In Debt

My husband and I have credit card debt of almost $50,000 and we are trying to figure out what our best option would be. We can barely make it from paycheck to paycheck. My husband takes home $2,800/month and my take home pay is approx. $1,400/month (part-time). My father recently passed away and we are also receiving income from his rental properties (approx. $800/month). We would like to sell his properties (for a total of about $60,000 but the market in the area is horrible now). We do own our home (although we have refinanced a couple of times and are not able to refinance again as we do not have enough equity). Anyway, we are considering debt consolidation vs. debt settlement. I understand that with debt settlement, your payments are lower because the debt settlement company negotiates with the credit card companies to accept a lower amount, which sounds good. However, it ruins your credit completely for years. Also, I believe they recommend not paying your bills for months and putting money into an account while you wait for the two companies to come to an agreement. In the meantime, you could be sued and harrassed for not paying your bills. Is all of this correct? With debt consolidation, you pay one lump to the debt consolidation company and they disburse payments to your creditors. They also try to work out better interest rates and lower monthly fees. From what I understand, there is a notation on your credit report, but this will not completely ruin your credit. Is this correct? As such, we are leaning toward debt consolidation. Based on the above, I just wanted to get your thoughts to see if you think this is the way we should go or do you think there is a better option for us. We are considering cashing in my husband's retirement, just to get us out of this mess. What are your thoughts? Thank you.