My negotiations with a credit collector (acting on belief of a credit card company) have collapsed because the credit collector believes I have the means to pay debt even though I cannot afford to pay it. He said he is sending the file back to the credit card company with regomendations (probably saying that I have the means to pay). What actions is the credit card company likely to take? Should I be very scared?

Never let a creditor scare you… they are there to get paid and sometimes you get someone that can put a little touch on wording and scare you. It dosent mean he threatend you, it means he knows he said something thats gonna get you thinking and make yourself afraid of it. usually they would put you on a payment plan and you work from there if they say 100 a month you say 40 or however much you can afford. The creditor bought your file from the credit card company so i doubt the credit card company will be doing anything at all now (they usually buy it for a lower cost) If the creditor dosent want to work with you just wait til either they take it to court or until you have the money to pay.

Please read and let me know how you would analyze this article:The Water Crisis: Analysis and Proposals

By Celine Tan

Water and sanitation is the first of five priority action areas under the
WEHAB plan for the post-WSSD implementation of sustainable development.
The challenge of providing safe and clean water and sanitary conditions for
an increasing world population, in the face of rising inequities, is
phenomenal.

Forty percent of the world’s population, in 80 countries, currently suffer
from serious water shortages. A billion people worldwide lack access to
safe drinking water and 2.4 billion people lack access to adequate
sanitation (Global Economic Outlook 2002).

Yet, the biggest threat to universal access to clean water and adequate
sanitation is not mother nature but corporate globalisation. Privatisation
of water is aggressively exported to the developing world under the rubric
of poverty reduction and debt relief strategies, free trade and economic
development. By turning a scarce resource into an economic commodity, the
world’s economic leaders and policy planners claim that existing water
resources can be managed and consumed efficiently in accordance with
competitive market principles. These claims are not only misguided, they
are deceitful. There are two myths being projected: first, that placing a
price on water will encourage conservation and wise water consumption.
Secondly, that market competition will lead to more consumer choice and
better services. In reality, the water sector is monopolistic when placed
in the hands of the market. It is thus alarming that the commodification of
water resources is now heralded as the answer to the world’s water woes.

Monopoly and subsidies for corporations

Water is a US$400 billion global business, controlled by a handful of
European transnational companies and consortiums, namely French
multinationals Vivendi and Suez Lyonnaise, SAUR and British water companies
Thames Water, Anglia Water and United Utilities. The global drive towards
privatisation of water services is thus pursued not by a collective of
democratically elected governments acting in the interest of the world’s
population, but by a cartel of corporations motivated by profit and market
conquest.

To make matters worse, these companies are subsidised by their governments
(and invariably their taxpayers) through support from domestic export
credit agencies, and by multilateral development banks, such as the World
Bank and the African Development Bank. They are also subsidised by
developing countries who raise credit from international financial
institutions to upgrade their water systems prior to private takeover. This
corporate subsidy comes at the expense of consumers, most of them in
developing countries, who are made to pay for what is a necessity of life.
For the poor this means no access to water.

Additional loans to facilitate the privatisation process are raised by
developing country governments from multilateral and bilateral sources.
Often, these loans are also used to finance the creation of an ‘enabling
environment’ for foreign water and wastewater investors. This includes the
drafting of local investor protection legislation to guard against
re-nationalisation of the water industry and to provide for hefty
compensation for any attempt to renege (for good reasons) against the
privatisation contracts.

In many cases, corporate access to a developing country’s water system is
paved by a loan or debt relief conditionality requiring the poor or
indebted country to privatise its water and sanitation services. For
example, the IMF insisted that Tanzania privatise its Dar es Salaam Water
and Sewerage Authority (DAWSA) as a condition of its debt relief package
under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative.

Fallacy of privatisation

Experience shows that the privatisation of water services cannot ensure
universal delivery of safe water and efficient sanitation. Privatisation
imposes additional financial obligations on governments. They may have to
bail out failed privatisation project, and also shoulder the costly legal
risks of rescinding a privatisation contract with a wealthy transnational,
even if the company’s performance is unsatisfactory. Argentina, Hungary and
Bolivia have found that the legal claims for compensation by private water
companies in Tucuman, Szeged and Cochabamba respectively, have made
terminating contracts prohibitively expensive.

The dominance of foreign water companies and the liberalised investment
climate – mostly facilitated by structural adjustment, and now under trade
agreements including those under the WTO Ð in developing countries will
also ensure that a large portion of profits from water privatisation will
not accrue to the countries themselves but are repatriated abroad instead.

The imposition of full-cost water pricing as a result of privatisation will
only deprive more and more people of access to clean and safe water by
forcing poor communities to seek alternative sources of water for
consumption, such as untreated well water and water from sewage-ridden
urban rivers.

Forced upon rich and poor, consumers and industrial producers, similar
rates for water use will also result in greater income disparity and deeper
social cleavages, leading to higher risks of civil unrest. In 2000, martial
law was declared in the Bolivian city of Cochabamba as a result of
city-wide riots precipitated by high water prices. A private consortium led
by International Water doubled the water prices to city residents. Water
bills went up by 35% and some, twice that. The World Bank supported
full-cost water pricing and prohibited any use of its structural adjustment
loans to subsidise water services for the poor.

Future fears and WSSD outcomes

There is no agreement on the text in the WSSD Draft Plan of Implementation
that commits governments to supporting the UN Millennium Development Goal
of halving, by 2015, the proportion of people unable to reach, or afford,
safe drinking water and access improved sanitation (paragraphs 7 and 7[alt]).

However, the most pressing concerns over universal coverage of water and
sanitation services are not expressed in these bracketed paragraphs.
Rather, they are reflected in the general lack of political will
demonstrated by developed countries to address the systemic issues leading
to a crisis of sustainable development in the south, and the alarming
emphasis placed on public-private partnership funding and implementation of
sustainable development programmes. The relinquishing of responsibility by
developed countries is marked by their reluctance to commit to specific
disbursements of ODA and by repeated references to voluntary partnerships
and initiatives as a means of financing WSSD programmatic outcomes.

In the absence of firm commitments by governments, Type II partnerships on
water and sanitation services will only increase private sector involvement
in this crucial area. The private sector is already identified as a key
implementer of the ‘Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) for All
Initiative’ involving 28 countries, six UN agencies, the World Bank, and
the Asian and African Development Banks.

Another major threat to universal access to water and sanitation is
liberalisation under the WTO’s rules. Although Member countries have the
right to liberalise at their own pace, and even choose not to open up a
sector under the WTO’s General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), there
is tremendous pressure especially on developing countries to liberalise.
Thus in the ongoing negotiations at the WTO, developed countries are
submitting extensive ÒrequestsÓ that seek access to every sector in the
developing world, including water services and sanitation.

If developing countries succumb, privatisation of water services initiated
under World Bank and IMF structural adjustment programmes could become
permanent under the binding rules of the WTO. Once a country is locked into
the GATS regime, the right of its government to regulate liberalized
service sectors will be diminished, paving the way for foreign
transnationals to enter the domestic market. Any attempt to reverse the
situation would be subject to WTO disciplines and penalties.

Any real effort to achieve the Millennium Development Goal must therefore
include commitments to review loan conditionalities that impose
privatisation and countries must not be pressured to offer water services
under GATS liberalisation. Essential services should be exempted from GATS.

Conclusion

Privatisation does not address the deeper economic and ecological issues of
water shortages. Questions of why there are water shortages in countries
not under water stress are not resolved by shifting responsibility of
service provision to private companies. Water management and water
distribution are also key factors in determining water supply and universal
coverage. Until and unless rich countries fulfil their commitment to
provide resources for developing countries to build solid, cost-effective
water delivery systems which support the needs of the world’s population
equitably and ecologically, the water woes of the world will not go away.

At the same time, all governments need to recognise and support the
diversity and replication of community water management systems and
practices. These have proven in many countries to be the most sustainable
approach to rural water management for rural populations. The WSSD process
and the last 10 years of the work of the CSD have called for good and best
practices in sustainable development. However, where water resources are
concerned the trend and emphasis are privatisation which has proven
destructive.

Firm commitments must be made at the WSSD to reverse the trend of corporate
takeover in the water and sanitation sector, rather than to accelerate the
process of privatisation and corporate monopoly. Undermining the sovereign
power of governments to regulate supply of water in their countries and
passing the bucket onto private transnationals to steward the world’s water
resources would probably be a most anti-development and anti-ecological step.

yikes thats alot to type ummm ask a friend whos got the same homework and brain storm or whatever its a waste of time putting that on this website coz no one is gonna read all of that

"Sparrow is pirate lord of the Caribbean Sea, and enjoys the freedom of his occupation, drinking rum and seducing women while looking for supernatural treasures. He engages in much dealing and treachery, preferring to use negotiation and wits over weapons to survive. Sparrow is introduced as seeking to regain his ship the Black Pearl from his treacherous first mate Hector Barbossa, and spends much of the sequels trying to escape his blood debt to Davy Jones and battling the East India Trading Company. Despite his rude or cowardly behaviour, he is nonetheless an honorable and likeable character"

Is Sparrow a real Spiritual Seeker/Practioner ?

Have you Seen the Rainbow !

Jack Sparrow is the worst pirate I have ever seen!

i have a client who has large debts – to the extent that a voluntary agreement with creditors seems unlikely to make sense – i've googled the problem but am only coming up with 'free advice' from companies who want to sell their services – voluntary agreements, negotiations etc.

what i need to know is whether you can declare yourself bankrupt and what's the cheapst way of doing it? i'm a counsellor and don't have the financial expertise to answer this and it sounds lame, in my ears, to say – go see the CAB…any knowledgeable help out there?

thanks in advance

I think you need to refer your client to these sites:

http://www.adversemonkey.co.uk/credit-problems/bankruptcy.htm

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/help-and-advice/advice-banks/article.html?in_advicepage_id=100&in_article_id=395884&in_page_id=90

Apparently your client simply needs to go to his/her local court to do this, with no solicitors involved. It seems that the only cost is court fees on the 3rd anniversary of declaration of bankruptcy, and even those court fees may be waived if you are on income support. Sounds pretty low-cost to me.

Hope your client is OK – can't be easy to have heavy financial burdens.

I only know the barest of facts, but it smells fishy to me. My family's business is part of a shopping center strip and we are the anchor store. About a year ago, it switched property management groups. This week, we were told that our rent would rise substancially to cover an outstanding debt that the previous property owner passed on to the current company. Shouldn't that debt have been part of negotiations when this company bought out the last, and how can they make us pay for their mistake?

It doesn't sound right that they're increasing the rent on you for their debt problem.

However, you're only protected by any regulations on rent increases. Depends on where you are, you want to find out the maximum increase they can impose.

Also, since you own the anchor store, you have some clout to negotiate a better term for yourself or move the store.

Has anyone ever had good results when asking a cc company to reduce their intrest rate, or do a debt negotiation? (example: an APR of 19.99% that was reduced… or a balance of $3500 negotiated to $2900 and paid in full) If so, which company was this with? I am looking to do this, and want to know my chances of success.

The interest rate always can be negotiated. It's a regular practice. Call them and say that you opened an account with another credit company that offered you lower interest rate, and now you want to transfer the entire balance there.

Have you ever negotiated debt with a credit card company and for what %?

Usually, after the credit card debt is way past due they will negotiate with you or after they have turned it over to collections you can get a settlement. It depends on the company you deal with but sometimes you can settle for 50%. Others won't take less than 60% and I had one that wouldn't take less than about 85%. So, it just depends.

I'm in the process of paying down my debt and it would be nice to do it at a more reasonable interest rate. Basically all of my cards are in the 20% range and i've been told you can negotiate a better rate. My score is in the mid-600's and all accounts are in good standing. Does anybody have any history of successful negotiation in a similar situation, and if so what's in it for the company to do so?

They keep you as a customer. Tell them you are transferring the balances to another company offering 0% until that balance is paid off. They should make you an offer if you have been with them awhile and your payment history is good.

What about those over exposed credit companies that promise you to eliminate your credit card debt by entering thier credit negotiation program? Seems to me that you put your life and credit history in their hands with no garantee. Anyone has participated? I have "mid sized"credit card debt BUT no bad credit. Pay ontime. Only Problem: monthly payments are killing me. What is the truth on dealing directly with credit card companies?? Please, can anybody share ideas and experience? Tks

The IRS recently took a giant crap on most of these companies. They are required to be not-for-profit companies, and the IRS found that almost all the ones they reviewed were not behaving like a non-profit should be.

Keep in mind, these guys are typically going to get paid a monthly fee by you, and also get a cut or fee from the credit card companies. So, they have pressure from the wrong side.

I'd call a local credit union and see if they'll give you an installment loan that you can use to pay them off instead. Problem is, if the monthly payments are already killing you, you're in trouble, since those monthly payments on cards are often just 1-3% of your balance, and barely even pay anything down on the debt. If you actually want to pay off the debt, you have to pay more.

The negotiating companies can sometimes get your interest rates lowered or even frozen in extreme cases.

And while they will tell you that lenders love seeing people take steps to get back on track, the only lenders that will love you are the ones you currently owe. In the mortgage world, going into a credit counseling program is seen as identical to a Chapter 13 bankruptcy. Both are similar, in that a 3-5 year plan is made to repay your debts, some debts and interest could be forgiven, and you pay someone else who then divvies out your payments. Only difference is you didn't get a lawyer or go to court.

Be cautious with any of these companies. Some are legit, but most aren't very good.

PS, I have seen many cases where people's credit reports end up getting trashed, because some banks won't be getting their minimum payments, and their systems will start flagging you as late, even though you are paying them as agreed. Ouch.

I work for a third party debt collection company does anybody know what website i could go to to improve on, negotiations , rebuttals, ect. by the way i collect for sprint nextel.

Most of the websites you will find are aimed at consumers. And a lot of them are just loaded with really bad information.

Your collection agency should have training available. And the more you ‘dial for dollars’ the better you will get at getting results.