Hello. This is my first post, and I'm trying to get knowledgeable. I recently discovered this site and I've been reading post after post for the last 3 hours. Each post was insightful, and although not always relevant to my situation, offered some hope in getting out of my situation. Let me share with you my situation and I hope it will prompt some responses: About 5 years ago, my wife and I were tired of paying 15 accounts each month and were kinda maxing out on the amount we were able to pay each month. In an effort to send a single payment, we enlisted the help of a credit negotiation law firm. They took our money and paid a few accounts, but it turns out they didn't make all the payments they were supposed to. So we withdrew from their program (kind of like CCCS). We tried to dig out, but in the end, enlisted the help of a debt settlement company. We were young and foolish, and so we did as they instructed, by letting our accounts go delinquent for 6 months. They took our money and never settled any. So, I decided to take control and do it myself. I have been sending letters with offers for settlement for some time now. We've settled one account for 33%. All this time, though, I wish I had known about this site. It would have seriously helped my situation. Anyway, I haven't taken advantage of the verification/validation letters and am now wondering if it's too late. I've been reading that I shouldn't have dealt with the CA people at all. I've read that I should have sent these letters, etc. I seem to be doing this all wrong. I've received plenty of offers for settlement from these companies. but all in the 40-50% range. I'd like to settle in the 20-30% range (or less, of course). I recently sent a letter (CRRR - atleast I'm doing something right!) to all of them saying essentially, that if my offer for settlement wasn't accepted, I may be forced to file BK. I've met with a BK attorney and based on my salary, I'm "ineligible to file ch 7." What's the point, then? So, I'm resolved to not file, but I'm wanting to settle my accounts before I get a judgement against me and have wages garnished, since that would basically keep me from paying off anything else. I spoke to a debt settlement company, and after hearing that I owe about $65k in debt (it was about 45k when I started a few years ago), and hearing my salary, they were honestly surprised that the companies hadn't gone after my wages. Maybe it's the communication I've had with them that's kept it out of the courts, I don't know. My questions now are: 1) Can I still send validation letters even though it's long past the 30 days? 2) What should my next steps be? I can't pay off this debt in a month, even if they all wanted to settle for 15%. I need to prioritize, I guess, but which should be of most importance? 3) Most of the creditors are pretty silent these days. Not much mail coming in or in response to my offers to settle. Is this a precursor to a legal proceeding? I know this is a lot, but I wanted to introduce myself and get an idea of where to go from here. I'm not starting at the beginning and can follow the steps outlined here, so I'm needing some help on what I can do now. I am trying to avoid BK at all costs. In saying I'd file, it was more or less a desperate attempt at getting them to take as little as possible. If my wages are garnished, I may not have a choice, though. I am learning, and I know this won't be a short process, but I want to do this the right way. Thanks for reading and I hope to learn even more! John
hello, I am in a very similar situation as you may have read some of my posts. I am wondering what debt company you went with. I was young and with perfect credit opened a business using credit cards...working up to @$20,000 in debt..coincidentally(wink,wink) got a call from Emergeny debt relief and signed up..sounded great. Like you I wish I had found this website a year ago. Ipaid them up-front and (I had 5 cards in teh prgram) so far they have settled three of them. I had NO IDEA how bad this would affect my credit! as i read this site I find i shouldn't have stopped paying the monthly payments and that there were other options other than paying EDR like 4,000.00 up front..oh well can't really look back. I am looking for the same advice you are so this is basically a 2 point post: I will share any information I receive to help the situation and just a misery loves company post, letting you knwo you aren't the only one....we will get out..hopefully! The advice I have gotten and you can maybe use is: when you are negotiating a settlement tell them you will settle the debt only if they delete the information from your credit report. This way the company was proabably not expecting you to pay and you are offering them some money if they delete the negative information on your CR. hope this is helpful at all. erin
The first thing you need to do is find out what the Statute of Limitations is for your state. If these are credit cards, they're open-ended contracts. Some of these may be past the Statute of Limitations. That means they can't legally collect them. They can try, but you wait for them to sue you, then go to court and assert the SOL as a defense and the suit will be dismissed. It is never too late to send a validation letter. They just want you to think so. If you aren't past the Statute of Limitations, send validations to the CAs.
Thank you! Misery loves company, and although I wish neither of us were in this, we'll get out of it. The company was the Law Firm of Kim E. Kerber. They were ok, but I didn't see any progress, only drawbacks. Same with the settlement company - American Debt Negotiation and Settlement (ADNS). Again, no progress. I'm continuing working through this. I just pulled all three CRs. Surprisingly enough, my numbers were in the high 500s. I've got to go over it in detail. Only two accounts showed they were in collections. Interesting. Thanks for your post, and I'll continue to update as I make progress.
1) Can I still send validation letters even though it's long past the 30 days? dabster ><- <>- ><- <> YES YES YES ><- <>- ><- <>
In West Virginia, the SOL is 6 years, . 1* Should I ignore at this point? 2*I sent letters to validate and it's been 45 days and haven't heard from them again. dabster ><- <>- ><- <> ><- <>- ><- <> ~~~ ><- <>- ><- <> ><- <>- ><- <> ~ ~ ~ ><- <>- ><- <> 1*You ignore them they ignore you how does that resolve the issue? 2* You should have sent the estoppel after 30 days.
