CapOne/CA settlement offer letter

Discussion in 'Credit Talk' started by jonesing, Jun 14, 2001.

  1. jonesing

    jonesing Well-Known Member

    So I get this urgent voicemail yesterday from a friend about a letter she got in the mail. It seems she got a letter which said SETTLEMENT OFFER from a collection agency. They were contacting her about her Capital One Visa account. I pressed for more details and found out she got this card about 4-5 years ago--$300 limit. She charged it up and about 3 weeks later, she lost her job. She has never made a payment on the account! So I guess the triple combination late fees, overlimit fees and interest has turned the $300 balance into $1400!

    The CA says they'll take $750 in 4 installments and then CapOne will consider the account paid (I'm assuming "paid settlement" on her CR). She wants to know if this is a good deal--more to the point, if doing this will make her credit better so she can get a house! urp! What got me mad however is that this isn't the first letter she's received! She got "...I don't know, maybe 8 or 9 letters" from these people already!

    The first thing I had her do is get her report from Credit Manager. Looks like the only positive is an old paid off Mastercard and her AT&T wireless phone account. The other 3 items are negs--CapOne of course, Discover "I don't know why they say 120 days past due! I've paid money on that account for the last 4 months!" and some CA record for a mdeical bill.

    I really don't know what to tell her--other than come and join Creditnet. Told her to come here and look at the credit card listings for subprime cards since the AT&T is the only active positive account. As for the CapOne account, are there any ideas? Experian says the account will stay on record until 1/2005. Should she wait the 4 years and concentrate on building a good trade line with a secured card? Try (beg) for a deal via Consumer Advocate/Planetfeedback? C&D letter to the CA?
     

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