Home Articles Getting Help with Credit Card Forgiveness

Getting Help with Credit Card Forgiveness

Credit card debt is on the rise. Over a third of all Americans have dropped further into the red in 2020 and close to half admit to feeling stressed and anxious about their growing balances.

Many debtors are desperate for some relief and PocketYourDollars has been providing just that. Created with the goal of helping consumers get their finances in order, this site came into its own in 2020. PocketYourDollars is now a valuable resource for millions of struggling Americans, with extensive guides on many credit card forgiveness programs.

If you have more debt than you can handle and are worried about your financial future, take a look at these credit card forgiveness options.

Balance Transfer

A balance transfer won’t forgive your credit card debt but it will make it easier to manage.

A balance transfer is essentially a credit card promotion used to attract new members. If you have $20,000 worth of debt spread across multiple cards and are paying $300 a month interest, you can move that onto a single balance transfer credit card and benefit from a 0% interest rate that lasts an average of 12 to 18 months.

In that period, you continue making payments on your balance and because you have a 0% APR, nothing will be lost to interest. Once the intro period ends, you’ll have cleared a substantial amount of your balance and when the interest accrues again, it will be much smaller.

Click here for more info on balance transfers and how they should be used.

Debt Settlement

Debt settlement is often performed by a debt specialist who works on your behalf. They will contact your creditors and negotiate reduced settlement amounts, offering to pay a lump sum for clearance of the debt.

A good debt specialist can clear debts for an average of 50% of their original value and, in some cases, they can save as much as 90%. It has an air of “too good to be true” about it and this can turn some consumers away. After all, why would a creditor accept a $1,000 payment on a $10,000 debt?

The settlement process works because the specialist first requests that you stop paying your debts and put your payments into a secured account instead. The creditor then gets desperate and begins the process of collection, which ultimately results in them selling the debt to a collector for cents on the dollar.

If they’re weeks away from selling a $10,000 debt for $100 and someone offers them $1,000 to clear it in full, they’ll accept. Of course, refusing to pay your debts for many weeks or months could result in serious credit score damage and stress, so it’s important to work with the right company and know what you’re doing. Take a peek at our debt settlement guide for more info.

Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy can clear your debts but it’s not without its problems. Although it’s often seen as an easy way out, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Chapter 7 bankruptcy is the most common filing and is also known as liquidation bankruptcy. It clears most of your unsecured debts, including credit cards, personal loans, and medical debt. However, it also remains on your credit report for up to 10 years, and for the first few years, you’ll struggle to get a mortgage or low-interest unsecured loan.

It’s a last resort option, not a cop-out, and if the courts determine that you haven’t exhausted all other possibilities then your case will be refused.

Bankruptcy can also be expensive, as you’ll be asked to pay filing fees and you’ll need a bankruptcy attorney. For more information, take a look at our guide to Chapter 7 Bankruptcy and How to Get a Credit Card after Bankruptcy.

More Credit Card Forgiveness Options

The debt relief industry caters to millions of Americans who find themselves with more debt than they can handle. In addition to balance transfers, debt settlement, and bankruptcy, debtors can also look into debt payment strategies like Debt Snowball and Debt Avalanche, as well as debt management and debt consolidation companies.

The important thing to remember is that credit card debt is common and there are multiple ways to address it.