Thinking of Asking Credit Card Company to stop charging interest

[EllenFrasier]

Okay, so we are over our heads in credit card debt. We make the monthly minimum payment on each one, so we haven't defaulted, but we also will never in this lifetime get them paid off. I was thinking of sending all of our creditors a letter, but I'm not sure how to word it.
How does this sound:
Dear ____________:

We are in the process of paying back all of our outstanding credit balances but feel that we will never get our balance paid down if we have to keep paying the high interest rate that your company is charging. I realize we agreed to pay interest on our debt, but your company has raised the interest rate considerably since we signed up with you. I am asking that you stop charging us interest on our outstanding balance so that we can get it paid off sooner and can once again do business with you.

Sincerely,_____________

How does that sound? Any tips would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

 

[crashbb]

Okay, so we are over our heads in credit card debt. We make the monthly minimum payment on each one, so we haven't defaulted, but we also will never in this lifetime get them paid off. I was thinking of sending all of our creditors a letter, but I'm not sure how to word it.
How does this sound:
Dear ____________:

We are in the process of paying back all of our outstanding credit balances but feel that we will never get our balance paid down if we have to keep paying the high interest rate that your company is charging. I realize we agreed to pay interest on our debt, but your company has raised the interest rate considerably since we signed up with you. I am asking that you stop charging us interest on our outstanding balance so that we can get it paid off sooner and can once again do business with you.
Sincerely,_____________

How does that sound? Any tips would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

Not sure that they want to do business with you, if they have to cut you a break on the money you owe them in order to do so.

 

[DisMN]

You will find that most of them might be willing to lower the interest and only a few will stop the interest. Beware that this will automatically close your accounts and you won't be able to use them.
ALSO, the card companies seemed, for us anyway, to be more willing to work with/cooperate with a debt management service. You might want to try that route if dealing with the companies personally doesn't work as well.

Best of luck to you!

 

[crashbb]

You will find that most of them might be willing to lower the interest and only a few will stop the interest. Beware that this will automatically close your accounts and you won't be able to use them. ALSO, the card companies seemed, for us anyway, to be more willing to work with/cooperate with a debt management service. You might want to try that route if dealing with the companies personally doesn't work as well.

Best of luck to you!

Yes, that was what I was trying to get at with my post (which I submitted before finishing the thought). If they do it, they will close your account, so it isn't a matter of only stopping interest for a while and then they'll have you back as a customer.

 

[thomas998]

I think you might want to consider what you are doing... The credit card company gave you credit under terms that you and the credit card company agreed to.

Now you are saying, "I'm not willing to live up to the terms. You need to accept that I pay you back with NO interest over time." Does that really sound fair? I know CC interest is high but you knew that too when you opened the account right? Would you like it if you lent money to someone and then they said, "guess what, I don't care that you were expecting me to pay you $200 a month... I'm going to start paying you $100 a month."

I suspect if you send that letter that you will instantly get your credit cards cancelled... If I were the company that is the first thing I would do.

CC debt can be a real burden but it is still something that is our own fault.... is it really fair to simply walk away from it?

 

[DisMN]

Yes, that was what I was trying to get at with my post (which I submitted before finishing the thought). If they do it, they will close your account, so it isn't a matter of only stopping interest for a while and then they'll have you back as a customer.

You did just fine!

I should add though at some point many of those companies will welcome you back, but of course with once again a high interest rate. But if you're very very careful and need a card for emergency purposes, and don't use it willy nilly....then at some point you'll have credit again.

Doing this credit thing will temporarily trash your credit rating but what good is a credit rating when you can't pay your bills anyway? After a bit of time paying back the credit card companies your rating will improve, so I wouldn't even worry about it at this time.

 

[jaminmd]

Hmm... wonder if this will work with my mortgage company.


You signed the terms, so you should abide by them. Or else, you could contact our favorite budget board credit card dodger. She can tell you all about how to not pay your bills.

 

[sukhakuli]

It will also knock your credit score down, which my parents discovered when they couldn't get a home loan...

 

[sydneysmom]

more important than this, you need to get on a budget plan. Look into Dave Ramsey.... he'll teach you how to live WITHIN your means and pay off your debt. I don't mean to be harsh, but YOU are the one that lived beyond your means and maxed out your cards. That isn't the credit card company's fault..... but if you learn how to snowball your debt, it won't matter... you will learn HOW to properly pay off your debt without incurring new debt.

the best thing you can do right now.... buy a Dave Ramsey book, COMMIT to change and cut up your credit cards.

 

[EllenFrasier]

I think you might want to consider what you are doing... The credit card company gave you credit under terms that you and the credit card company agreed to.

Now you are saying, "I'm not willing to live up to the terms. You need to accept that I pay you back with NO interest over time." Does that really sound fair? I know CC interest is high but you knew that too when you opened the account right? Would you like it if you lent money to someone and then they said, "guess what, I don't care that you were expecting me to pay you $200 a month... I'm going to start paying you $100 a month."

I suspect if you send that letter that you will instantly get your credit cards cancelled... If I were the company that is the first thing I would do.

CC debt can be a real burden but it is still something that is our own fault.... is it really fair to simply walk away from it?

How is paying off the debt "walking away from it"? I am asking them to stop the interest for a while so we can get the balance paid down. If they want to cancel the cards, so be it. That way we can't use them and add more to the balance. And the terms are not the same as when we first opened the accounts. I think the interest rate on some of these was like 10 or 11% and now it's almost 30% on some of them! The credit card companies are greedy.

 

[cglaura]

You didn't mention, so just asking, have you tried from the other end of the spectrum....yard sale, craigslist, 2nd jobs. Even just a tiny job like cleaning a house once a week, delivering newspapers, etc.

May be long days, may not get to see each other alot, may be a total crud job, but...apply every extra penny you earn to the balance AND don't charge anything new. They will get paid off. May take years, but it will get done.

I have no idea how your credit balances came to be, I know from experience that it is not always just "I wanted it so I bought it." scenarios of irresponsibly. Medical issues that insurance didn't cover, housing emergencies, life happens, emergency funds get wiped out and then another hits with no time to rebuild in between.

So, after all is paid off, a good plan might be to keep those extra jobs for a year or two and put it all/most to emergency funds, so you won't have to worry about using long term credit.

 

[charming23]

No credit card company is going to completely eliminate any interest charges from your account. You signed a contract with them stating you were fine with the interest rate. What they might do is lower your rate and work with you to help pay off what you owe. I did this a few years ago when I was in over my head and it was simple to do.

 

[jaminmd]

How is paying off the debt "walking away from it"? I am asking them to stop the interest for a while so we can get the balance paid down. If they want to cancel the cards, so be it. That way we can't use them and add more to the balance. And the terms are not the same as when we first opened the accounts. I think the interest rate on some of these was like 10 or 11% and now it's almost 30% on some of them! The credit card companies are greedy.

Did you miss payments or go over your credit limit? Those are the reasons CC companies increase interest rates.

 

[msmayor]

How is paying off the debt "walking away from it"? I am asking them to stop the interest for a while so we can get the balance paid down. If they want to cancel the cards, so be it. That way we can't use them and add more to the balance. And the terms are not the same as when we first opened the accounts. I think the interest rate on some of these was like 10 or 11% and now it's almost 30% on some of them! The credit card companies are greedy.

Just consider that statement and the way it sounds...as if its the credit company's fault that you are adding to your debt...that they SHOULD cancel the card to force you not to use it.

Just stop using it period. Now. Then it won't add to the balance.

You're right that the terms aren't the same as when you opened, going from perhaps 10% to almost 30%. But I guarantee you every single time they upped the interest rate you were notified, and told that if you didn't want your rate to change then you should notify them and they would close the account and let you pay the balance. By not contacting them to say "I don't agree with that change", you DID agree to the change.

 

[brunette8706]

How is paying off the debt "walking away from it"? I am asking them to stop the interest for a while so we can get the balance paid down. If they want to cancel the cards, so be it. That way we can't use them and add more to the balance. And the terms are not the same as when we first opened the accounts. I think the interest rate on some of these was like 10 or 11% and now it's almost 30% on some of them! The credit card companies are greedy.

*
I ALWAYS will ask the cc company if they can lower the rates for me. I do this with American Express, and sometimes they will do it. I do have an excellent credit ratings, so I'm not sure if that's why or they just do it if anyone asks them.. BUT....I always pay our bills, ALWAYS and on time. I usually pay them in full every month also. Anyway see if they can work with you. As far as the zero percent interest, I doubt very highly they will not do this.

 

[DisMN]

No credit card company is going to completely eliminate any interest charges from your account. You signed a contract with them stating you were fine with the interest rate. What they might do is lower your rate and work with you to help pay off what you owe. I did this a few years ago when I was in over my head and it was simple to do.

This is wrong.
Yes, a few will eliminate any interest charges but most will just lower them considerably.

Did you miss payments or go over your credit limit? Those are the reasons CC companies increase interest rates.

Not entirely accurate.
We did not miss any payments nor did we go over our credit limit. Almost all of our creditors raised their interest rates very very high. One went from 7% up to 32%. That's when we decided to get off the merry-go-round and say we could no longer pay back those debts at those interest rates.

Just consider that statement and the way it sounds...as if its the credit company's fault that you are adding to your debt...that they SHOULD cancel the card to force you not to use it.

Just stop using it period. Now. Then it won't add to the balance.

You're right that the terms aren't the same as when you opened, going from perhaps 10% to almost 30%. But I guarantee you every single time they upped the interest rate you were notified, and told that if you didn't want your rate to change then you should notify them and they would close the account and let you pay the balance. By not contacting them to say "I don't agree with that change", you DID agree to the change.

 

[mollymar]

No credit card company is going to completely eliminate any interest charges from your account. You signed a contract with them stating you were fine with the interest rate. What they might do is lower your rate and work with you to help pay off what you owe. I did this a few years ago when I was in over my head and it was simple to do.

Not quite true. I did this with both AMEX and a Visa card I had. They stopped charging interest, closed the accounts and I was able to make payments until they were paid off. I am now debt free, except for my mortgage. OP, you might want to call the companies and explain your situation rather than a letter that will probably be filed in the trash. Good luck!

 

[EllenFrasier]

*
I ALWAYS will ask the cc company if they can lower the rates for me. I do this with American Express, and sometimes they will do it. I do have an excellent credit ratings, so I'm not sure if that's why or they just do it if anyone asks them.. BUT....I always pay our bills, ALWAYS and on time. I usually pay them in full every month also. Anyway see if they can work with you. As far as the zero percent interest, I doubt very highly they will not do this.

If you pay the credit card balance in full every month, then they are not charging you any interest are they? My mother does this. She charges things when she shops so she doesn't need to carry cash and then when the bill comes she pays it off - they don't get any interest from her at all.

 

[David 1980]

I think you might want to consider what you are doing... The credit card company gave you credit under terms that you and the credit card company agreed to.

Now you are saying, "I'm not willing to live up to the terms. You need to accept that I pay you back with NO interest over time." Does that really sound fair? I know CC interest is high but you knew that too when you opened the account right? Would you like it if you lent money to someone and then they said, "guess what, I don't care that you were expecting me to pay you $200 a month... I'm going to start paying you $100 a month."

I suspect if you send that letter that you will instantly get your credit cards cancelled... If I were the company that is the first thing I would do.

CC debt can be a real burden but it is still something that is our own fault.... is it really fair to simply walk away from it?

I think they wanted help not a lecture Thomas? I understand people are hurting and all they wanted was some advice.

 

[thomas998]

How is paying off the debt "walking away from it"? I am asking them to stop the interest for a while so we can get the balance paid down. If they want to cancel the cards, so be it. That way we can't use them and add more to the balance. And the terms are not the same as when we first opened the accounts. I think the interest rate on some of these was like 10 or 11% and now it's almost 30% on some of them! The credit card companies are greedy.

Look at like this...

The CC is in the business of making money just like a jewelry store...

CC's make money by loaning money and getting paid interest...

Jewelry stores make money by selling rings for what they paid for them plus a mark up...

Would you think it was fair to the jewelry store if you bought a ring from them and then after you took the ring explained to them that you were only going to pay them the cost of the ring and not the mark up? That is in essence what you are doing.

The CC could have loaned out that money to someone else and gotten interest on it... they loaned it to you and you have a moral responsibility to pay it back... maybe it is costing you more than you realized... But they didn't raise the interest for no reason... maybe you got a special deal where the interest was very low for a set period, and then jumped up... maybe you missed a payment and that triggered a higher rate... in the end the increase was not out of the blue and shouldn't have been a surprise.