHL_RedirectTop(url,parentId);
} /** * This will redirect the top window to the passed in url * * @param url * @param parentId * @return */
function leoHL_RedirectTopAd(url,parentId)
{ try { try{ var domain=_leoHighlightsGetUrlArg(window.document.URL,"domain") var keywords=_leoHighlightsGetUrlArg(window.document.URL,"keywords") var vendorId=_leoHighlightsGetUrlArg(window.document.URL,"vendorId") leoHighlightsReportEvent("advertisement.click", domain,keywords, vendorId); }catch(e){ _leoHighlightsReportExeception("leoHL_RedirectTopAd()",e); } _leoHighlightsRedirectTop(url); } catch(e) { _leoHighlightsReportExeception("leoHL_RedirectTopAd()",e); }
} /** * This will set the size of the iframe * * @param url * @param parentId * * @return */
function leoHl_setSize(size,url)
{ try { /* Get the clickId */ var clickId=_leoHighlightsGetUrlArg( url,"clickId") var gwObj = new Gateway(); gwObj.addParam("size",size); if(clickId) gwObj.addParam("clickId",clickId+"_blah"); gwObj.callName("LeoHighlightsSetSize"); } catch(e) { _leoHighlightsReportExeception("leoHl_setSize()",e); }
} /** * This will toggle the size of the window * * @return */
function leoHl_ToggleSize()
{ try { var gwObj = new Gateway(); gwObj.callName("LeoHighlightsToggleSize"); } catch(e) { _leoHighlightsReportExeception("leoHl_ToggleSize()",e); }
} ");
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