If you were issued any credit card you applied for, and then found yourself unable to make all of the payments on those high-interest accounts, you may have made an attempt at negotiating your debts or finding debt relief through a debt settlement agency. In many cases these debt settlement companies are able to lower your monthly payments, and in some cases even lower the total balance you owe. However, most credit card companies are reluctant to deal with these companies unless the debt settlement company has a reputable standing with the credit industry. If you have chosen one of these less reputable companies, your attempt at an honest debt settlement arrangement may have been outright denied, or you may have even been swindled out of your money if your debt settlement agency turned out to be a fraudulent firm.
If the company you chose for your debt settlement agreement fails to keep up their end of the bargain, whether they went out of business or simply failed to make the negotiation possible, you are left right where you started with your original creditor and usually out the money you paid to the settlement firm.
It may take months, even years to recover or collect any fees or money you've paid in your debt settlement case, and in some cases you simply won't recover anything. It is within your rights to file a lawsuit against your debt settlement company, but if they filed bankruptcy you won't recover anything unless you involve yourself directly in those bankruptcy proceedings as one of the creditors owed. This process can take years to complete, from filing as a creditor to recovering funds.
More often than not, people who enter debt settlement negotiations that end up failing file for bankruptcy as their last alternative.
If you come to the determination that filing for bankruptcy is the best option for you, the first thing you should do is collect all of your personal financial information and request a consultation from an experienced bankruptcy lawyer. These consultations are typically free of charge and will give you all of the answers you need in order to determine whether or not bankruptcy is the best option for you.