If you are beaten down by debt and are considering filing for bankruptcy, you should know you have another choice. This article will debate the differences of debt settlement vs bankruptcy and how you can find out which option is the the best for you.

Bankruptcy is a legal process that offers relief to consumers devastated by excessive debt by discharging their finance needs. However, in accordance with a stricter bankruptcy law effective October 2005, very few folks qualify for chapter seven bankruptcy. In chapter thirteen, the court decides the monthly amount you should pay according to acceptable living expenses, which are not decided by your exact costs, but by IRS schedules.

You can discover what type of bankruptcy you qualify for by reading the current bankruptcy code which can be found on the internet, but unless you are familiar with complicated legal lingo, you’ll be better off reading a good book on the topic.

Moreover it is to your benefit to consult a bankruptcy lawyer, this way your questions will be answered by a professional in the field. You also have to expect to pay at least filing and attorney’s fees. The record of your filing will stay with you for 10 years and it’s an official record, thus your privacy will also be compromised. Additionally, bankruptcy may affect future roles and loan applications.

Debt settlement, often referred to as debt negotiation, needs bargaining with creditors to accept fifty percent or less of the sum owing. Debt settlement, like bankruptcy, is specifically for people who are no longer able to keep up with their monthly payments thanks to a legitimate hardship which caused them a serious loss of revenue.

Unlike bankruptcy, debt settlement isn’t a matter of official record and negative data stays in your credit history for as much as 7 years, but you can reconstruct your credit in one to two years, the payments are flexible and are controlled by you, not by the court. The period of chapter thirteen is 5 years with fixed payments dictated by the court, the period of a debt settlement program, depending on your monthly budget and other monetary factors, is from half a year to 3 years.

As you can see, these are just the main differences between debt settlement vs bankruptcy. However if you prefer to go with debt negotiation, its best to find out more details about the do it yourself approach and the debt settlement firm. Hopefully, this can help you in your quest to dump your debt and make a last call as to what program is best for your particular situation.