Alternatives to Bankruptcy
One alternative to bankrutpcy is debt settlements.
We advise against debt settlement companies that require monthly payments because 1) they are holding your money without security, so it is vulernable to their own bankruptcy and their own creditors; 2) there are currently 700 complaints with the Attorney General of Texas against such companies, some of which are clearly theft; 3) some of these companies have been shut down by state authorities and when that happens your money is lost; 4) you lose control of your money - you are entrusting it to someone who is not regulated and may not be honest, and 5) some of these companies are fronts for selling home equity loans - that is they help you to voluntarily give exempt money to credit card lenders who are charging 30% interest - they help you give money that the credit cards could not not otherwise take to the credit cards. Both Carolyn and I consider this to be unconscionable. They do not have your best interest at heart.
If you engage us to negotiate settlements for you, we do not hold your money. All we do is negotiate your settlement and execute it pursuant to the agreement. You hold your money until you are ready to settle. In the meantime, all of your calls will be referred to us.
So, debt settlement is an alternative to bankruptcy.
Another alternative is to defer all calls to an attorney and defend all lawsuits.
Another alternative is to become judgment proof and defend all collection efforts. However, this never rids a person of debt and it often costs more than a bankruptcy.
Charles Chesnutt