I have a credit card with a balance due of $9036. This account is in a collection agency and the people there are ruthless and degrading. They have put words in my mouth that I have never said. I want to be done with these people. They made me an offer of $6500 and have given me 3-days to pay it. I told them I could make monthly payments and that is totally unacceptable. They want the lump sum at once. They have threatened me and next step it to go to court. I recently had a judgment from Discover made against me. I cetainly do not need another one. They are very extremely difficult people to deal with. I do not have that lump sum money. I am going to apply for a Prosper loan but that will take some time if I get approved What are my options? Could I offer them a lower settlement amount? How do I determine that amount? I was thinking making 2-settlements offers to this one and Discover. Will they remove the judgment and negative report on my credit? I welcome any advice.
Settlement Offers?credit bureau
I%26#039;m not sure how credit works in the US as I am in Canada but I can offer some information. Overall they should be offering you more than 3 days to pay and I%26#039;m shocked that they aren%26#039;t willing to make payment arrangements with you. If you don%26#039;t pay they don%26#039;t get paid, it%26#039;s as simple as that. A collection company is a third party business that has been contracted to collect payment and they get paid a percentage of what they collect from you. Each company holds the account for so long and if they are unsuccessful it is passed on to another company. Until it goes to court (which is threatened more often than it actually happens). A settlement is usually offered at the tail end of their contract in order to try to make some money off the account. A settlement offer is marked as such on your credit, it shows you paid it off, but not entirely and it still shows as a negative on your credit for 7 years (or so that is in Canada, may be more or less time in US, not sure).
Here is what you should do. Talk to them and tell them what you can do. They may say that isn%26#039;t acceptable, but tell them that is all you can do, if they don%26#039;t accept it and if it goes to court, make sure that you state that you have attempted to find a suitable payment arrangement that you could manage and that they were unwilling to work with you. Keep records of all your conversations with them, what was said, who you spoke to, dates and times.
Here in Ontario there is a ministry that governs collection agencies and they have to follow strict guidelines. What they have done to you would be illegal here and they could lose their license as a business and pay hefty fines, including the outsanding debt that they were trying to collect on. (I know this from personal experience). Do a bit of research and see if there is anything similar where you live.
Your next step, if unsuccessful with the collection agency would be to contact the company itself and speak to a manger in their accounts receivable (or may be called something else such as collections, payments, credit etc.) and tell them your situation and see if they can help. They may be able to work something out with you and pull it from the collection agency. This will also help improve credit score overall.
Settlement Offers?
loan
I would suggest familiarizing yourself with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (link below). It governs how collection agencies deal with consumers. It prohibits a lot of abusive collection practices, some of which you might have experienced.
Have you requested that the collection agency validate the debt? You have the right to do so under the FDCPA. All you need to do is to send them a letter (I would do it via certified mail, return receipt requested and via regular mail) saying that you request that they provide verification of the debt.
If you aren%26#039;t getting anywhere with the collection agency and believe that they may have violated the FDCPA, then I would strongly suggest that you contact an attorney. You can get a referral from your local bar association and you might be eligible for free legal help from your local county legal aid office.
As for the Discovery judgment, as soon as Discover gets their money (either the total amount of the judgment or some negotiated lower amount) Discover is required by law to mark the judgment as %26quot;satisfied%26quot;.|||Dont give in you can get them to shut up and never contact you again by sending a letter of debt validation and a letter of cease contact you can find both letters free on this website http://www.adviceontime.com/Credit/Credi... they are just trying to pressure you into paying them a huge commission. your debt of 9036 was probably bought by that collection agency for .06 cents to the dollar or 542.16 dollars they are trying to make a huge profit off you. The headlines yesterday were huge earnings for debt collection firms, don%26#039;t be one of the statistics http://www.adviceontime.com/Credit%20Rep... cheers
Bill
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