The Debt Hotline

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The Debt Hotline

Team Solo

47 episodes

1 week ago

If you've ever felt overwhelmed by debt or confused by a court summons, you're not alone—and you're not powerless.

The Debt Hotline is your direct line to clarity, confidence, and control over your financial future. Hosted by legal expert George Simons and financial wellness advocate Hannah Locklear, this show breaks down the debt collection process, teaches you how to respond to lawsuits, and gives you real, actionable steps to take back control.

With insights from industry pros, real listener questions, and practical guidance, The Debt Hotline helps you navigate debt with knowledge and courage. Don’t panic—get informed. Call in, tune in, and let’s get you back on track.

All content for The Debt Hotline is the property of Team Solo and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.

Episodes (20/47)

The Debt Hotline

How to Negotiate With Debt Buyers

Drowning in debt and wondering if you can actually negotiate with debt buyers? The answer is yes, but only if you communicate. In this episode of The Debt Hotline, George Simons sits down with Yale Levy, a seasoned attorney and former debt collector with nearly three decades of experience, to reveal the insider secrets of negotiating with debt buyers.

Debt buyers purchase charged-off debt portfolios from banks for around 4% of the original amount, then try to collect the full balance from consumers. If you're being contacted by a company you've never heard of, they probably bought your old debt from the original creditor. Yale shares what he learned from decades in collections and why the number one rule for consumers is simple: communicate, don't hide.

In this week's episode of The Debt Hotline, you'll learn:

Why communication is the #1 factor in successful debt negotiations
How to handle $150,000 in credit card debt when you're still current on payments
What happens when your spouse passes away and leaves debt behind
Why "pay for delete" is largely a myth that doesn't work with major collectors
How Social Security income can protect you from debt collection
What to do when settlement offers disappear due to missed deadlines

Yale and George tackle real listener questions, including advice for someone with $150,000 in IT income facing massive credit card debt, a widow on Social Security worried about inherited debt, and consumers frustrated by settlement offers that kept increasing due to missed deadlines.Here are some important tips if you're dealing with debt buyers:

Debt buyers purchased your debt for pennies on the dollar, giving you leverage in negotiations
Social Security income is generally protected from garnishment
Settlement offers have real deadlines and missing them often means starting over at higher amounts
"Pay for delete" violates credit reporting rules and major collectors won't honor these requests
Payment plans typically require $100+ monthly, sometimes extending up to 5 years
Even with limited assets, you can often negotiate settlements for pennies on the dollar

Whether you're dealing with Midland Funding, Portfolio Recovery, or any other debt buyer, this episode gives you practical strategies to communicate effectively, negotiate settlements, and avoid the biggest mistakes that cost consumers thousands. Solo can help you respond to debt lawsuits properly and SoloSettle makes debt negotiation straightforward—no awkward phone calls required.To submit a question to The Debt Hotline, you can:

Call 801-613-8181 and leave a voicemail
Fill out this form: https://forms.gle/28gd4XFsq6ybN4Qu8
Send an email to support@solosuit.com