What would you do if you was me ? I'm young, 21. I just landed a full time job. I have $12-15k debt is from different accounts,all of them are charged off and no longer owned by credit companies but are now owned and sold and resold to different collection agencies. It is not 1 account, its like 10-15 accounts. As for bankruptcy, I do not think I want to go towards that step. I already put myself in a situation where they see that its hopeless to collect full balance unless they can find that I'm working full time now by me being on the payroll. I am currently working F/T now and can make some payments a month however I am not sure what to do ? should I contact each and individually do a settlement ? All advice is appreciated, thank you! I am located in NYC. Stopped payments around 1-2 years ago. Thanks
Yes you should start to contact the companies and get something taken care of for settlements if possible. At your age, your credit is too important to just let it all go. You can either take care of the smaller accounts that may seem easier to get a grasp on first one by one, or you can tackle the larger accounts, just bear in mind all the interest that is accumulating on each account. Just get any offer in writing from the agency to protect yourself.
If you want to pay them, I'd start saving up the money to pay them in lump sums rather than making installment payments. There are too many horror stories of people thinking they've made some sort of payment arrangement with a CA only to end up getting sued after they've made a couple of agreements. (What I suspect happens is the CA is pocketing the first couple of payments then, when they see you're solvent and worth sueing, take you to court so they can get a judgment for the debt, plus interest, plus fees and collection costs, etc. But that's just conjecture on my part.) In any case, start small like Collectman suggests. Pick a bill, then start saving up so you can pay it all off at once. When you have the money ready, call them up and negotiate the lowest amount they'll take to completely settle the account, get that offer in writing (i.e. send them a letter or have them send you a letter), and then pay them once you've got something in writing that says your payment will COMPLETELY satisfy the debt. DO NOT give them your account information over the phone. DO NOT believe anything they say unless it's in writing (and you have a copy of it). DO NOT be in a hurry. You've waited this long, a couple of days for the paperwork to arrive isn't going to hurt. DO NOT get worried when they say you have to pay today (over the phone) or they won't be able to do anything, (blah, blah, blah). Your goal should be to settle completely and finally. Period. Don't settle for anything less and don't call them until you're ready to do that. Good luck!
