By David Pilley on April 20, 2011
.jpg.aspx) If you are going to have a personal debt written off, you really need to be in a hole and you must be unable to pay the entire amount. Once you get 180 days behind on your payments, your creditor is supposed to “write-off” the debt to show he/she has incurred a loss. The creditor has the option of selling the debt to a collection agency, and things could get ugly from there. You might start getting harassing phone calls or threats of charges being filed against you. From here, you might have a judgment placed against you, resulting in a loss of property. If you don’t want this to happen, you need to act before getting 180 days behind.
As always, you need to know the type of debt we’re dealing with. Only unsecured debts can be written off. Credit cards, hospital bills, and store charge cards are some of the debts that can be written off. Mortgages and car loans are secured with collateral, so these types of loans cannot be written off. The property is simply taken away if payments are not received in an adequate amount of time.
Next, you need to know when is the right time to have a debt written off. The simple answer is when you’ve fallen behind on your payments. The more detailed answer is when you’ve fallen way behind on your payments. The time to start thinking about it is when you are about four months, or 120 days, behind. You must have a valid reason to pursue having your debt written off. If you have recently lost your job and you don’t have a reliable source of income, this is another circumstance where you can get a write-off.
So how do you go about with the procedure? Well, first you need a copy of your credit report. Next, you need financial statements, such as credit card bills and bank statements, from the past 12 months. Provide medical records if you suffered an illness, and provide employment history. You should also provide a copy of your layoff to show you no longer make an adequate amount of income to pay the debt.
With all of this information, your creditor should write off all or a portion of the debt. If not all of it is written off, there should be a payment schedule made, one that you can afford to pay. The amount that is written off will still be taxable income, so you are going to have to pay the IRS when you file.
With a write-off, the good news is that your debt will no longer accumulate interest beyond state-set limits. The bad news is you might lose all of your credit cards, and it may be awhile before you can get another one. Since the write-off will appear on your credit score for seven years, your score may be a bit lower than you want. Pursue a write-off with caution, and make sure it is not your first option in lowering your debt.
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