What happens if I stop paying my credit card?

[questions]

If I stop paying on one credit card and it is cancelled, will my other cards be cancelled as well?

[krantcents]

If I stop paying on one credit card and it is cancelled, will my other cards be cancelled as well?

I believe it will take time, but it will happen. The credit card company will report it to the credit agencies after x days and your credit report will have some black marks, late marks at first, then delinquencies and finally they will close the account. The other companies will get wind of it somewhere along that time. If you are thinking about defaulting, why no call and make arrangements before it gets worse. Good luck.

[kork13]

Also consider that after a few months of not paying, your credit card company will start hounding you. Telephone calls, letters, etc. Eventually it'll get sent into collections, and the collection agency will hound you even worse. From there, there are a variety of possibilities, and none of them are good. To round it off, your credit will be scarred for almost the next decade, so hopefully you don't have any plans of buying a car, house, getting education loans, or doing anything else with credit...

The best option is that if you're having trouble paying your credit card bills, call your card companies TODAY! Explain the situation, and stress the fact that if they can't work anything out with you, your only option will be to stop paying. They should be able to work with you to get your payments reduced, or something else in order to allow you to continue paying down your debt. And if you haven't already done it, STOP USING YOUR CARDS IMMEDIATELY! Cut them up, and don't think about using them again, at least until you've paid all of your debts.

No matter what, you've already spent the money, and eventually someone is going to come back to get it from you. Even if you declare bankruptcy and the debt is thrown out, you will suffer from sky-high interest rates for years to come. Better to take care of it now and be done with it.

[JoshuaHeckathorn]

Yes, it'll only be a matter of time before all your accounts are closed. You can count on having a collection agency or two hounding you rather quickly as well.

[littleroc02us]

Why do you ask? What is your situation so that I may try to give you some advice?

[cjscully]

If I stop paying on one credit card and it is cancelled, will my other cards be cancelled as well?

There is no black and white answer to the question. Many credit card issuers today will periodically review your credit report and may take adverse action on your account with them based on your lack of performance on the account in question. They may or may not cancel your account. They may or may not increase your interest rate due to what they perceive to be increased risk.

If you've decided to stop paying on a card due to a dispute that has not been resolved, you can mitigate the fall out by disputing the debt with the credit bureaus as well. Eventually your credit report will have a notation that the debt is disputed and this could help your case with your other creditors.

No matter what else happens to your existing credit accounts, if you stop paying on a credit card, your credit score will go down, you will get collection calls and/or letters, the account will eventually charge-off, it will go to collection agencies and there is a possibility that the creditor will sue you to collect on the debt.

[CalisFinancialGuru]

Aside from the fact that you will be hunted down by collection agencies for the money, not paying off credit card bills and allowing delinquency and default to occur will severely negatively impact your credit score. Even if your credit score is low now, any records added at this point will stick for 7 years. This will affect your ability to obtain loans if they become necessary and is used to determine you general and financial responsibility level in many situations as well (renting an apartment, obtaining a new job, etc...). In sum, defaulting and ignoring your credit card bills is not the way to go. Look at paying off debts as raising your assets by lowering your liabilities, therefore making it a way of saving.

[maat55]

It would only seem natural for CC companies to keep track of this and act accordingly. It might take a little while for them to notice. If I were in this situation I would assume they will.

[marvholly]

Also, it is very likely your auto, homeowners/renters insurance will go up LOTS. They too do a periodic check of your credit scores.