Open advice to newbies

[divemedic]

I see people that are new here, and time after time they are making the same mistakes that nearly all of us here have made. They are trying to buy their way out of collections by trying to settle for PFD, without first trying DV.

I understand why, as I tried it myself years ago. DV seems daunting, seems like it is too good to be true, or won't work. The people in this country are always taught that you are somehow a bad person if you don't pay your bills. CA's prey on this. They try to shame you into paying. Or maybe you are crunched for time, and need your credit fixed in a month. So you pay. The sad truth is, paying does not work. Once an account goes to collection, the CA is more likely to screw you than to delete.

They may mark it as a "paid collection". A paid collection hurts your score just as much as an unpaid collection.

They may mark it as "settled"- this is still bad.

They may accept your money and then sell the balance to another CA.

Even offering to pay can hurt you- For example in Florida, even offering to pay can reset the SOL.

The methods on here work, if you follow them. There are THOUSANDS on this board that have successfully fixed their credit. Granted, with many hardball CA's, you will have to take them to court, but it can be done.

Writing "paid in full" on a settlement check almost never works, offering payments for delete should be a last resort, and even then only if they have COMPLETELY validated.

BK is required in some cases, but before trying that, look into repair. Your credit took years to build, months or even years to trash, and it takes a few months to fix. You will be surprised what you can accomplish with a few letters in just 2 or 3 months. 100 point rises are not uncommon.

[luna]

Great advice....bumping for the newbies

[Tarahh1]

Thanks for your post! I must tell you, that this is a very scary experience and it helps to see so many supportive people who have been through the same thing.

I keep on falling back on the "guilty" feeling, and it's hard for me sometimes to see above it. ALso, I am terrified that DV'ng will push someone to file a suit=== so this is just been really scary-

However, by reading the posts I feel so much more confident

Thank you all!

[bigboyinc]

Thanks for the advice. People on here have been great! I am now in the process of trying to remove a judgement and I never would have thought that i could do it if it weren't fot this site.

[lisa1]

Thanks Divemedic,

You have helped me a few times.

Thank you,

I will keep reading and learning...

That's the real secret learn what your enemy does and use that knowledge against him/her.

We all are learning...

[gerrygoround]

Thanks for your advice! I've gotten a lot of help from this board - so far I've gotten 4 TL's deleted using DV. I have a couple others that are still under way...

[imagewell2]

Divemedic

Thanks for your great summary. Ive been reading this blog for several months and bought all of Kristy's CD books.

I have had varied experience with settlements and also with CA violations.

I have DVd and slowed down the CAs. I have found violations and let them know about it.

My question is: What is our ultimate goal? Do I just keep DVing CA and doing disputes and finding violations until they

(a) give up and I hit the SOL or

( fight a lawsuit if and when it comes?

Many on this board talk about debt in the hundreds or few thousands. Im looking at cards with $30K +. Does it matter?

I need to know what Im ultimately after. What should be my goal in dealing with my debt? If not PFD, what then, just deletion and no pay?

Please advise, confused.

[imagewell2]

Bump for Divemedic or anyone who can clarify this for me (see above queston).

[drizzle]

imagewell2,

What violations have they commited? If they are numerous and serious you might want to consider taking some action.

[California is Overrated]

Maybe the creditors I've been up against so far are just pretty good (I've read Citibank generally doesn't lose) or our judge is unusual (he is reputed to be sympathetic - haven't seen it!), but so far the fact that I DV'd and they couldn't fully validate has made little difference - the current creditor was happy to sue and has told the court they'll accept nothing less than payment in full. My only defense is that they don't seem to have properly validated (a copy of the cardholder contract without my signature, and copies of my monthly statements) and that in the year they ignored my offers to work out payment arrangements, the balance has increased by a couple of thousand.

[divemedic]

Your ultomate goal is to build up violations and either:

1 get them to give up and delete or

2 get enough violations to sue, if you sue settlements usually get you deletions

If they can't validate, chances are they don't have enough proof to sue, either. Worse case, the violations can offset some of your debt.

[divemedic]

Oh yeah, read this:

http://debt-consolidation-credit-repair-service.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=24558

[imagewell2]

Thanks divemedic and others.

Ive done the 1-2 punches and dv's and at this point it does seem to at least slow things down as far as collection (even for those beyond initial 30 days of contact).

I guess I'll keep at it--should see some interesting results soon.

Thanks again.

[divemedic]

The point of all this is to build a case for suit. Sometimes the CA is smart enough to see this and they go away. Sometimes they aren't and you sue. Most of the ones you sue are smart enough to settle. Some aren't and most of them lose.