How to deal with and/or work with your credit card companies during the Corona virus pandemic?
Unfortunately, no one knows how long the economy’s doors will remain shut in the United States. We have already seen the market take a steep pull back and literally almost every supermarket you walk into has shelves that look like an under-stocked ghost town.
If you are like most Americans, you will want to keep cash on hand right now and pay everything on credit card to extend the time period in which you have to pay it back while at the same time keeping some base level of liquidity.
With the economy slowing down, people’s wages will decrease, and they will have difficulty meeting their monthly obligations. Many Americans will prioritize keeping a roof over their head and food on the table. Their last priority naturally will be to pay off credit card debts which have charge a high interest rate but allow you to continue running up the credit card limit until the card is maxed out.
Did you know that on average a credit company will not file suit against a cardholder for about one year. This means with the credit companies own internal procedures and your own planning, you might be able to avoid going to court completely.
What Can You Do if You Know You are Going to Miss A Payment?
This is a personal decision and unique to each person. I rule of thumb we use at The Sands Law Group, APLC is explained inside this section.
If you have recently become unemployed and do not own a home, we recommend people to file for bankruptcy simply to provide relief as possible. quick as possible
What Are the Major Credit Card Companies Doing to Help?
At the time of this writing, the major credit card companies are not “forgiving” or writing off any of their customers debts. At best they are waiving interest and late charges or offering extended payments over time. Below is a link to BankRate’s assessment of what the major credit card companies have to offer and how they are working to help people affected by coronavirus.
https://www.bankrate.com/finance/credit-cards/issuer-assistance-programs-amid-coronavirus-fears/
What Happens if You Get Sued?
First. Take a Deep Breath. You or a family member or someone in your household has just received a stack of paperwork from a stranger from one of your credit cards that you have not been paying or even worst a company that you have never heard of.
You have 30 days to file a response to the summons of the lawsuit. At The Sands Law Group, we have several strategies in place that can help delay your response time and even resolve your lawsuit without you ever having to step into a courtroom.
We also look to save our clients as much money as possible during these difficult times. We will first look to see if you qualify for a fee waiver and can avoid paying your first appearance fees. If they cannot, first appearance fees in California typically cost anywhere from $270 to $400. Just to file an answer!!!
HOW WE CAN HELP
The Sands Law Group, APLC
We offer two main tracks for our clients. We try to avoid having clients file for bankruptcy. The word tends to resonate with people negatively and most people want to pay their credit card companies back something. The second option is to provide credit card resolution over time.
We have over ten years in collective experience in negotiating and settling credit card debts. There are two paths in resolving your credit card debt. The first has three subcategories. The first is to offer a lump sum payment to your creditor in lieu of the balance in fully, usually payable within thirty days of an achieved settlement. The second is a payment plan which can range anywhere from six months to 24 months. The third is a hybrid of both in which our clients offer a good faith payment up front and then pay a reduced balance over time.
Here is a silver lining without company. In the event hat we are unable to resolve your accounts, or your creditors simply are not willing to negotiate with you, then we will sit down and discuss
We are typically able to get credit card accounts resolved within 6 months to one year from the time
We fight relentlessly to negotiate with your credit card companies and get you the best deal possible.
We also are open and honest with our clients and will tell them up front if it is better for them to file for bankruptcy or try to work with their credit card companies. Call us to day for a free fifteen minute consultation at 213-788-4412 or email us at info@thesandslawgroup.com
– Thomas D. Sands, Esq
