Debt settlement

Debt settlement, also known as debt arbitration, debt negotiation or credit settlement, is an approach to debt reduction in which the debtor and creditor agree on a reduced balance that will be regarded as payment in full. During a negotiation period, all payments by the debtor are made to the debt settlement company, which typically withholds payments to the creditors, even if the debtor has paid a lump sum or made payments. Once all the debtor's accounts are in default due to this non-payment, the debt settlement company has leverage to force the debtor to accept a reduced lump sum payment as settlement. The debtor's credit rating goes down significantly due to the default, especially if the debtor was not behind on payments before the negotiation period commenced. Even though the accounts are "settled," the default appears on the debtor's credit record for seven years. Nevertheless, some debtors prefer this method of debt reduction over bankruptcy.

Debt settlement is often confused with debt consolidation or debt management. In debt consolidation and debt management, the consumer makes monthly payments to the debt consolidator, who takes a fee and passes the rest on to the creditors; this way, creditors continue to receive payments each month. In debt settlement, the consumer makes monthly payments, out of which the debt settlement company takes its fees for the legal work or negotiation and payments are paid to the creditor. The debt settlement company may persuade the creditor to accept a settlement less than the amount the debtor pays, with the debt settlement company keeping the difference.

Burn Notice (season 1)

Season one of the American television series Burn Notice originally aired from June 28, 2007 to September 20, 2007.

Season overview

The first season of Burn Notice introduces Michael Westen. He is burned while on a covert op in Nigeria. After fleeing, he soon finds himself in Miami, where he is reunited with his ex-girlfriend, Fiona Glenanne, and another old friend, Sam Axe. For several episodes, Michael is tailed by Harris (Marc Macaulay) and Lane (Brandon Morris), two FBI agents who are sent to keep tabs on Michael. Sam reports to them, mildly straining his relationship with Michael. Eventually, Harris and Lane are pulled from the case and replaced by a CSS agent, Jason Bly (Alex Carter). Bly makes Michael's life miserable, even going so far as having his loft raided.

Finally, Michael discovers the identity of the man who burned him: Phillip Cowan (Richard Schiff). He gets in touch with Cowan, and they eventually meet. However, Cowan is shot by a sniper after saying "This is much, much bigger than us, my friend." Michael is later contacted by a mysterious woman (later identified as Carla), who tells him that they should meet. Michael suspects that she is part of the organization that burned him, and he makes a long journey to meet her. The season ends with Michael driving onto a truck to be taken to his new "handler."

List of Burn Notice episodes

Burn Notice is an American television series that originally aired on the cable television channel USA Network from June 28, 2007 to September 12, 2013. The show follows the life of protagonist Michael Westen (Jeffrey Donovan), a covert operative who has been "burned" (identified as an unreliable or dangerous agent) and tries to find out why. With his assets frozen, he is unable to leave Miami and forced to live off any small investigative jobs he can find, with the help of his girlfriend Fiona Glenanne (Gabrielle Anwar) and his old military friend Sam Axe (Bruce Campbell), who briefly informed on him to the FBI. His return to Miami also reunites him with his mother Madeline Westen (Sharon Gless), who becomes an increasingly important part of Michael's life even as he tries to hide his activities from her. Underpinning the episodic stories of Michael's investigative jobs is the running subplot exploring Michael's efforts to find out who burned him, and to get his job and reputation back.