Need Advice On Credit Debt, Debt Relief Lawfirm, And Court

Any help or suggestions with my situation would be greatly appreciated. I know it’s alot to ask strangers to take the time to help, so I truly am grateful to anyone who responds with genuine advice.

So 2 years ago I signed up for a “debt relief” lawfirm (Gitmeid) that was meant to keep creditors off my back and negotiate reasonable settlements. I began with 2 creditors totaling $15k in credit debt.

The 1st creditor was settled a year ago and I’ve paid $4500 towards a $8400 debt.

The 2nd creditor tried to negotiate a ridiculous amount that saved me no money. I declined the offer and Gitmeid said they’d re-negotiate. Fast forward 2 months and the creditor decided to serve me. Gitmeid spoke to them and I was offered a 2 year plan to pay $3800 of a $5000 debt. I initially signed it and then regretted it as I was misled about legal fees and the monthly payment schedule. I went to my court date and declined to enter the $3800 judgement. For starters it was a bad negotiation..and by entering an agreement I have to pay ridiculous “negotiation fees” to Gitmeid. I told Gitmeid I was misled with documents to support that. So I might be able to get out of paying them any fees for the 2nd negotiation.

Now after all this time; I regret not just negotiating myself. I found out the 2 creditors I have are represented by the same lawfirm (BlItt & Gaines). Ultimately I want to just call them and settle for a lump sum of all remaining debt. I don’t have the $ but can take a loan from family. Why don’t I want Gitmeid to re-negotiate? Because they have awful negotiation skills and by negotiating myself I save $1200 in fees.

Gitmeid doesn’t represent me in court, but they signed an agreement with B&G for “power of limited attorney” which means B&G can’t reach out to contact me. But it seems there’s nothing that says I can’t contact B&G myself. I would just fire Gitmeid, but I worry because that would probably void my current agreement I paid 50% of. I don’t know how aggressive B&G is but from reviews it seems they’re nasty in court. I mean..they sued me for $5k debt. I wouldn’t put it past them to ignore my lump sum offer and try to get more $ than originally agreed to. So:

1) would I have power to negotiate on my own without firing Gitmeid? 2) is it worth it to fire Gitmeid to save $1200 in fees and void current agreement? I also believe they are genuinely bad at negotiating, as they saved me only 20% before. However prior I didn’t have the option to pay lump sum.

I’m not bringing in any income now, only have enough for 2 months of rent and utilities. No assets. If I stuck to my current settlement agreements I’d owe $7600 more. If I fired Gitmeid and worst case scenario—my agreements voided and I was somehow stuck with original balance…I’d owe $9800.

But because I have no $ or assets should I anticipate a 30-50% settlement? They have no wages to garner…would they really want to make things harder for themselves and not just accept a lump sum of say $3k?