soxfan2000 Posted March 19, 2011 Report Share Posted March 19, 2011 (edited) I am hoping I can get some advice here. I am currently dealing with a collection attorney who has been hired by a collection agency to collect a debt from a past credit card of mine that I had about 3-4 years ago and fell behind on payments. They are saying that I owe $1072. I sent the collection attorney a debt validation request and they subsequently sent me a few statements from the credit card with the account number, so I know that this is my account. I knew it was my account to begin with, but I just wanted to make sure they could verify it. Anyway, the collection attorney said that they would work with me to set up a payment plan that would work for both me and his client (the collection agency), but what I really want to do is settle on one lower amount so that I can just pay it and be done with this whole thing. I have been doing a lot of research on how to negotiate a settlement amount with collection agencies and collection attorneys and a lot of web sites say to offer 25% or less of the total amount they say you owe. (By the way, I have recently found out that it was a junk debt buyer who has hired this collection attorney, so they obviously bought my debt for pennies on the dollar). If I were to offer them 25% of the $1072, that would be about $214. Would that be a good amount to start at? Would they likely accept that, or should I offer a little more, or maybe even a tiny bit less to start off? Obviously, any settlement that I get I will be sure to get in writing before I pay it. I just want to come up with a settlement that I can afford so I can get these people out of my hair! Any tips would be a huge help to me! Edited March 19, 2011 by soxfan2000 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
workingpoor Posted March 19, 2011 Report Share Posted March 19, 2011 I am hoping I can get some advice here. I am currently dealing with a collection attorney who has been hired by a collection agency to collect a debt from an old credit card of mine that I had about 3-4 years ago. They are saying that I owe $1072. I sent the collection attorney a debt validation request and they subsequently sent me a few statements from the credit card with the account number, so I know that this is my account. I knew it was my account to begin with, but I just wanted to make sure they could verify it. Anyway, the collection attorney said that they would work with me to set up a payment plan that would work for both me and his client (the collection agency), but what I really want to do is settle on one lower amount so that I can just pay it and be done with this whole thing. I have been doing a lot of research on how to negotiate a settlement amount with collection agencies and collection attorneys and a lot of web sites say to offer 25% or less of the total amount they say you owe. (By the way, I have recently found out that it was a junk debt buyer who has hired this collection attorney, so they obviously bought my debt for pennies on the dollar). If I were to offer them 25% of the $1072, that would be about $214. Would that be a good amount to start at? Would they likely accept that, or should I offer a little more, or maybe even a tiny bit less to start off? Obviously, any settlement that I get I will be sure to get in writing before I pay it. I just want to come up with a settlement that I can afford so I can get these people out of my hair! Any tips would be a huge help to me!If I'm not mistaken, SOL in NH is 3 years. EXACTLY how old is ths debt? When did you last pay on it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soxfan2000 Posted March 19, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2011 If I'm not mistaken, SOL in NH is 3 years. EXACTLY how old is ths debt? When did you last pay on it?I'm honestly not sure when my last payment was, but it was probably close to 3 years ago, maybe not exactly 3 years. It could even be closer to 2-1/2 years ago. I'm literally just guessing right now since I just can't remember. Should I ask the collection attorney to provide that info before trying to negotiate anything? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
workingpoor Posted March 19, 2011 Report Share Posted March 19, 2011 I'm honestly not sure when my last payment was, but it was probably close to 3 years ago, maybe not exactly 3 years. It could even be closer to 2-1/2 years ago. I'm literally just guessing right now since I just can't remember. Should I ask the collection attorney to provide that info before trying to negotiate anything?Have you looked at your CR? It'll tell you when it was charged off, then you could add a few months to that date. I would definately look into that before making any offer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soxfan2000 Posted March 19, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2011 Okay, I found it (had to dig it out of my file cabinet). My last payment was in July of 2009, but I originally opened the account a little over 3 years ago, so it looks like it still is within SOL. Looks like they're coming after me while the SOL is still good on it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
workingpoor Posted March 19, 2011 Report Share Posted March 19, 2011 I'm not sure what to tell you about asking the attorney for that info. If you play hardball and the debt is NOT out of the SOL, they may negotiate a little heavier. But, by the same token, they may be so willing to settle with you because they KNOW it's out of SOL and anything they get is a gift..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
workingpoor Posted March 19, 2011 Report Share Posted March 19, 2011 That stinks. Four lousy months. Ok, well, back to plan A. $214 is a starting point. I doubt they'll accept it, but it's a number to start at. Whatever you agree on, make sure you get it in writing that they will NOT pass on the forgiven balance to another CA to collect on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soxfan2000 Posted March 19, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2011 That stinks. Four lousy months. Ok, well, back to plan A. $214 is a starting point. I doubt they'll accept it, but it's a number to start at. Whatever you agree on, make sure you get it in writing that they will NOT pass on the forgiven balance to another CA to collect on.Oh absolutely. I definitely want to make sure that they're not going to sell off the leftover amount to an entirely different CA to start this whole process over again a few months down the road. That will be one of the first things I request in writing! I think I'll start off with offering them the 25% and see what they say. I suppose I could go up to 30%, but I'll first try offering the 25% ($214) and see what kind of response I get. Hopefully they'll accept it, or at least not go much higher than that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
workingpoor Posted March 19, 2011 Report Share Posted March 19, 2011 Oh absolutely. I definitely want to make sure that they're not going to sell off the leftover amount to an entirely different CA to start this whole process over again a few months down the road. That will be one of the first things I request in writing! I think I'll start off with offering them the 25% and see what they say. I suppose I could go up to 30%, but I'll first try offering the 25% ($214) and see what kind of response I get. Hopefully they'll accept it, or at least not go much higher than that!Well, they're more apt to accept 30-50% in a lump sum, so it sounds like you'll be ok. Good luck and let us know how it goes.Oh, and...GO SOX! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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