Settling Credit Card Debt Without Hurting Your Credit

Major Advantages of Debt Settlement When most people attempt to get out of debt, they have more than one goal. Folks want to not only rid themselves of debt, but they also want to finish the process without completely destroying their credit score. One of the biggest issues with debt relief is that most people in debt don't understand their options. They think that they must continue to wallow away in debt, paying the minimum payment and ruining their own credit score. Even worse is the option of debt consolidation, which can do damage as well. So what is a good choice? One of the best ways to get debt off of your credit report and repair your credit score is through direct settlement. Many consumers don't know that credit card companies will work with them in many cases. Typically, you can settle your debt for a fraction of what you owe. The debt will have to be delinquent for more than six months in most cases, so that means that your credit score will take a hit in the short run. But credit card companies will allow you to settle the debt for less than half of what you owe in many cases. Since the amount of debt owed is a full 30% of your credit score, this can really help pull that score up.  More importantly, payment history drops off of the credit report after two years, so the record of the settlement will be gone right along with the debt. The way to make this happen is by contacting your creditors directly or having your credit card counseling firm do it for you. This way, you can avoid going to a debt consolidation company that will do nothing but make your credit worse. A credit score is a terrible thing to mismanage, so it is important that you take it seriously and do everything in your power to keep it above water.