How to Write Off Credit Card Debt

There has been a lot in the media recently about a so-called loophole in the law which allows people who have loans and credit cards taken out before April 2007 to write these off by using legal means. But can this be true? Can you write off credit card debt just like that? Or is it just hype? And what are the ethical considerations?

Well, it is quite true, and it isn't a loophole although it is being referred to as such. In fact, the law is quite specific. As amended in the Consumer Credit Act of 1974, any loan agreement must clearly state in its contract certain terms and details of the loan such as the capital value, the interest rate, the number of years to be paid, the monthly installments and similar details. Also, the agreement must be signed.

If the contract does not contain these features, and if it was taken out before 6th April 2007 (the date that the Act was effectively amended ? this is the first day of the financial year, and not just some arbitrary date) then the chances are that it could be deemed unenforceable. Therefore you could write off credit card debt if these conditions were not met and if it dated before this time.

There have been cases of people successfully challenging their loan or credit card contracts and going to court and winning. Sometimes, notably if the debt has been passed to a debt collector or debt purchasing company, the debt is written off very easily as the current owner of the debt (the debt purchaser or collector) cannot produce the documentation at all, never mind documentation which is improperly drafted! So you can write off credit card debt much more easily if the debt has been sold on.

Some ill-fated legal cases in which the debt holder (or account holder) has fought the case themselves as litigants-in-person have resulted in the cases being won, but then being presented with a hefty legal fee, because they were not aware of the full legal consequences of what they were doing. Cases like this are publicized quite readily by those in whose interested it is to tell people about it. What is not publicized so much are the thousands of cases per months in which people write off credit card debt themselves with no problem whatsoever and without the accompanying legal bill.

The banks don't want us to know that we can write off credit card debt ourselves perfectly well with no help from anyone at all.

If you wish to relieve yourself of the burden of debts that you have no legal obligation to continue paying then visit Write Off Credit Card Debt and download the free information pack and/or make an appointment for a telephone chat at any convenient time.

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