The Negotiator

IMO there isn't anything someone in that capacity could do that you couldn't do yourself. the only thing that comes to my mind would be credit counseling.

 

The problem is that financial matters at the level that most consumers deal with are not worth paying competent people enough to handle properly. If you could afford to pay someone who was competent enough to be worth it, you probably wouldn't be in the financial condition you are in.

 

None the less, I find the art of negotiating, between parties who don't want to negotiate and prefer to communicate via veiled threats, to be an interesting part of game theory. See, for example, the analysis of brinksmanship in "On Thermonuclear War", by Herman Kahn.

There is also a similarity to the strategies of CAs trying to collect efficiently, and consumers trying to correct erroneous reporting, as both parties targetted are typically disposed to inaction which must be overcome to achieve the goal.

 

Re: Re: The Negotiator

Well, you start offering a low amount, but don't expect the creditors to want anything less than about 70% of the full debt as settlement.

You need to have some kind of "leverage" to use to negotiate , such as FDCPA violations that you can document, in order to get them to accept a lowball figure.

If your finances are really bad, and you were ever considering BK, and you mentioned this to the creditor, they might quickly accept a low offer

Also, if you already have other outstanding judgments, or perhaps unpaid tax liens, these are priority claims that would have to be paid off by you before you could even consider paying the creditor you are negotiating with. With this in mind, the creditor would be willing to accept a lot less in order to get something, rather than stand in line for years, and get nothing!

Any negotiation / agreement should ALWAYS be in writing, and should ALWAYS include a clause that the creditor's entries on your CR's will be removed as part of the agreement