Ok, maybe I'm being strange here but let me explain. I had a Capital One card a few years back. I fell into some hard times as all of us do and was unable to pay my balance. As a result, my account was charged-off and has now been sent to a collection agency. I don't deny my own negligence as a part of the problem, but nor do I excuse Capital One either, as they have been ignoring my letters to try and settle a balance, and my phonecalls are put on hold and never seem to get through to anyone who can help. I now only thank god that they have finally sent me to collections, since, for one thing, it stops the enormous interest that keeps piling up, but also, so that I can maybe get through to Capital One via the agency. I was wondering, how far will a creditor go to assure that you repay a balance owing them? By this, I mean, or rather, I hope that I can come up with a solution that benefits us both. Is there anyway I could strike a deal to bring my balance down to half and for Capital One to open a new line of credit for me and place that balance on it so that I may make regular monthly payments on it. Almost like a transfer, but really after the fact. I would win since I would get another chance to prove myself this time, and they would also win since they could charge me an APR and make money off me, which is their sole intent anyway. Has anyone ever heard of someone doing this? Should I be so bold as to suggest it? Thanks so much for any words of advice.
RE: Questions about Capital On "Is there anyway I could strike a deal to bring my balance down to half and for Capital One to open a new line of credit for me and place that balance on it so that I may make regular monthly payments on it. Almost like a transfer, but really after the fact...." I can give you a yes and a no answer to that. In that YES creditors (Chase in particular) have been known in increasing numbers to send unsolicted credit card offers to formerly charged off clients with the balance remaining. BUT, but you'll find this ONLY occurs near or even past the 7th year since they wrote it off and seeing as this debt will be shortly removed from the Credit Bureaus files so they try to slip it by the unsuspecting consumer. This scam is also practised by certain credit sites and collection services who have purchased this outdated account for pennies on the dollar. As for your case at this juncture C, there is NO way in hell any creditor will go for this at this juncture considering how 'fresh' the account still is. Your fortunate they haven't initiated legal proceedings against you since I am presuming they are still well within the SOL for your state. Your best current bet is to try 'at some point' to come to a settlement with the collection service always keep in mind that the more time that passes the better the deal you can obtain. As for doing future business with Capital One that may well be possible for a secured card sometime AFTER your collection account has been purged from your credit files.
RE: Questions about Capital On Agreed. It highly preferrable to keep making minimum payments on the account after they close it and before they charge it off. However, since you don't have that option, your best bet is to work a deal with Cap One (better), or the collection agency. As part of the settlement deal, make sure they remove their entry from bureaus, and that Cap One shows it as Paid. Get it in writing. Just remember, collection agencies are at the bottom of the Gene pool. This is really Kristi's area more than mine, so please correct me if I'm wrong. See my previous thread, "The Never Ending Battle" regarding my experience with bad history and Capitol One.
