Johannes and Michol vs NDR

[Shane1o84]

Hey everyone!

 

I had a debt of almost $25,000 with circle back that was bought by Machol and Johannes.  I was with national debt relief when we signed a $408 month payment plan. Ndr told me that we could renegotiate down the road.

 

We tried to renegotiate twice with M&J and once we offered $13k and they countered with $16k. Then again with $5k and they said $9k. Unfortunately both times we didn't have that amount of money.  

 

Fast forward to right now and we owe $12,600. I called NDR and a supervisor said since we signed a contract($408 a month) we couldn't try to negotiate with them. I said i have before and he said call tomorrow.

 

I have some questions that i hope can be answered by smarter people then me can answer.

 

1. Has anyone dealt with Machol & Johannes and do they ever settle?

2. If NDR says i cant renegotiate tomorrow even though i have before, should i cut my contract and deal with M&J solo?

3. If $12,600 is what I owe, what lump sum if they do settle should i be ready for?

 

Thanks

[BackFromTheDebt]

Of course NDR doesn’t want you to negotiate.  They don’t want to lose their cut.  

We generally frown on debt consolidation companies here   Usually you can get at least as good a deal on your own   Not always, but usually     A few are outright scams   

I don’t know what kind of contract you signed.  Is this a contract that can easily be broken?

 I am confused who the OC was   

You said “circle “ ?   I am not familiar with any company called circle   

 

[Shane1o84]

5 hours ago, BackFromTheDebt said:

Of course NDR doesn’t want you to negotiate.  They don’t want to lose their cut.  

We generally frown on debt consolidation companies here   Usually you can get at least as good a deal on your own   Not always, but usually     A few are outright scams   

I don’t know what kind of contract you signed.  Is this a contract that can easily be broken?

 I am confused who the OC was   

You said “circle “ ?   I am not familiar with any company called circle   

 

Oh i got scammed? Dang. I know they get a cut. They did good for me besides on this huge debt with circle back lending who sold it to m&j.

 

The contract is for $430 a month until fully paid off. However ndr and i have tried to settle a couple times with m&j and m&j kept settlement out of my reach.

 

However this time i asked cuz i have some money and ndr said we cant but then told me call tomorrow.

[BV80]

11 hours ago, Shane1o84 said:

I had a debt of almost $25,000 with circle back that was bought by Machol and Johannes. 

Just a note:  Machol & Johannes is a debt collection law firm.  Law firms do not usually purchase defaulted accounts.  They merely represent original creditors and/or debt buyers.   Chances are that the law firm is representing either the OC or a debt buyer that bought the account.  

[BackFromTheDebt]

7 hours ago, Shane1o84 said:

Oh i got scammed? Dang. I know they get a cut. They did good for me besides on this huge debt with circle back lending who sold it to m&j.

 

The contract is for $430 a month until fully paid off. However ndr and i have tried to settle a couple times with m&j and m&j kept settlement out of my reach.

 

However this time i asked cuz i have some money and ndr said we cant but then told me call tomorrow.

I didn't say you were scammed.  I said that some of these debt consolidation firms are scams.  I also said that MOST of the time, you can work out a deal on your own, working with the hardship program, as you can with one of these companies.  There are exceptions.  Bank of America refused to work with me, and told me they would ONLY work with a debt consolidation place.  They recommended a non-profit.  In the end, I handled it myself in a very hardball fashion, which worked because in those days BoA had terrible records and could not actually prove I owed them money.  

I said SOME of these places are scams.  I also said that on this board use of debt consolidation places is discouraged.  We have seen some horror stories of people who were scammed.  It appears you were probably not scammed.  Good for you.  

I have no idea what your contract with NDR says; whether or not the contract can easily be broken, and if you could just settle for the rest of the money.  If you are stuck paying the money to NDR no matter what, there is not much you can do.  It appears you have talked to different people at NDR who have given you conflicting information.

What you need to do is see what is really going on. 

1. Check you contract with NDR.  Can it be broken without a penalty?

2. If you need the permission or aid of NDR is settling debts, make sure you find a person who really has decision making power.  Sometimes it is the third or fourth person you talk to.  That is just the way you have to deal with customer service for just about any company.  Get passed along until you find either someone who has the decision making power, or else is sitting right by a manager who has that power.  That's how I dealt with my last dispute with my phone company, for example.  One guy tells me he can't fix my problem, so I get transferred until I found the person who could.  

 

[Shane1o84]

2 hours ago, BackFromTheDebt said:

I didn't say you were scammed.  I said that some of these debt consolidation firms are scams.  I also said that MOST of the time, you can work out a deal on your own, working with the hardship program, as you can with one of these companies.  There are exceptions.  Bank of America refused to work with me, and told me they would ONLY work with a debt consolidation place.  They recommended a non-profit.  In the end, I handled it myself in a very hardball fashion, which worked because in those days BoA had terrible records and could not actually prove I owed them money.  

I said SOME of these places are scams.  I also said that on this board use of debt consolidation places is discouraged.  We have seen some horror stories of people who were scammed.  It appears you were probably not scammed.  Good for you.  

I have no idea what your contract with NDR says; whether or not the contract can easily be broken, and if you could just settle for the rest of the money.  If you are stuck paying the money to NDR no matter what, there is not much you can do.  It appears you have talked to different people at NDR who have given you conflicting information.

What you need to do is see what is really going on. 

1. Check you contract with NDR.  Can it be broken without a penalty?

2. If you need the permission or aid of NDR is settling debts, make sure you find a person who really has decision making power.  Sometimes it is the third or fourth person you talk to.  That is just the way you have to deal with customer service for just about any company.  Get passed along until you find either someone who has the decision making power, or else is sitting right by a manager who has that power.  That's how I dealt with my last dispute with my phone company, for example.  One guy tells me he can't fix my problem, so I get transferred until I found the person who could.  

 

Ok thank you so much! I will check into this.

[Shane1o84]

4 hours ago, BV80 said:

Just a note:  Machol & Johannes is a debt collection law firm.  Law firms do not usually purchase defaulted accounts.  They merely represent original creditors and/or debt buyers.   Chances are that the law firm is representing either the OC or a debt buyer that bought the account.  

Oh so m&j is just representing circle back? Most likely is what i think your saying. Oc is original creditor?

 

 

Thank you!

[BV80]

21 hours ago, Shane1o84 said:

Oh so m&j is just representing circle back? Most likely is what i think your saying. Oc is original creditor?

 

 

Thank you!

“OC” means original creditor.  I don’t know that M&J is representing the OC.  They could be representing a debt buyer.  My point is that law firms do not usually purchase debts.  They merely represent clients.  

If you hired an attorney to sue someone, the attorney would represent you in court.  You would still be the plaintiff who is suing, but the attorney would do all the work and show up in court to represent you.