Anybody who tells you that you can legally avoid paying back all of your credit card debts is either not telling you the truth, or they are grossly misinformed. Debt makes us desperate, and we often resort to desperate measures to get out of such situations. You do not have to do this, as taking desperate measures when it comes to debt can only cause more debt to accrue. There is a legal way to avoid paying some of your credit card debts - but not the entire debt.

You can eliminate a good chunk of the credit card debt that you owe with a debt settlement. Again, this does not eliminate the total amount that you owe, and it is important that you realize this going in. There is no set amount that you can settle your credit card debts for, from a legal standpoint, or even a set percentage of the debt.

However, the average consumer who has approximately $10,000 in debt can settle that debt for an average of 60%. This means that the consumer only has to pay 40% of that $10,000 - or $4000 - to make the debt go away once a settlement is reached. In this economy, credit card companies have even been known to settle debts for as high as 70% or 80%.

If you are told that you will be able to pay out your share of the settlement in payments, in most cases this is not true. The credit card companies are willing to settle the debts so that they receive a one time payment. This means that if you owe $10,000, and you settle at 60%, you would be required to make a $4000 payment to the credit card company, once the settlement agreement has been delivered to you in writing - typically within ten days.

If you want to legally eliminate your credit card debts, it is important that you are aware of all of these facts before you get started. It is also important that you understand the benefits of hiring a legitimate, professional debt relief company to help you through the process of debt relief as well.