Debt Discovery &Contact:A Guide to Identifying &Reaching Your Creditors

Even during my bleakest financial periods, I was able to make payments to my creditors on time. Tout le monde n’a pas cette chance. Some people give up and eventually lose track of where they owe money. Nick wrote last week wondering what to do when you’re done running and ready to take responsibility for your debts:

I’ve made some bad choices financially in the past, and now I know that I owe companies money, but I’m not sure who or how much. How do I go about finding out so I can begin to pay them off and get out of debt?

Nick devrait commencer par demander une copie de son rapport de crédit gratuit à AnnualCreditReport.com, un site officiel des agences d'évaluation du crédit approuvé par le gouvernement. His credit report will list the name and contact information for each company to which he owes money. It will also note approximately how much he owes and how far behind on payments he is.

Next, Nick should call each company to verify the amount owed and to explain his situation. This will probably feel awkward at first, but it needs to be done. Il doit être armé d'informations précises. (Mise à jour :les commentateurs suggèrent de contacter les créanciers un par un, en commençant par la plus petite dette. « Réveillez-les » lentement.) Alors que Nick commence à rembourser sa dette, il a plusieurs choix.

Conseil en crédit à la consommation

He can seek help from a consumer credit counseling service. In the Get Rich Slowly discussion forum, Daisy provided an account of her positive experience with credit counseling. She notes, however, that some people have bad experiences. For a more extensive discussion, check out this old Ask Metafilter thread.

Bricolage

Il peut le faire lui-même. It is possible to get out of debt on your own — I’ve done it, and so have many others — but it takes hard work and discipline. I urge Nick to consider Dave Ramsey’s debt snowball method. Focus on paying the smallest bill first, and then move on to the next smallest. Éliminez rapidement les petites dettes. This isn’t mathematically ideal, but it will provide a psychological boost, and that’s probably more important in this case.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission warns that there are a lot of scammers ready to prey on people with poor credit histories. They make false promises while taking money from you that might have been used to pay down debts. Méfiez-vous des offres qui semblent trop belles pour être vraies. The FTC says that self help may be best, and they give tips on how to approach creditors.

Though I struggled to overcome massive debt, I’ve never actually been in Nick’s shoes before. L'avez-vous ? Comment avez-vous localisé vos créanciers ? Comment les avez-vous contactés ? Étaient-ils prêts à travailler avec vous ? Avez-vous bénéficié d'une aide extérieure ? Have you used a consumer credit counseling agency? What advice can you offer Nick as he prepares to confront his debt?

J.D. Roth

En 2006, J.D. a fondé Get Rich Slowly pour documenter sa quête du désendettement. Au fil du temps, il a appris à épargner et à investir. Aujourd'hui, il a réussi à prendre une retraite anticipée ! Il veut vous aider à maîtriser votre argent – ​​et votre vie. Aucune arnaque. Pas de gadgets. Juste des conseils financiers intelligents pour vous aider à atteindre vos objectifs.

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