when negotiating settlements, has anyone had experience with negotiaitng for cc companies not to sell difference to collection agencies??
The type of settlement I mean is when they forgive a portion of your debt altogether. They send you a 1099 and you owe taxes on what you didn't pay. It's a pretty standard practice, really. If you tell them you'd like to settle for partial balance, they should know what you mean. if you're worried, just make sure and confirm with them that the settlement will make the account "PAID IN FULL". -- cnswift
When you settle there is no Diff.to sell because the contract was fullfilled.The new agreement superseeds the old one.
Go here and look in their "Negotiations" section: http://www.faircreditmovement.org/index.html -- cnswift
Dear cnswift, Great site!! Thank you so much! I feel like there is hope now...wish me luck! Thanks, Pete
Negotiation strategies: 1. Don't let them know how much you have. If you say I only have $1000 to settle 10 debts, they will want it all for their debt. Tell them I have a very limited amount and can only settle one or two of my debts and I want to pay the one that will give me the best deal. 2. Be sure to mention that bankruptcy is an option you have considered. 3. Do not keep any money in your bank accounts. When I settled with NCO, the collection agent knew to the dollar how much was in my accounts. He knew more about how much I had than I did. 4. Make sure that you get a deletion of all negative info from your credit reports in exchange for settlement. After all, you are telling them you only have limited funds and if they want their share, they have to be fair to you. And, get it in writing before you send in the payment. 5. The older accounts will settle for less because they may have given up on getting anything. They will probably take less. 6. Don't let them bully you. If they don't take your offer, try again in a month or two. Once they see from your credit reports that you are settling some debts, they will get serious. I helped someone negotiate a lot of bad debt. We closed out his bank accounts and made sure there were no assets to find. I held firm. Some settled for nothing, and the average was about 20%. I think the key was to make it appear that there was nothing to be had. If you want anything, you will have to take what I am offering. If you are dealing with Sears, they will not negotiate. They were the only one who sued and we settled for 80%. If it had not been for that Sears account, the amount settled with have been more like 12% of the total owed. The guy I helped had about $75000 -$80,000 in bad credit card debt. He had $80,000 to spend. We settled for just less than $20,000. I never worried about the moral issues. He was an old guy who got screwed by the CC companies. They sold him everything they could. He was too old to travel but he had at least 5 travel clubs at about $50 per month that guaranteed him cheap travel. He had insurance on his accounts. He had life insurance. They found a sucker and milked him.
Karen, I appreciate your help! Just got off the phone with Chase, and I had offered 25% of 6k. They came back with 75%!! I laughed...there is no way I can give them that amount. I told them I would give the money to the company who was willing to give me the best deal. They quickly said they would re-submit my offer. I am almost 6 mos late with them, and i am about three mos late with Discover. Thanks again for all of your advice!
Chase said they would settle for 35%...about $2200! More than I have, but a great deal! The rep said all I had to do to get it in writing was tell her I had the money, and she would send the letter: 34% and rated "pays as agreed." I don't have the $$, so she said if I give Chase 100.00 by a certain date it would buy me another month to come up with the $2200... does this sound right, or is she just trying to restart the clock on me??
How did they know this???? QUOTE "3. Do not keep any money in your bank accounts. When I settled with NCO, the collection agent knew to the dollar how much was in my accounts. He knew more about how much I had than I did." To my knowledge only the IRS has the "powers" to scan any financial institution.
discover card said they would settle for 60%, and report as R1 on credit report. What does this mean??
settling for 60% means if you owed them $100, they would accept $60 to pay it off, and R1 means pays as agreed. R1 is the only status you want on your report, R2-R9 are all negative.
After I get through with my settlements, what's the best way to restore my credit? If they report them as pays as agreed...settled...zero balance...whatever...what does that do to my crdeit? What is the best way to restore it? Thanks!
How can I restore credit after charge off and settlements? I heard I can dispute both, but if they are mine, can I really do this??
Can anyone help with disputing bad credit (charge off and settlements)...even though it is mine? I want to improve my credit, and I have seen this as a suggestion in several posts. However, I am not sure if others are disputing credit errors or bad credit by their own doing. I am new to this board... about a month into it...so excuse me if this question is silly. Thanks
Pete, it's very difficult for anyone to walk you out of a situation where you are overspent like that. Your negotiation with Chase sounds like a winning proposition though! In a world of advice, here's mine: Get rid of the $25,000 car loan. Sell the car. If you're upside down (i.e., you owe, for example, $25k on a car that will only bring $20k right now), go to the bank and get a secured loan for the difference, then sell the car for whatever the maximum your market will bear. Then pay off the car loan. Then, go find a nice used $5,000 car which you'll use for a year or two until you get back on your feet. Next, take the extra and pay off your secured loan if you incurred one before selling your car. Finally, pay off your debts. Begin by taking Chase up on its offer to settle for 35% in exchange for a "paid as agreed" rating -- but get that in writing first. You need to act today. Yes, it's going to cost you something -- you spent too much money that didn't belong to you. Rather than remove equity from your home (which is an APPRECIATING ASSET -- a terrific investment), you need to borrow the money from your single asset which DEPRECIATES daily -- your car (a terrible investment). You just can't afford to drive around a depreciating $25k asset right now. A few things to keep in mind: You have mentioned bankruptcy as well as the sale of your land. You strike me as being far from bankrupt at this point. Your problem may well be that you must now shake off a few worldly goods (i.e., "STUFF" -- the stuff you bought, like that car, and hopefully a few things you can scape together to sell on eBay). If you have to sell your land, then do it as a last resort, but keep in mind that selling the land while keeping your car is probably the worst thing you could possibly do for yourself FIVE TO TEN YEARS from now. Some people get into a "car-itis" frame of mind: "I'd put another mortgage on my house before I'd sell my car. I just can't sell my car -- I need that car. Used cars aren't reliable. I need a car I can trust. Etc., etc., etc." The truth of the matter is that this board is filled with people who have driven a $1000 car around for a year or three when they had to (myself included, lol, so I speak from friendly experience -- ask me about the infamous old $500 rusted Honda I drove in '98-'99 sometime). And I'm not even suggesting you buy a $500 junker. I'm suggesting you go find a $5000 used car with a warranty from a major dealer you trust. Finally, you mentioned taking out a second mortgage at one point before. Now, you're having trouble again. If you don't change something fundamental about how you handle money, you'll be in the same boat in another few years. Again, I've been there. You must make a change. You'll probably need to stop spending more money than you make. Otherwise, you'll lose everything. Ok, you asked for my advice, and there it is. Doc P.S. One more thing. You're asking about credit repair techniques in the same breath as mentioning possible bankruptcy and an inability to keep up with current payments. It strikes me that you really need to stack the financial dominoes correctly (i.e., protect yourself from next year's disaster, or the one looming the year after that, etc.) before you focus on credit repair. The irony is that if you clean up your budgeting a bit, you'll be able to keep up with current payments which is the first step to credit repair: current negatives detract from a FICO score even more than previous ones, making a difference between the "350-400 club" versus the "500-600 club," lol. Good luck to you. I hope you don't mind my offering opinions as assertively as I have.
