ABA Family Legal Guide

Consumer Credit

Debt, Debt Collection, and Credit Repair

How Much Debt Can You Handle?

What do I do if I can't meet my monthly credit card payments?

If you are not able to meet your monthly payments, you may want to approach one or more of your creditors and try to reduce or defer monthly payments without having to pay a penalty. Simply be honest in explaining your cash flow problem and ask the creditors if they can help you get back on your feet. While there is no guarantee that creditors will agree to this arrangement, the worst thing that you can do is to try to avoid them or to make promises to pay that you don't keep. If these self-help efforts don't do the job, you may want to contact a consumer credit counseling service that can help you set up a new budget. (These are discussed on page 262.)