San Francisco Debt Settlement
Debt settlement is an alternative to bankruptcy that has allowed thousands of California residents to free their finances of the burden of unsecured debts. If you’re falling behind on payments, New Era Debt Solutions can help you find a debt relief solution in San Francisco that can ease the pressure and help you get back on your feet.
San Francisco Debt Statistics
San Francisco has one of the worst debt burdens per tax payer in the country, only beaten by Dallas, Philadelphia, Chicago, and New York City. Each taxpayer’s share of the debt burden is nearly $17,000. This means that each San Francisco taxpayer would have to pay the government this amount to get the city out of its current debt load. This is an improvement over previous years where the debt burden got up to $22,000 per taxpayer.
More than 700,000 owe residents in the bay area owe money on their student loans. The average student debt per borrower was over $36,000 in 2018 and the default rate had grown to just above 9%, over double what it was years prior.
The per capita income is close to $60,000, median individual income is just under $75,000, and the mean individual income is around $103,000 per San Francisco earner.
Explore Debt Relief Options in San Francisco
A number of different paths are available for those in San Francisco to get relief from their unsecured debts. Here are a few of the different options commonly used in California:
Balance Transfer Credit Cards
Balance transfer cards help debtors save in interest payments by allowing them to transfer their unsecured debts to a low-interest credit card. The disadvantage with balance transfer is that they typically have high credit requirements because of the low interest offered and may be out of reach for those with lower credit scores.
California Debt Management or Credit Counseling Program
Credit counseling can help debtor manage their debt more effectively with advice from financial experts. These programs are often free and credit counselors may even be able to negotiate lower interest payments on your behalf. The downside to debt management is that it is limited to treating the interest rates cannot reduce the principal debt balance.
San Francisco Debt Consolidation Loans
Debt Consolidation loans allow a debtor in San Francisco to take out a low-interest loan to repay their debts. This form of debt relief is similar to a balance transfer card in that it can help reduce the amount that is paid into interest rather than the principal debt, but the down side is that consolidation does not work to treat the principal balance of debt, only in reducing the burden of interest.
Debt Settlement or Debt Negotiation in San Francisco
San Francisco debt negotiation is unique from first three debt relief options in that it can reduce the principal debt balance, not just the interest rate. Settlement can reduce the principal debt balance by up to 60% in the best cases and can help debtors save significant amounts in interest payments as well. Negotiation does have a couple of disadvantages as it is more effective for certain types of debts than others and not all creditors are willing to negotiate. The advantages can heavily outweigh the potential downsides in that settlement can offer one of the quickest routes to freedom from debt when it is done correctly.
Filing for Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is often the last option on the list for many of those stuck in debt, but it can be the most effective option if creditors are past the point of wanting to settle. Filing for bankruptcy can immediately stop the collection process, but a debtor may still have to repay some or all of their debt depending on which type of bankruptcy is filed. Additionally, bankruptcy is often more damaging to your credit than settlement is.
How Debt Settlement Works in San Francisco
Debt settlement is a form of negotiation that works to reduce the amount a debtor has to repay in both the principal and interest. This payment can amount to much less than the original amount owed with debtors only having to repay 40-50% of the principal debt in the best-case scenarios. Once the creditor has received the full payment, the debt is considered to be fully repaid, but it does go onto your credit history that it was settled rather than paid off normally.
Generally, settlement is a viable debt relief option as creditors will agree to negotiate at least some form of repayment rather than losing the entire debt in a debtor files for bankruptcy instead.
Benefits of Negotiating Debt in San Francisco with New Era
- No upfront or add-on fees. With New Era, you will never be charged any upfront or additional fees other than settlement fee which is only paid after the debt has been settled. Companies that charge a debtor for settlement services before the process is complete are breaking the law.
- All-in-one service. Many sales groups work under the guise that they are full-time settlement firms but only pass their clients along to another company who will actually handle the debt negotiations. The problem with this situation is that multiple parties end up getting access to your financial information and the sales group may have little or no control over how the settlement deal ends up. At New Era, we handle our California cases from beginning to end.
- Experienced settlement firm. New Era Debt Solutions has settled over $275,000,000 in debt for our clients in the 20 years we’ve been serving California. Over the years, our firm has built a track record for success because of the relationships we’ve built with creditors which allow for the best settlement deals to be reached. Check out our client testimonials to get an idea of what it’s like to work with our programs.
Start Your Journey to Freedom from Debt in San Francisco Today
If you’re in need of debt help in California, contact New Era for a free analysis with a debt expert. Let us show you how much time and money you can save with the right type of debt relief solution for your financial needs. Contact us at New Era Debt Solutions to figure out your options for debt relief in San Francisco.
