How much to settle for

[Bridget]

I have a debt that was sold.  I have done the debt validation and they have recently proven themselves.  The debt when they took it over was for $2,100 approximately.  I made about $200 worth of payments before I found out that the debt had been sold.  I would now like to settle this for as little as possible.  Would offering them $300 be reasonable, and prepared to go up to $500?

[Goody_Ouchless]

Who was the original creditor and who owns the debt now?

[Bridget]

Original creditor  HSBC

 

Now owned by some law office.

[TomnTex]

I doubt that they would agree to that amount. Sixty per cent may be the best. You are now dealing with a JDB, just fight them instead of paying them. They got this account for pennies on the dollar, you don't owe them. Get on here and read and study, you can learn to win.

[BV80]

@Bridget

 

When was your last payment on the account, and what is the SOL in your state?

[Bridget]

My last payment was, I believe, in June of 2013.  The SOL in my state is, I think, three years, so I am not nearly there yet.

 

Tom, I am not understanding you.  I am new to this, so am no doubt missing something.  This is a junk buyer, no doubt in my mind.  I read on this website somewhere never to offer them more than 25% of the total debt.  Do you think $300 is too low to start?  I do worry that maybe it is too insulting and could make matters even worse. But I figured I could always come up, but can't go down. Thoughts anyone?

[momof5]

You can offer whatever you want.  They will either say 'yes' or 'no'.  They may counter your offer with one of their own.  You never know until you try. 

[Sean1]

Considering that you mentioned it was a law office, I highly doubt that they are going to settle for anything less than AT LEAST half. Even though you have the option to try (the worst thing that they can do is say no) I would honestly not hold my breath. 

[Wins the Battle]

Is there a reason why you are interested in paying them?

 

A settled account is no better, as far as your credit rating is concerned, than a delinquent account.

 

As the delinquency gets older, the ratings will rise, even though it stays on your account for 7.5 years.

[ArtVandelay]

Whatever you decide to do I think your missing one piece of the puzzle. Who owns the account now. Just because it is with a law office doesn't mean they own it. More than likely a JDB owns the account and has assigned the account to them.

 

Not to mention its almost impossible to answer your question without knowing the owner and more details. All CAs/JDBs have different standards. The amount, the time since the last payment and where you are located, etc. 

[TomnTex]

Like they say, why pay a JDB. Let it fall off your CR in 7.5 years from when it charged off. Don't pay a dime or your will extend the SOL.