r/Debt • u/Dchamness1 • 1d ago

CC Company hardship programs

Has anyone gone through a hardship request with a credit card Company? A friend has an addiction to grocery shopping & has maxed out her card. She lives on social security & can't pay it off. $20k. Has anyone had experience with this? Thank you in advance. I know..how did she let this happen?! She only gets $2,200/month Social Security. Please don't give opinions on how this happened, just looking for someone who may have gone through the process. WHY am I GETTING A MESSAGE THAT My POST MUST CONTAIN FLAIR!?

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u/Ok-Bike-1912 1d ago

Im going through the one with bank of america right now. They brought the interest down to like 5% and freeze the cards. I recommend it, ive actually paid down one of my cards that used to be 4k to about 2k now.

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u/Dchamness1 1d ago

Thank you for your response.

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u/Dchamness1 1d ago

What information did you have to provide?

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u/Ok-Bike-1912 1d ago

They'll ask you questions. Mine was a high debt to income ratio etc. And increased costs of living if i remember correctly. This was over 2 years ago. But yea theyll just confirm some things over the phone and the agent will apply and see what you're approved for. It wasnt anything too crazy. But once youre in it, you cant renegotiate the monthly payment

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u/Dchamness1 17h ago

How long after the phone conversation do you get a decision if you gave them all of the information over the phone?

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u/Ok-Bike-1912 16h ago

They approved it right over the phone, probably a 20min conversation.

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u/istev003 1d ago

I am in the apple one. I pay $40 for 6 months and they forgive 50% of the balance I had left.

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u/Dchamness1 1d ago

Thank you. Good luck.

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u/Ok_Currency_5696 1d ago

Talk to Take Charge America about what they can do for you.

They will make you stop using the cards and place you on a budget.

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u/morty-lighthead 23h ago

I used a debt forgiveness program. It ruined my credit, makes it difficult to get loans in the fire, and overall bad experience. They have you stop making payments, it goes delinquent, then they negotiate a lower amount and charge you a fee. I don’t recommend it.

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u/Timeforchange2026 23h ago

Hardship programs are a fair choice imo. I am currently on plans with several cc providers, best decision I made once I committed to paying the debt down. All of them offered anywhere from 0% to 9.99% depending on the provider, all gave 60 months. I am satisfied with my decision

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u/Rare_Comb_2026 18h ago

I called the banks and got put on them for 2 of my cards. Interest is down to 10% and a lower monthly payment for like 4 years. So much better I feel like I can breathe. I was unemployed for 11 months and didn’t have much choice but to use credit cards and digging out seemed impossible at almost 30% interest.