I have offered Amex's CA / Lawyers to settle my niece's debt of $1,359 (which includes about $400 in interest and late fees) for $0.70 on the dollar. I was advised that they will make a decision by this coming Tuesday. Will their acceptance of my offer still affect my niece's credit standing, or will settling the account put her back on a clean slate?
Her credit's probably already been affected. Yes, settling does hurt your credit. Why wouldn't it? It does not put you back on a clean slate. Other creditors see that she did not pay back the money as she promised. If she is going to settle the account, get in writing that they won't report as settled. You want them to report paid as agreed.
It will remain on her credit as a "settled for less than full amount".This is considered a bad line on your credit report.:-(
I still maintain what I said previously is the way to go. You said your niece is homeless. Her credit has already been damaged and paying Amex at this point is not going to help her credit report. I still believe rather than pay Amex now, you should use that money to get her into an apartment with the first 2 months rent prepaid. Then she can concentrate on finding work. Once settled into a new home and job, then she can worry about paying Amex.
Wow! I didn't know about that side of the coin! I agree 100% with LKH. What good is credit if you have nowhere to live!
hello everyone, thanks a million for your thoughts, but I am also working on getting her a place at the same time that I am doing this Amex stuff, so I definitely am working on that. But now that I have your opinions, is it better that I settle for $0.70 and wait for Tuesday or is it better that I pay the full amount today if I can afford it, even if they have been unable to validate the debt?
Sorry, meant that I sent the CA a validation letter and no response as of yet. I requested that any validation documents be faxed to me, but what they told me instead was that they are submitting my offer to settle to their "board" for approval or disapproval by this coming Tuesday. My niece claims that she had disputed many of the charges with American Express, but she never got anything back from them since she has been moving around every other week for the last 18 months since she lost her job. Also, does anyone know if the CA can continue to charge interest and penalty fees after a written request for validation has been sent? It seems that they should not be able to do that legally.
They can continue to charge fees/interest - they just cannot continue collection activity until they validate. This rule applies to collection agencies, not original creditors so you might be in good shape. How long ago did you request validation, did you do it CRRR, and have they tried to collect since the signed for the CRRR?
I faxed them the validation letter just this morning, and am still deciding whether to just wait until Tuesday or to mail them the original validation letter with return receipt. Advice please?
Definitely working on that? How long does it take to rent an apartment. I may be overly suspicious, but I have this feeling that there is no niece and it is your Amex debt and you just don't want to say so. That's your perogative though.
Good Lord! How long does it take, as long as there is no apartment that I can afford. I gave her the maximum amount that I could afford and she is out looking. For now she is staying with a former schoolmate who really isn't kicking her out anyway. She is in NY and I am in SC, and that makes it quite difficult since I really cannot physically help her look. If it were my debt, why should I hide it when everything here is anonymous anyway - in other words, why would I be afraid to mention it as my debt (which it isn't) since you guys don't know me and will never find out who I am. So your last comments, unfortunately, don't make sense.
As I said, I may be overly suspicious. Maybe it was the way you wrote that you were working on it and then dropped the subject. I guess if I had a relative that had been homeless for 18 months, either I would have long ago found a place for them or moved them into my house. But then again, maybe you just recently found out about the situation. I sincerely hope everything works out for you and your niece.
Manny.... LKH was probably a bit over the line (LKH - You were maybe a tad over the line). However, many of us here have been conditioned to be skeptical. Lbrown sometimes takes it to the extreme. In any event, I don't think LKH meant anything personal by it. That's just the mindset most of us are in - to be skeptical and very cautious. If I'm wrong, LKH will surely let me know about it.
I understand. No harm done. And yes I just found out about the situation last the other Sunday when I received an emergency phone call from my niece's best friend in Philadelphia. Anyway, I am still looking for answers to all of my questions, and here they are again: 1) Am I approching this the correct way? 2) if the CA accepts my offer, does that still ruin my niece's credit? 3) I want this out of the way since this is taking up too much of my time. What is the best way to pay pennies on every dollar owed (one time payment) while making sure that my niece's credit does not get permanently ruined. 4)I somehow suspect that they are delaying the acceptance of my offer so they can continue to tack on interest and penalty fees. do interest and penalty fees accrue after a validation letter has been sent? Is it legal for the CA to keep on posting interest and penalty fees? thanks again everyone.
Do you have any independent verification of your niece's situation? Are you sure that this Amex account is the ONLY account she has defaulted on? Are you sure that the funds you are sending her are going to be used for the purpose she claims? Where did you get this "Amex" fax number from? Normally speaking a creditor,especially a collection agent is not allowed to speak to anyone other than the debtor.Other than the word of your niece,and this "collection agent" what steps have you taken to make sure you are not being scammed?
I would speak to to the ca again, and make sure they will delete the derogatory entry in exchange for payment. If the ca accepts your offer without you getting in writing that they will delete upon payment, it will still show as a paid charge off - settled for less than full amount. This is a very negative entry. You are going about it the correct way as far as far as settling for less than the original amount. I doubt they are stalling a few days for more interest. It doesn't amount to that much and they'd much rather get paid.
Yes I have independent verification of the debt from my niece (who doesn't lie to anyone ever) and the rude CA. When I called the CA a second time I immediately asked for their fax number and address, and after getting that info, I then asked to speak to that really rude person in charge of the account. When I called (and they answered by saying "Schwartz & Schwartz Law Offices"), I immediately asked: Is this COLDATA, and the operator said YES right away and I knew I was dealing with a collection agency. I am 100% sure that I am not being scammed by anyone. I guess at this point I will just wait for Tuesday and if they take my offer then I will ask them to put it in writing that they are agreeing to post "paid as agreed" as per advice from you all.
I have checked out the ca and the "attorney",after obtaining permission from "Manny" via e-mail. It is a very complex (possibly illegal,and definitely important to all here) situation and I would not post it without running it through someone else who can make sure I haven't dreamt it up.E-mail me and I will forward the "scoop"(only long term creditnetters please)
