The Road Out of Debt: Bankruptcy and Other Solutions to Your Financial Problems

Chapter 3. Fighting Back

There is not a person alive who isn't going to have some awfully bad days in their lives... . What are you going to do? Most people just lie down and quit. Well, I want my people to fight back.

—Paul "Bear" Bryant, former University of Alabama football coach

You've read this far because you want to fight back. This chapter gives you the first step to do just that.

Make no mistake about it: Creditors do not want to be your friends. They won't even tell you their last name. If they do, expect to hear Jones or Smith. Almost all are probably using pseudonyms. Ask yourself, do you want to disclose personal information to a person who has to give you a fake name? The same person rarely calls you more than once.

Some creditors are nice. Some creditors are cordial. Some creditors are downright nasty. Don't be fooled if they act nice, friendly, sympathetic, or understanding. No matter how they act toward you, creditors have one objective when they call: They want your money. They will try anything to reach that goal. Don't ever let creditors make you feel bad about yourself.

Note

Most creditors hide their identities by using pseudonyms. They have one objective when they call: They want to collect your money.

Keep in mind, the debt collectors that call deal with debt collection as their job. They spend their working hours trying to collect debts. Most earn commissions on how much debt they collect. Many debt collectors thoroughly enjoy the business they are in—some consider ...