You should also retain a debt settlement attorney as the settlement itself is a legal document and can get complicated. The settlement agreement will often include legal clauses which may result in you giving up certain legal rights, including having an automatic judgment if you stop making payments, or it may be very simple and not protect you in all circumstances. Other companies don’t send you a confirmation letter of the agreement, which makes it impossible to prove at a later time when they still attempt to settle the debt. The standard settlement agreement usually does not address whether they will send you a tax form stating that the amount they forgave is unearned income, and now you must pay taxes to the IRS on that additional income. This additional income can have serious consequences if you receive income-based social services.

At the law offices of Joseph Harrison Esq., we do whatever it takes to protect our clients from collection actions and help them through the process of debt settlement. We negotiate with creditors to reduce the amount of your debt and ensure that the payments are within your financial ability. We also ensure that the settlement agreement does not contain any terms that may be harmful to you in the future.