If you are able to settle, you'll be getting off rather easy. Debt settlement companies can sometimes get you off the hook for a large percentage of your debt - in many cases, up to 50% will be written off.

Sometimes a creditor is willingto do this as a bargaining point - you give the creditor cash in hand, it gives you a positive listing on your credit report - even though you haven't paid the full amount. Get this agreement in writing.

If you default on an unsecured debt, you won't lose anything (except points on your credit score).

You'll get much better results by being upfront, answering creditors calls, and responding to their letters. Delaying the inevitable only digs a deeper hole.

No company can promise an end date, but if you have multiple debts, the first one should be settled within a year.

When you default on a secured debt, the creditor takes the asset that backs up that debt. When you convert credit card debt to mortgage debt, you are securing that credit card debt with your home. That's a risky proposition.

In about one-third of credit card consolidations, within a short period of time, the cards come back out of the wallet, and in no time at all, they're charged back up. Then you're in an even worse position, because you have the credit card debt and the consolidation loan to worry about. You're in a hole that's twice as deep - and twice as steep.