Have you started receiving credit card debt settlement notices in the mail? Have you been receiving collection calls? If this is the case, you have probably been in debt and been dealing with financial difficulties for quite some time.
Creditors are sometimes willing to settle the account for a lesser amount if the credit card account is seriously delinquent or has been written off. This creditor will usually accept the settled amount in one payment and the payment has to be made within a short period of time.
Now you may wonder why a creditor would settle for less than what is owed. Your credit card issuer is trying to reduce their losses and they have concerns about you paying this debt. Your credit issuer feels that recovering some of their money is better than not getting any of it back. Keep in mind that accepting a settlement may affect your borrowing ability in the future with this creditor, but it is a better option than bankruptcy or doing nothing at all.
A creditor will not usually settle on an account that is current. Normally, the account has to be at least 90 days delinquent before they will talk settlement and many credit card companies will...