California has the highest amount of credit card debt in the nation as of 2017 and is ranked the second most expensive place to live. Californians owe above $106.8 billion in credit card debt.
The good news is, debt relief programs in California and in most of the states across the nation are available! Each of these debt relief programs will be explained below, but first let’s look at the top five most expensive places to live (as of 2019).
Washington D.C., California, New York, Hawaii, and Massachusetts are the five most expensive states to live.
Income Requirements to Live in the Most Expensive Places in America
Washington D.C. is ranked #1 on the list. To be able to afford to live in Washington D.C. a person’s monthly income needs to be at least $8,487. If your income is any less than this amount, re-consider whether you want to live in Washington D.C…
As far as the Golden State is concerned, California is the second most expensive place to live in the nation. To be able to afford to live in California a person’s monthly income needs to be at least $8,313.
According to a recent article published at SaveDelete.com, “the median price for a home in California is more than $540,000, and the median rent is nearly $3,000 per month.”
Looking for cheap places to live?
Here are the three cheapest:
- West Virginia: (your monthly income only needs to be around $2,960 to live in this state)
- Oklahoma: (an income of $3,117 is sufficient)
- Arkansas: (if your income is higher than $3,157, you can comfortably afford to live in Arkansas)
The following article highlights the three best credit card debt relief programs in California (for 2019)
Paul J Paquin, Golden Financial’s CEO, summarizes the following three debt relief programs:
“When it comes to credit card relief, here’s how I see it … If you can afford minimum payments on credit cards and don’t want to see your credit score get negatively affected, use consumer credit counseling. If you can’t afford minimum payments, start with a debt validation program which includes credit restoration. Debt collection companies can’t always prove a debt is valid. With validation, a person could end up paying a total cost of 45% of their total debt enrolled in the plan, and nothing else! With debt settlement, a person could lower their unsecured debt by around 25%-30% including fees.”
Debt Settlement in California
- Debt settlement programs offer consumers a way to cut unsecured debt by near 60%, before fees. Unfortunately, this type of debt relief program includes the worst adverse effect on credit scores, due to the plan resulting in collection accounts and default payment history left on credit.
What happens after I stop paying my monthly payments?
Credit card accounts get written off by the original creditor after 120 days of being delinquent on monthly payments, and then sold to debt collection companies. By this point, creditors get reimbursed 100% of what was owed, however, they don’t stop there. Accounts are sold to collection agencies, and all types of new unauthorized fees get added to the equation. Therefore, it’s recommended to use debt validation before settling the debt, as there’s a good chance the collection agency won’t be able to prove the debt is 100% valid – and in that case, they would have to stop all collection activity on the debt.
Use Debt Validation, Before Resorting to Settling Your Debt
- A debt validation program disputes debt by using multiple aspects of the laws, including the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and the Credit Card Act of 2009.
A validation program requests:
A. documentation that collection agencies are required to have in their offices, to be “legally collecting” on a debt, and often they can’t produce all of these records. Think about a speeding ticket. People are usually speeding, but can almost always get a speeding ticket dismissed if they hire a reputable attorney. With debt, it’s the same concept. The law book goes deep on what laws allow.
B. that the collection agency prove “the balance they claim a person owes is accurate”, by producing a full accounting trail from the day the account was opened. Everything from the original agreement that you signed with the original creditor, to each monthly statement, must all be produced and validated.
C. other legal documents and answers to questions (examples include: the debt collector’s license to collect on debt in a particular state and they must answer the question pertaining to when the Statute of Limitations expires on the debt and how they came up with that date). By law, debt collection companies need to have accurate answers to specific questions to collect on a debt.
If a collection agency can’t produce complete and accurate records according to what federal laws require, a debt becomes legally uncollectible – meaning, the debt no longer needs to get paid and can’t continue to remain on credit reports.
Consumer Credit Counseling California Plans
- Consumer credit counseling reduces credit card interest rates without negatively affecting a person’s credit score. You remain current on payments.
Payments are consolidated into one monthly payment made to the consumer credit counseling company; they then disburse the reduced monthly payments to each of your creditors. Even if you are one to two months behind on payments before joining a consumer credit counseling program, the plan could re-age your late payments to show they are current, helping your credit score improve. Debt relief programs all will negatively affect a person’s credit score besides for consumer credit counseling plans.
