ARA Review by Bona10nder of Debt Cleanse

[Bona10nder]

[Following is an OnlineBookClub.org ARA Review of the book, Debt Cleanse.]

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5 out of 5 stars

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In his self-help book Debt Cleanse: How to Settle Your Unaffordable Debts for Pennies on the Dollar (and not Pay Some at All) author Jorge P. Newberry delivers a step-by-step guide to resolving a broad range of consumer debts including everything from credit cards to mortgages. He meets the notoriously aggressive tactics of the creditors with an equal if not greater aggression. Newberry guides the reader through these processes with relative ease, in a language anyone can understand, utilizing easy-to-follow steps and form letters.

All Tactics, Big and Small

The subtitle of Jorge P. Newberry's book alone will bring hope to some, outrage to others. Those in the latter category won't simply be the creditors of the world, they will be the people who somehow manage to never miss a payment on anything. The thought of skipping out on debt is an affront to who they are.

But the creditors of the world may not be pleased either, because not only does Newberry give a truly functional step-by-step method for tackling virtually any debt, he makes these creditors look lazy and entitled.

The author pulls out all the stops, unwilling to overlook a single potential path to escaping an otherwise untenable debt. Newberry never suggests breaking the law; rather, he stresses that playing by the rules is what will get you through this mess. Are you a minority? Look into possible discrimination, because it is rampant in loan offices nationwide. They gonna repo your vehicle? Here's a methodical, twenty-five step way to prevent it (the steps are worded as 'mile one, mile two' except for eight, which is listed as eight mile. Stick-tap to Detroit, Eminem?). They threatening foreclosure? Stop taking care of the lawn, let the house go to hell, encourage your neighbors' dogs to use your grass for a toilet. Not out of spite, but to bring down the home's estimated value.

The types of debt listed, followed by practical, applicable tricks is quite impressive. For example, has your creditor filed a lawsuit? The author's answer, depending on the debt, is to file a counter claim against not only the creditor, but also,

… any other parties that may share responsibility for your unaffordable mortgage … [including] prior lenders and servicers, real estate brokers, mortgage brokers, property sellers, appraisers, title companies, escrow companies and notaries.

He does this for medical bills, payday loans, business, vehicle, and student loans, and more. As helpful as his detailed steps are, the last chapter offers so-called 'Action Tools', form letters simple to fill out and send to your creditor.

Among the book's many motifs is one that will seem or feel counterintuitive to anyone drowning under one or more debts: Stop paying those debts and start saving the money you would have applied to your debts. Another frequent motif is also counterintuitive, especially with regard to the desperate, time-bomb sensitive tactics of debt collectors: Delay as much as you can. Time, he tells us again and again, is actually on our side.

Ever the entrepreneur, Newberry promotes an accompanying website, debtcleanse.com, as a means of aiding the reader get organized among other things. This review concerns only the book itself and makes no comment on the website.

5 out of 5 stars

Self-help books became a thing in the 1970's and ever since then, authors have been churning out books for this genre that do lots of talking with very little actual aid. In his book, Newberry fulfills the spirit of the better self-help books by offering direct-action help and in doing so earns all five stars. He casts debtors, appropriately in most cases, as the little guy up against the giant that is the world of collectors, reminding us that "Wall Street can absorb the hit when you don't pay."

While reading the book I kept coming back to an old saying: if, as one person, you think you are powerless against forces much bigger than you, then you've never tried to sleep in a room with a mosquito.

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