Opinions On Commercial Debt Negotiation

Q: opinions on Commercial debt negotiation? I have been researching on options for debt and have been finding the info here very helpful. I guess you can say I would be a prime candidate for BK as I have no assets, little income, etc. but I am determinded to explore all other options first. I have contacted one of those debt negotiations firms that claim they can get your debt reduced by about 50% for a 12% fee. The only downside being I will be reported late for the months it takes me to save enough money to make a settlement however, my CR will read "settled in full" upon completion. I have also been reading a book that claims I myself can negotiate with my creditors and possibly settle for 20-30% if I can convince them I am seriously on the verge of BK and have no assets that they could stand to collect. The key word being CONVINCE. It claims that this is all they would stand to collect otherwise if it were turned over to collections, etc. Has anyone ever been successful at this? Tried? If these DN people can do it, and apparently they can from what I've checked out, why can't I? And yes, I have a friend that could and would loan me the 20-30% to pay them off upon agreement. I have excellent "people skills", however, not too good at being firm with someone on the phone. Any (constructive)advice?

A: -You can try to settle it for yourself. Debt negotiation companies charge you an outrageous fee. And they do not carry more weights than you do. -Yes, 20-30% settlement with cc is extremely rare. 75% settlement after 3-4 months delinquency or 65-55% settlement after more than 6 months delinquency is the standard. Many would simply refuse to negotiate. -accounts to fall behind a few months before even attempting to negotiate. As it stands, I am current on everything just barely making the minimums. This book insisted that the 20-30% was way more than they would stand to gain with BK. I've been playing the old suicide rollover, robbing Peter to pay Paul, and I am tapped out anyway. However, on the other hand, I am concerned that my declaring BK might somehow come back to bite not

me but my fiance in the a*@. I figured if I went thru all this before marriage that it would only affect me and keep him in the clear. He has excellent credit and adequate savings so after we are married, who needs my credit anyway? right? I don't have anything financially to bring to the table anyway. So long as I don't hinder either. Am I off base with this thinking? My main motivation for trying to negotiate is to somewhat salvage my credit and to be able to more easily rebuild it in the end (after making payments for the next three years). My main hesitation for BK is that it will somehow affect him directly. It sure would be nice though to be able to start fresh! .