Seems like you have decided to take this on yourself in the place of hiring a debt relief company.  Well, if you have the talents and abilities to rival those of the professionals especially in the areas of communication, negotiation and documentation, then go on right ahead.Not too long ago, a nurse with a little bit of groundwork in tax laws took on the IRS single-handedly then so can you in the case of debt relief.

Keep these points in mind when you are settling credit card debt on your own.These top 3 strategies will make sure that you are closer to dealing with those credit card companies head-on.

Make Sure that Your Accounts Are Significantly Delinquent

You can try to negotiate a lower principal amount on your credit card bills as soon as you feel that making the minimum monthly payment is not going to be possible or if you feel that the debts are not going to be paid due to other fiscal priorities/emergencies.You should bear in mind that the debt relief process cannot be used unless your accounts are sufficiently delinquent.

Wondering how delinquent?Delinquent credit card accounts are written off by creditors once the 180+ days windows has completed.The writeoff causes the account to drop in value significantly and third parties usually buy these for real cheap – sometimes around 4-6% of the original amount.

To prevent this from taking place, the credit card company will be eager to settle the debt through a negotiation process.  After all, if they can collect 50 percent of the total debt, it is still way better than the 5 percent they will get from third parties.

Document Everything

The days of verbal agreements holding any value are long gone and especially when it comes to credit card debt settlement.It is your word against the word of the collection agency so there isn’t a clearcut winner in this scenario.

The other option is that you maintain excellent written records of all the matters related to the settlement and negotiation process with your creditors.Send out the letters with accurate and comprehensive information to clearly specified addresses/addressees.After that, file the letters and other forms of communication in a binder that is easily accessible.

If you must make a conversation over the phone, keep descriptive records of it.  Take note of the time and date, the persons you spoke to, their contact number and the general flow of the conversation.

Use Certified Mail

When you have reached a settlement, always send your payment through certified mail.Send the check along with a memo clarifying that the check is the full payment along with a copy of the settlement that was reached. This way, complete documentation is achieved.

Dont forget the specific strategies that you need to use to settle the debt by yourself.Remember the three tips here and you will do just fine in this process.

There are steps that you can carry out. For more tips on how to fix a bad credit report you should read our articles about getting the best credit card debt relief help