Intruder said:
Here's the story in a nutshell, I have started seeing someone the last few months and they have a mountain of CC debt.
How much is a "mountain" of credit card debt? There are some good credit repair places. The real ones don't charge an upfront. A friend of mine had over 40k in credit card debt. The CPA(credit guy was a CPA) charged $100 to set up an account, $50 to remove a derrogatory item from the credit report and $100 to negotiate a settlement. The settlements were usually around 50%.
I used this CPA to remove a few items(late payments). The $50 fee was per credit report. He warned me that sometimes they come back on and if that happened he would remove it again for free. Once, he was unable to get something removed.
As someone else in this thread mentioned, this is a process and it destroys your credit. Your friend is looking at years by going this route, but if its a large sum and won't be paid down anyway, he/she probably can't use the credit right now anyway.
From my understanding, the way it used to work, the original creditor would sell the debt to a third party for a certain percentage. This would continue if this third party didn't believe they had a high chance of collecting. My friend had an account that was sold over 5 times. This process will not even begin until he/she stops paying the card.
THE ABOVE WILL WRECK HIS/HER CREDIT and may not be as easy as in the past(My friend's situation was 8 years ago) due to the change in bankruptcy laws. The above is also only possible if there are no assets.
There are so many variables, but if your idea of a mountain is something this person can't possibly pay and has no assets, what I described above isn't a plan, but merely an unfortunate inevitability.
Lastly, you may want to check on your state's statutes. Just recently, my wife saw something on 60 minutes(or one of those shows). Turns out items don't drop from your credit for 7 years, but in Florida, if you haven't paid a creditor in 5 years (if even 1 penny is paid at any time, the counter is reset) the debt is no longer "owed". You can still pay it and the creditor can still attempt to collect, but no judgement can be filed. Also if you write a letter explaining the debt has exceeded the statutes of limitations per your state laws they must cease collection attempts against you. The link below will take you to the article. There is a link to a chart in the article.
http://www.bankrate.com/wpbf/news/cc/20040116a2.asp?caret=2
Please understand, I'm not advocating not paying or telling you there are "easy" ways out. If he/she can pay the debt, do it. If he/she can transfer it to a 0% card or low interest card, do it. If he/she needs YOU to transfer it to one of your 0% cards, DON'T DO IT. I wouldn't do it for my wife. There is no reason to ruin two credits over one mistake. If there are no assets, what I mentioned above WILL happen. Then the creditors/collection agencies will not only accept a reduction in principal, they will offer it. If there are assets, pay the debt. Oh, and WHEN the collectors start getting nasty by contacting his/her employment or saying nasty thing at home, simply send a registered return receipt letter stating they are only to contact you in writing.