Yes, that is correct. It is not a mistake or a typo. With so many Americans feeling the financial crunch today it is possible to get some assistance from your credit card company.

If you have made some mistakes and find yourself in financial trouble, you are like many Americans in today’s economy. You may have over extended your credit or just simply taken on too much debt. Don’t expect your credit card company to forgive the debt, but they might be willing to take forbearance and help you to try and recover from the problem.

If you have lost your job or have had some other financial emergency such as a medical issue, you may find yourself in financial position that needs some help. Many credit card companies are granting one or more types of forbearance for hard-pressed cardholders.

Forbearance is a postponement of payment and may last from 6 months to a year (or possibly longer). It may also include reducing your minimum monthly payment, reducing your interest rate or even eliminating some fees that were assessed on your credit card. Forbearance does not eliminate your debt but it may put it off so that you can try and recover from your financial difficulties. The Credit Card Company may report the delay to the credit bureaus but they might be willing to hold on the reporting. If you have had good credit then they may be more willing to work with you. If you have bad credit you may have to dispute this information later if it is reported incorrectly. This is only a temporary solution to your problem because eventually you will have to start paying back the credit card balance.

Credit card companies will try to work with you if you can provide them with the reason for your problem, giving them a chance to see that without the forbearance you might be forced to consider bankruptcy. Since credit card balances are unsecured loans and the credit card companies take a chance to lose everything if you file and are granted a bankruptcy, they often will try to work with you. This keeps their money coming in and keeps you out of bankruptcy court.

The secret is to not wait too long. If you see a financial problem coming, then contact your credit card company. This gives your more chance and more opportunities for your credit card company to work with you.

This will not fix your problem, only solving the cause can fix the problem. If you lost your job, you will need to get a new one. If you had a medical issue that caused the financial problem, then getting that problem either resolved or under control will help you get back on track. Whatever the reason, you are only getting some temporary help to get you back under control.