Credit card debt forgiveness is a way to have some or all of your credit card debt wiped clean without the need to pay it back. It can happen, but it most likely won’t in the majority of situations.

Still, there are ways to negotiate credit card debt, which could include your lender reducing some of the total debt you owe.

Unfortunately, having your credit card debt completely forgiven isn’t likely. Credit card companies and lenders let you borrow money, and it’s up to you to repay the debt. However, while credit card debt forgiveness is uncommon, there are other ways to receive debt relief.

If you’re struggling to pay off credit card debt, consider these four credit card debt relief options.

A credit card hardship program is a plan that certain credit card issuers offer if you’re having trouble paying your credit card bills. The terms and conditions of each program can vary, and not all issuers have these programs, but the general goal is to help you manage your debt, possibly through a payment plan. This could involve providing a way to ease your debt burden in some way, such as waiving late fees, lowering your interest rate, or reducing your minimum monthly payment.

Debt settlement is when you or a company working on your behalf negotiates with your creditors to reduce the amount of debt you owe. That sounds like a great deal, but you have to be careful with working with debt settlement or debt relief companies that are scammy or overpromise what they can deliver.

Depending on the situation, working with a debt settlement company could leave you in more debt than when you started and hurt your credit. It may be worth trying to negotiate debt settlement yourself with your creditors or working with a nonprofit credit counseling agency to become debt-free.

Free or low-fee nonprofit credit counseling organizations can help you make a debt management plan using recommended strategies and practices. Reputable credit counselors aren’t out to scam you or charge high up-front fees. Rather, they want to help you become debt-free through personalized plans and education.

Filing for Chapter 13 or Chapter 7 bankruptcy could discharge and get rid of unsecured debt, including credit card debt. However, bankruptcy is typically seen as a last resort if you can’t repay your debt because it severely impacts your credit for years.

A bankruptcy could stay on your credit reports for up to 10 years, and it may drop your credit score by up to 200 points.

Consider these three debt repayment methods to help pay off your debt.

You can use balance transfer credit cards to help tackle your debt in two ways:

1. Organize your debt: If you have debt spread out between multiple credit cards, you can use a balance transfer card to consolidate credit card debt in one place. This can make it easier to keep track of your debt and work toward paying it off.

2. Avoid interest: The most attractive feature of balance transfer cards is getting 0% APR on your transferred balance for about 12 months or more. Avoiding interest charges can help you focus on paying off your debt.

Keep in mind that balance transfer cards only tend to make sense if the amount you save on interest is more than you have to pay in balance transfer fees.

Similar to how you can consolidate debt with a balance transfer card, you can also consolidate credit card debt with a personal loan. You can use a loan to pay off existing credit card debt and then focus your surplus income toward paying off the loan.

It typically only makes sense to use a debt consolidation loan if it has a lower interest rate than the overall interest rate of your existing debt.

For example, a personal loan with a 7% interest rate is better than three credit cards with an average interest rate of 18%. Though you would still need to consider any potential fees associated with a loan.

The debt snowball and avalanche methods are two strategies that can help you pay off your debt. Neither method is necessarily better than the other, as it depends on your financial situation and which strategy makes the most sense for you.

With both methods, you list out your debts, including interest rates and credit card balances owed. You then start paying off specific debts depending on which method you choose.

With the debt snowball method, you work toward paying off the smallest debt first. Once that’s paid off, you move on to the next smallest debt. This continues until you’ve paid off all your debts.

With the debt avalanche method, you pay off the debt with the highest interest rate first. Once that’s paid off, you move on to the debt with the next highest interest rate. This continues until you’ve paid off all your debts.

The debt snowball method is typically better if you need more motivation because it focuses on paying off small debts quickly and moving on from there. The debt avalanche method will likely save you more money because you pay off high-interest debt first.

Whichever method you choose, you can pair these strategies with a credit card debt calculator to see how long it may take you to become debt-free.

It’s typically not possible to have your credit card debt wiped clean unless your lender decides to forgive your debt, which is uncommon. However, you might be able to negotiate your credit card debt or use a company’s financial hardship program. Declaring bankruptcy as a last resort could clear your credit card debt, but it would negatively impact your credit for years to come.

Late credit card payments, accounts sent to debt collections agencies, and Chapter 13 bankruptcies can last up to seven years on your credit report, affecting your credit the entire time.

Credit card debt settlement typically lowers your credit score because your credit report may show an account with a “settled” status, which means an account was paid for less than the full amount. This shows potential lenders that you were only able to repay a portion of your debt.

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