ZipDebt is no longer offering do-it-yourself debt relief coaching or the audio seminar launched in 2004 to help consumers with negotiating settlements on their credit card debts.

Full Service Debt Settlement is available via my Tailored Debt Settlement Program for selected clients only. Please note that an application is required and I do not accept everyone who applies into my program due to limited capacity.

My name is Charles J. Phelan, and zipdebt.com is my longtime website portal, active since 2004. I go back to 1997 as one of the very first professional debt negotiators assisting consumers to settle their unsecured credit card and personal debts. In 2000, I helped to build one of the nation’s first large scale debt settlement companies, but I didn’t like the greed-oriented trend on fee gouging within the debt relief industry, so in 2004 I set up zipdebt.com to provide low cost services.

Since launching ZipDebt in 2004, I’ve personally helped many thousands of consumers to deal with their creditors one-on-one, and I’ve collected numerous testimonials from satisfied clients.

For many years, I only offered DIY-with-coaching services, but in 2016 I finally went back to providing full service negotiation support via my proprietary method, which I call Tailored Debt Settlement.

As of May 1st, 2020, I will no longer be offering paid consultations, the audio seminar, coaching support for do-it-yourself debt settlement, document review services, or free 20-minute consultations. My rationale for making this major change in my business model has to do with several key factors.

• After 23 years in the debt relief space, and at the age of 62, it’s been a long and difficult grind to offer these services year after year, all by myself, with virtually no support staff for the coaching process. I want to work a little less intensely than I have been for the past two decades, and honestly I would rather be out hiking the forest trails in the beautiful San Jacinto Mountains where I live!

• Compared to when I was literally the Lone Ranger of DIY Debt Settlement, today there is a ton of free information online to help consumers who wish to settle their debts without professional assistance, and over time it’s been difficult to sustain the original business model that ZipDebt was built around.

• Further, in recent years the process of negotiating settlements has become more technical and involved, especially with respect to the need for precision timing of the entry points for negotiation. Consumers on their own can still be successful at the DIY approach, but it’s trickier to manage legal risk than it was in the “good old days,” and with several aggressive debt buyers operating now in this space, it’s even more of a challenge than before.

• After the Great Recession of 2008, I was flooded with an astonishing amount of new inquiries and the demand for DIY debt relief coaching went through the roof. I was working 12-14 hour days trying to keep up with all the activity. As a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, I’m quite certain that later in 2020 or early 2021 a new tidal wave of activity will occur, by consumers seeking help with their debts.

Based on all the above factors, I’ve decided that now is the time for me to pare back my service offerings, and focus on a select group of clients that have high odds of being successful implementing the debt settlement approach. I’m still here, and I’ll still be helping as much as possible, but I will be taking on fewer clients under this revised business model than I had been previously.

If you want professional help from a provider that cares just as much about helping you manage your risk as saving you money (or earning fees!), please read my 5-page series on Tailored Debt Settlement. If you like what you read there, then email me your application, which must include a list of the debts you’re looking to settle, some background explanation on your financial situation, and a forecast on your available funding for settlement negotiations.

Many thanks to the thousands of Americans who have trusted me to help with their debt situations over these past 23+ years. I look forward to doing my small part to help our country get past this crisis and move forward again. Stay safe out there, and best wishes to all.