Hello...newbie here. I've been reading for about 3 weeks now, and I have a letter all ready to send to sears. I'm willing to settle with them for a lesser amount if they remove all negatives. I don't work, and my husband refuses to pay this any longer. (long story) I read somewhere on here that this is considered by creditors as an uncollectable account (i think someone called it a 'dead-end debt' or something like that) so I think settling is a good deal for sears. Anyway, before I could mail them the settlement offer, I got the following from Sears today in my mailbox: "As a valued Accountholder, we would like to extend an opportunity to easily and quickly bring your account current. To assist you, Sears is offering to match each scheduled monthly payment for up to six months! Under the proposed arrangement, you simply need to make two scheduled monthly payments in consecutive billing periods. This monthâ??s scheduled monthly payment is $XX.XX and is due on XX/XX/XX. Once the second payment is applied to your account, we will bring your account current! Additionally, beginning with the second payment we receive, we will issue a credit to your account in the amount of the scheduled monthly payment that month. If you continue to make scheduled monthly payments consecutively for the next 5 months, we will continue to issue a credit to your account for each scheduled monthly payment. Should you default on any payment of the program, no further credits will be given. Time is extremely important in resolving your delinquent account status. You must take the following steps to take advantage of this offer: 1. Call us at the telephone number listed below and confirm that you want to participate; and 2. Continue to make scheduled monthly payments. We hope that you will take advantage of this proposal we are making. Call us today to accept this offer." > > Anyone else ever receive this from Sears? Just wondering how crazy it would be to write them back and tell them I'd agree if they'd put in writing that they'd remove all negatives from my reports...According to them, I owe around 2,000 and I'm about 6 months delinquent. Are they just desperate because I havent paid and they're making one last ditch effort before sending it to collection? Just when i think i'm pretty sure how to go about getting this sears TL changed or deleted, they throw me a curve ball. ugh. thanks!
If your husband refuses to pay this any longer then you have to make a decision on what to actually do and stick to it. Make payments or not at all. Yes this is probably a last effort by Sears to not bring this account to further collection efforts. I personally went though that and they did sue me for alot of money after no payments. Although my girlfriend went through the same thing and claimed "deadbeat" and they never sued. They went "unable to locate consumer". They never sued her but she filed B.K on the account 5 years after she went late for the first and last time "made a decision to never pay". Even if you try to dispute to the CRA's to get the account deleted, you would still owe the money in reality until maybe the SOL would maybe come up. If you are worried about your credit file and they will "change it" for payments I would go that route. If your husband refuses to pay then fight the CRA's and Sears over the amount due. Personally Sears did sue me and was very aggresive in garnishments and clearing out my checking account if I ever had money in there. They did a 25% garnishment on wages and jumped ahead of my other judgements in the past. Make a decision and stick with it. Or listen to someone with more experience than myself on this subject.
Sounds like you have plenty of experience with this. Thanks for the reply. The only reason this is an issue is because I want it off my credit report, so I guess I'll go the 'change it for payments' route. Hope they agree to settlement for deletion, or I'll never send another penny. (I hate sears...its a matter of principle that i wont pay...i'm not a deadbeat, lol.) I guess they could sue me, but they can't collect because I don't work. I have relayed that fact in my letter in a tactful way. How much did you owe them when they sued you (if you dont mind my asking)? Didn't it go to collection first? thanks for the info!
Don't think that you're safe because you don't work. In many states, they'll be able to garnish at least bank accounts from your husband. If your name is also on the account, it's considered yours. And in some states, the debts of one spouse are considered the debts of both. Before assuming you're safe, I'd talk to a lawyer about the laws in your state. If you can afford to pay it, I'd take their offer. They'll bring it current, but will probably show some lates. As time goes on, you can try to get the lates removed. And they probably won't hurt you as much as a chargeoff will.
That is nice that they are trying to "WORK" with you... Many people have said they they WON'T work with them and they WON'T settle for less than 100%...
Re: Re: has anyone rec'd this from sears? How much did you "hate Sears" when you were in their store buying their stuff?? Apparently, you liked them enough to buy their products.... You sound like a real catch. I can't believe that your husband refuses to pay your bills any longer.
Re: Re: has anyone rec'd this from sears? too much Do you respond to people like this in your personal life? If so, you must be a lonely jerk.
Re: Re: Re: has anyone rec'd this from sears? I tell the truth...painful or not. Some people don't like the truth. The original poster doesn't want to pay her bill, wants a valid debt off her credit report, is upset that her husband has had enough of paying her bills, and is actually upset that Sears wants their money... Like I said, sounds like a real catch.
crowmom, However you get the negative information off of your credit report in the future is up to you. GEORGE is right Sears is being "nice" at this point. They are not the easiest to work with. I do not know if they do this anymore but they use to do this a couple of years ago, hold on. When your Sears account gets so late, close to the collection point when they realize you are probably not going to pay anymore. They will allow you to return past purchases to credit the account. If they think they can resell the merchandise no matter how old it is, they will work with you. I do not know what you bought or what the issue is at this point but that might be a good route. Extended warrantys though them are the easiest thing to get a settlement on to get the account credited. Hedwig maid a great point also. The account could go to the collection point and then possibly to a law suit. If Sears would get a judgement against you they could renew the judgement forever with interest and lawyer fees. Depending on what state you live in would determine how often the judgement would be renewed and what they could go after you for. If you had any money in your bank account they could just take it at that point. Or if you were to ever work again they could garnish your wages unless you make less than minimum wage times 40 hours for that week. If you were to get a judgement they would send you papers multiple times a year, by the way at $15 bucks a shot, to fill out your current asset and income situation. If you Failed to respond to those papers you could be held contempt of court. Anyways I wouldn't go the dead beat route if I were you on this one. It may work for a while but your credit and future will suffer. I think we have all been in a situation were we think we got riped off and do not wan't to pay. Puting your head in the sand or going the dead beat route will not fix the problem. Of course I do not know what your situation is with them and maybe you could get lucky and not pay at all though court. Yes my account did go to collections first and they are not at all easy to deal with at that point. Take advantage of Sears being "nice" to you at this point! Or don't pay a dime and take it to court. Good Luck
Re: Re: Re: has anyone rec'd this from sears? Thanks Hedwig. Now I'm re-thinking this whole thing. I appreciate the insight. Thanks to everyone else for being so helpful. Thanks for such a warm welcome. You sound like someone who still lives with his mother, sits in the basement in front of the computer amongst a pile of fast food wrappers. What's funny is, my husband happily pays ALL of my bills, and would pay sears in a heartbeat, but they incorrectly listed this disgusting tradeline on HIS report, which pissed him off because he has IMPECCABLE credit. He didn't decide to quit paying them because he was mad at ME, you imbecile. He was mad at SEARS. btw, I never considered NOT paying them until i discovered this site. I want to settle for a lesser amount, since most of the balance is interest and late charges. Sears has gotten paid for the 3 things I bought 12 years ago MANY TIMES OVER. Why am i wasting my time explaining myself? lol, i guess i just want the decent people on this board to know I'm not a deadbeat. Thanks to you all...you know how it is said that everyone should 'do a good deed every day'? Well you guys have that covered. You have no idea what a service you provide for people like me. Thanks again.
Re: Re: Re: Re: has anyone rec'd this from sears? So, Sears incorrectly put your account on your husband's report, and he cannot simply call and have the incorrect information removed from his report? Sears is refusing to do so? Sears is intentionally violating the FCRA? Not likely. Sears is VERY good about correcting such things. You wouldn't have interest and late charges if you had paid as agreed in the first place, right? Of course, I'm sure that's Sears fault, too... Denial is a bad thing... learn to take responsibility for your actions.
Re: Re: Re: Re: has anyone rec'd this from sears? too much, I would think coming to this site looking for advise would be taking reponsibility for her actions. crowmom, You really do have a great offer from them and if I were in your situation after reading more about it I would take it. Sears would be more than willing to get your husbands negative off if they knew you were willing to pay. Imagine if you were Sears you would probably do the same thing to get your attention, I'm sure money to them will fix everything in the long run. Alot of experts here could tell you how to get this off of your husbands credit report either way. Sears would be willing to work with you at this point. If it goes to collections it might be a different story.
Re: Re: Re: Re: has anyone rec'd this from sears? Why is it when someone gives an honest assessment and thinks someone should pay a legitimate bill they are labelled as []. I am starting to think this board should be renamed agree with everyone or you are a [].
Re: Re: Re: Re: has anyone rec'd this from sears? I think that this offer is a rarety for ANY creditor! Take advantage of their weakened state! Remember that Sears is looking to sell their credit portfolio to a high bidder - the less accounts in collection and delinquincy the better!
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: has anyone rec'd this from sears? That's EXACTLY the problem with the "experts" on this board. In many cases, they have no idea how to deal with a dispute, so they simply say something like "make them validate!!!!" The original poster of this thread didn't bother to pay their Sears bill on time, and now they are looking for an excuse to avoid responsibility. Still, the "experts" here ignore the real issue, and instead focus on helping the poster shirk responsibility. Everyone's credit card bills are higher because of deadbeats AND greedy CC issuers.
Too Much? You don't have too much of a life do you. Poor thing. It amazes me how you and your ilk always act like you know other posters so well. You think I 'didn't bother' to pay. Yea, I just said screw it for no good reason. Let's see...my husband lost a job...which was a blessing in disguise because I was on bedrest during my 4th pregnancy and almost DIED. He was there to take care of the kids, house, etc. He was able to do everything I couldn't. The last thing on my mind was paying a friggin sears bill. I am not looking for any excuses to avoid responsibility. $#!T HAPPENS. I am NOW trying to PAY them, but I'll be damned if I pay over 2 grand on a card that originally had a limit of 1300, not to mention, I have paid them over 2500 already over the last 12 years. They've been paid. They got paid for the products i purchased. They've been paid interest and late charges. I just want the TL deleted, which is no skin of their backs, and I will give them money. I haven't had a good message board argument in quite awhile. I remember when I was new to the internet....I used to sit in front of the computer quite a bit. It was fun! Chatting, posting, emailing those stupid urban legends...That lasted about a year. Then it got boring, and now I only use it to educate myself, pay bills, read news, etc. I suppose I could go find a message board whose premise I disagreed with and judge the posters based on the miniscule amount of info I read about them, but I have to take care of more important things. I have a brand new house on 3 acres, and I need to decorate and landscape it. Now THAT'S fun. One more thing. I 'fixed' my credit 2 years ago by paying everything I owed. Everything on my credit report that was negative now says 'settled' or 'satisfied'. Back then i had no idea that I should have demanded they be deleted. I just paid them because i thought it was the right thing to do. I even brought Sears current. Now, I could pay sears in full, but the more I read here, the more I think I should try to get it deleted or changed first. I guess I won't send out the settlement letter. darn! I worked hard on that sucker! lol. I think I will send back their offer in the return envelope they provided, and i'll include a letter that basically says 'this is a good offer, and not only will I accept it, I will bring this account current immediately, in return for deletion of all negatives.' What do you think? Is that asking too much? Would it hurt to at least try? Thanks to all of you again! advice is much appreciated!
What exactly is your offer from them? And what exactly do you want to offer them? I'm not sure I understand this one now. Is there a difference? And what is a []?
