Debt-Free Forever by Gail Vaz-Oxlade (the beginning after the end read novel .TXT) 📕

of your agreement with your creditor, you want to ensure this doesn’t happen. Ask for a commitment in writing not to report (or to have them remove) negative statements that will damage your credit record.

Step 12: Settle up. Do not ever send cash to settle a debt. Use a cheque so that you have a paper trail for your payment. Don’t send postdated cheques unless you have their agreement in writing not to cash them before their due dates, since some creditors try (and succeed) to cash them all at once and that’ll set your bank account twitching.

Step 13: Check your credit report. Wait 90 days and then verify that your credit report has been updated as agreed. If not, send a copy of the settlement letter to the credit bureaus and request in writing that your information be changed as per the agreement.

Step 14: Rinse and repeat. Yup, it’s time to call the next creditor on the list and go through the whole process again.

STAY BALANCED

Please, do not become so desperate about your debt that you fall for the predatory promises of fly-by-night companies offering to save you thousands and put a stop to collection calls. While I’m not overly fond of credit counselling services—you do know that these guys are funded by credit card companies, right?—they are sometimes a better alternative to paying huge fees only to end up two steps back.

Debt settlement is a time-consuming process, and lots of people just aren’t up to the task of figuring out the ins and outs so they leave it to credit counsellors. But know that if you can DIY, you’ll likely get a better deal. And you have the option of negotiating to save your credit history. The moment you sign on with credit counselling, you might as well have gone bankrupt, because future lenders view the R7 of credit counselling the same as the R9 of bankruptcy for lending purposes, and you’ll be as popular as a fox in a henhouse.

Whether you choose to do it yourself, seek help from a debt-settlement company, or go to credit counselling or a bankruptcy trustee, you must have a plan to make sure you’re never in this position again. That means making a budget that will work and sticking to it. And it means accepting that if you can’t pay for something today with cash, using credit is only going to start you back down the road to Debt Hell. For heaven’s sake, learn the lesson and don’t make the same mistakes again.

Sample Settlement Letter

Your name

Your address and telephone number

The date

Your creditor’s name

Address

Re: The account # you’re settling

I, (your name in full), wish to settle the outstanding debt (account number) with (name of creditor).

Explain why you’ve fallen behind and then end with:

I really want to get this debt paid off and am willing to make the following offer:

The current balance on the account is $. I am currently able to settle this amount for $. I would like to offer you this sum on the understanding that it is in full and final settlement of my debt, that I will be released from any liability, and that neither you nor any associated company will take further action to pursue this debt.

As part of this settlement, I’m requesting that you sign this letter as a written confirmation of our agreement, that you stop any legal action against me, that you delete any negative listings on all credit bureaus to which you report, and that you give notice that the account has been settled in full or “satisfied” to all the credit bureaus to which you report.

Upon acceptance of this arrangement, (creditor name) agrees to the terms and settlement conditions outlined here and I, (your name), will send a money order in the amount of (settlement amount) paid to (creditor) by (date).

In return, (creditor) agrees to forward this letter to all credit bureaus so negative listings will be deleted.

Print your name

Print the date

Sign your name

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thank you to all the people who helped me make this book my best yet. Curtis Russell, agent extraordinaire, persisted and convinced me this was the right time to do a new book, and then found me a great publisher with which to work. The folks at HarperCollins pulled out all the stops, especially Kate Cassaday, who made the editing process painless and took the book from good to great! Her perspicacity and persuasiveness left me in awe. My friend Kathryn read an early draft and asked good questions.

I also want to acknowledge my fans and web-peeps. These are the folks who keep me honest, listen patiently to my rants, and urge me to create the tools they need to take control of their money. It is because of them that I pulled up to a keyboard and started writing again after several years of no tap-tapping. Thank you for asking for this book so doggedly! I hope as you read this you can hear my voice, encouraging you to be all you can be.

INDEX

I was of two minds in creating this index. While I think an index can be a great tool for finding information fast, it can also be a shortcut for people who just want to focus on one area. That’s a mistake. Your financial life has to be seen in the larger context of your whole life, and if you do one part without taking care of the other details, your plan won’t work. So I give you this index with a warning: this is not a tool to circumvent the system I’m presenting here. If you want to be Debt-Free Forever, if you want to take control of your money and your life, you must read the book from beginning to end. If you want to check back on something once you’ve been through the book,