1. Pay the house note first. Everything else is secondary. Credit cards are last on the payment priority.

2. Tell the debt caller, civilly, that you are aware of the problem and you are working to resolve the issue. You caould, either
a) tell them you had a family emergency and that you’d like to work out a payment plan – and then do so, or
b) if they are a bunch of a-holes, tell them, civilly, that they are no longer to call you and all correspondence must be through the mail. The collector is legally obliged to follow this order.

If the collector does NOT stop harassing you , you have legal remedies on the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The Creditor may not call yo uat work if you have notified them that they may not call there. They may not call your neighbors and friends and tell them of your debt. KNOW your rights.

3) Seek a permanent solution. You will either need to slowly pay off your debts or bring in more money. Hiding makes matters worse. My parents have been hiding for 25 years. I can’t tell them there’s another way.

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1–depending on how far along your debt is, you can cease them from all calls via written communication only–send them a letter ceasing them from calling you and stating that you want only correspondence in writing. if they are or begin to (which they will) call your employer you may cease them verbally.
2–depending on where you live his debts may be considered yours as well. certain states, such as AZ, CA, NM, TX etc…are community property states, meaning everything each of you owns or owes is shared. this applies whether your name is on it or not….and, in case you arent aware, the bankruptcy laws have recently changed and it is much harder to file.
3–most companies will not accept settlements in more than one payment, but some will split it between, 2, 3 or 6 payments….this all depends what stage these debts are at….also depends, of course, on the size of debts. 30-50 dollars a month is more reasonable on a debt that is 1000.00 versus something that is 6k…
—my advice—it can be difficult to deal with collection agencies; they can be rude and pushy and insulting…try to remember it is their job and a lot of people they deal with are deadbeats who continually lie and make excuses because they wont ever pay their bill. however, tough times fall on all of us. the unfortunate part is that it doesn’t matter what happened because a legal document was signed which agrees the debt will be paid on a regular basis….so…that is the perspective they are coming from. typically, companies will settle debts out from 95 down to 50 percent of the total debt owed. it depends on a lot of factors.
—are u current on your mortage? is there equity in your property? could you refi?
—can anyone possibly help you? best to try and settle out these accounts before they get too far.
—if you talk to debt collectors and they are telling you that you have to pay more than 50 dollars a month, send it in anyway. they will tend to say they wont accept anything other than X amount… at least then there is payment on the account…it is not necessarily that important at this point that you pay the min. monthly payments, but that there is something being put toward the account.
—good luck to you!!!
if you want to know laws on collection acts—search yahoo for the FDCPA (fair debt collections practices act)–the more knowledgeable you seem, the better off you will be…

Look, don’t panic!!!

Try to make payment arrangements with them as soon as possible, try to show the effort, make minimum payments and anything extra try to pay towards the debt. Do not file bankruptcy, ever!! Ur husband needs to make payment arrangements and stick to it, don’t worry it’s okay. The more effort you show the better u will be. U and ur husband need to sit down and figure everything out. Best wishes and God will show u the way.