Last road for most to go through when looking to get out of a unforgiving debt situation is the course of consumer bankruptcy. For good reason the majority of debtors want to avoid bankruptcy. The adverse effect from going through a bankruptcy process is rather long lasting. Not to mention the social embarrassment of having to go through this process. Plus the effect on your FICO score is horrible and lasts up to 10 years. I think debt settlement is the best road to debt freedom.