Chase settlement offer - researching options and would appreciate guidance

[bigmistake22]

Good morning,

I am researching options and starting to go in circles, thought I might be able to get some guidance to put me back on track. 

 Currently have a chase cc that has been closed. Balance approx $8700. Account is still with Chase. I've received a few letters, looking to settle. I'm not sure of my best option and what I can do to lessen the blow to my credit. It's already terrible so I don't want to make it worse. 

I am not sure of the DOFD - I'm trying to look that up now b/c I don't have an old statement. It was in/around mid-2018, so not super old but also still within SOL for my state (CT).

The most letter recent stated I could: 

Option 1: Make 1 payment of $3060

Option 2: Make two equal payments of $1530

Option 3: make 3 equal payments of 1020

They also wrote: "When you complete one of the payment options above, we will: 

reduce the remaining unpaid bal to zero

notify creidt reporting agencies that account has been paid for less than full bal

stop any further collection activities."

 

So, based on what I know, OC (esp Chase) will not pay for delete or offer any other option other than "settled for less". Does that sound right? I searched the group a bit and found a few references but "Chase" is such a common term I also found a lot of "collections is chasing me" so I don't know if I'm missing something obvious. 

Assuming this is the best I'm going to do, I'm considering calling to see if they will accept either a lesser amount (I did read some people are getting settlements for 10%). I doubt they will go for it but money is very tight right now and I'd like to at least try. I was thinking I have a small amount coming to me from taxes, about $1200. I'm thinking of calling to see if they will accept that b/c then they are done. If not, I can't pay. 

Of course, the other option is wait and see if they go lower (but risk being sued the longer I wait). I also can see if they will offer a smaller payment plan for the same amount. $1000 extra a month is impossible right now b/c we are already putting $ towards another debt. 

Am I missing any thing? 

It's not like I can dispute the debt, it's the OC. Also, I did charge this much and was able to afford payments until my husband lost his job and pandemic hit. We are getting back on our feet but things got away from us for about 3 years. 

My final question is: what can I do to make this the softest blow to my credit? I know it's already tanked and a "settled for less" will ding my credit again but I'm hoping that it's better than just having a "charge off" for another 3.5 years.  I guess I'm thinking paid and settled is better than unpaid, right? I can't tell if I'm missing an option here...I'm open to hearing i if I am!

 

thanks in advance...

 

 

 

 

[Clydesmom]

Everything you said about CHASE as an OC is accurate.  OCs tend to not do PFD.  Anyone who got a 10% settlement was beyond the SOL for suit.  If the SOL to sue you is still alive then about the best I can foresee is probably 50-60%.  If you want to make monthly payments they will want a higher settlement amount if they agree to it because their risk of another default is significant.  They might also want a consent judgment where you agree if you default again they do not have to sue you they only have to file that document with the court as a judgment for the amount owed.  Think very hard before agreeing to one of those.

[bigmistake22]

Thank you so very much, @Clydesmom! I am doing my best to research and make the best decision but when I read posts about people getting offered 10% I have to force myself not to be greedy. It's hard not to when looking at months of beans and rice in order to pull out of all this debt. I know it will be better on the other side but, for now, UGH.

I appreciate the guidance. This offer is for about 65% off, so I am going to see how I can work it out. I dont' think we can pull together $1000 at a time for the next few months b/c we are about to settle on a larger amount (we are being sued, you just commented on it on a diff post). That debt is a lawsuit and about to default, so I had to put my money there first.  

I understand what you are saying about the consent judgement. I have them on my "avoid at all costs" list. I appreciate the warning and it helps to know that is something they may want. I'm currently stuck in a bit of "analysis paralysis" trying to figure out next steps. Your info is helpful in guiding me and I guess the next step is to suck it up and call them. 

Thank you!

 

 

[shadow99]

My experience with Chase was that they sent offers that bounced up and down.  When I got one I could afford to pay, I accepted it.  Your offer is about 35% of the total and they are offering split payments without jacking up the percentage any.  It looks like a very fair offer.  You're already beating the 50-60% that @Clydesmom said was the best you could expect.

As far as having settled for less on your credit report, I don't know what that does exactly.  I'm guessing you already took the biggest hit when the account went into default.  Maybe settling with a 0 balance makes it somewhat better? After 2.5 years, my credit is starting to slowly creep back up. It's not great - but it's not totally bad. I think I have 3 or 4 settled for less reported by the OC and 3 collection accounts from JDB's that I'm not paying on.

 

 

 

[Clydesmom]

Check the most recent letter to see if there is an expiration date on the offer.  If there is set a reminder on your calendar for one week prior and then let it sit while you focus on the lawsuit.  CHASE does not always sue after a debacle in the recession years.  Confirm when the default was and then make note of when the SOL for suit expires in CT.  It may be worthwhile to sit on this one and see if a lower settlement offer comes in.  Right now it appears what you need on this account is some time while dealing with the suit.

[bigmistake22]

2 minutes ago, shadow99 said:

My experience with Chase was that they sent offers that bounced up and down.  When I got one I could afford to pay, I accepted it.  Your offer is about 35% of the total and they are offering split payments without jacking up the percentage any.  It looks like a very fair offer.  You're already beating the 50-60% that @Clydesmom said was the best you could expect.

As far as having settled for less on your credit report, I don't know what that does exactly.  I'm guessing you already took the biggest hit when the account went into default.  Maybe settling with a 0 balance makes it somewhat better? After 2.5 years, my credit is starting to slowly creep back up. It's not great - but it's not totally bad. I think I have 3 or 4 settled for less reported by the OC and 3 collection accounts from JDB's that I'm not paying on.

 

 

 

Thanks, @shadow99! 

That has been my experience with Chase too. When I was in my "head in the sand/denial" mode and just trying to make my mortgage payment, I had a bunch like that too. They were progressively going down towards the end. Then I got a letter saying it was charged off and I stuck my head in the sand even further (gosh, this whole process is so humbling). I just received this letter a few days and it's for almost exactly $1000 less than it was before the charge off. So bizzare. Anyway, I'm going to suck it up and call them. See if I can do payments of $400 or $500. That's the best we can do right now. Like you said, it's a fair statement and close to what my principal was before all the interest caught up with me, so it feels more reasonable than paying the full amount.

thanks for the info on the credit report. I think you are right - my credit prob took the biggest hit with the charge offs. I'm assuming it will dip down before going up. If I can, I'm also going to get a few secured cards (I heard 3 is optimum) but not until I figure out these two situations (the lawsuit and this chase card). Then I'll know if I have money available for the secured card. 

Thanks for your advice..it was helpful!

 

[bigmistake22]

2 minutes ago, Clydesmom said:

Check the most recent letter to see if there is an expiration date on the offer.  If there is set a reminder on your calendar for one week prior and then let it sit while you focus on the lawsuit.  CHASE does not always sue after a debacle in the recession years.  Confirm when the default was and then make note of when the SOL for suit expires in CT.  It may be worthwhile to sit on this one and see if a lower settlement offer comes in.  Right now it appears what you need on this account is some time while dealing with the suit.

You are absolutely right. I need time for my brain to process...this has been 72 hours of information overload as I try and figure it all out at ones. I appreciate the advice...I will gladly take it. I have about 2 weeks before I have to respond to this Chase account. That will give me some time to figure out the lawsuit/settlement.  Just getting permission to put it aside was a big sigh of relief. Thank you.

 

[shadow99]

3 minutes ago, bigmistake22 said:

When I was in my "head in the sand/denial" mode and just trying to make my mortgage payment, I had a bunch like that too. They were progressively going down towards the end.

They keep going down for 2 reasons - in my mind anyway.  1. The older the debt the less likely it is to ever be paid/settled.  2. They will sell it for way less than 10% to JDB's - so anything above that is better for them.

I read in a Midland Consent Order that in a year or two time period, they purchased $128 million in debt and paid $4 million for it.  Do the math - that's much less than a penny on the dollar on average.

[bigmistake22]

2 minutes ago, shadow99 said:

I read in a Midland Consent Order that in a year or two time period, they purchased $128 million in debt and paid $4 million for it.  Do the math - that's much less than a penny on the dollar on average.

This hurts to read...ugh. 

You are right. they are going down b/c it's already charged off, they have nothing to loose. I just want to make sure I get to them before it's sold off.

[shadow99]

2 minutes ago, bigmistake22 said:

This hurts to read...ugh. 

I know, but unless you were a victim of identity theft or poor accounting, most of us actually owe that money.

I feel OK about paying the OC.  The JDB's, not so much.

[bigmistake22]

2 minutes ago, shadow99 said:

I know, but unless you were a victim of identity theft or poor accounting, most of us actually owe that money.

I feel OK about paying the OC.  The JDB's, not so much.

I feel the same. The only reason I am feeling "ok" about the lawsuit settlement to a JDB is that it's so close to what I actually owed on the principal of the real debt. In my head I've rationalized it as "well, that's how much I would have paid anyway". Of course, I don't feel this way about all JDBs. Just this situation b/c I opened the original to help my dog who was dying. I'm not a superstitious person but I am with this one. I feel like I should pay what I owe b/c that card saved my dog's life. So corny (and i'd never tell a debt collector this) but it's how I'm rationalizing the settlement  on account where I know the money is going to a company that almost nothing for it. 

So, Ill find a way to pay the Chase and I'll settle with the lawsuit. Hopefully, I can start figuring out next steps in stepping up my credit next. 

[BV80]

36 minutes ago, bigmistake22 said:

I feel like I should pay what I owe b/c that card saved my dog's life. So corny (and i'd never tell a debt collector this) but it's how I'm rationalizing the settlement  on account where I know the money is going to a company that almost nothing for it. 

It’s not corny at all.  Those of us who love our furry children completely understand.  

[shadow99]

11 hours ago, BV80 said:

It’s not corny at all.  Those of us who love our furry children completely understand.  

I agree. We had a dog die way too early from cancer about 4 years ago.  We have a lot of dogs, but he was very special to us.  We've just gotten to the point that we can talk about him without someone crying.  I think I'd feel the same way about that one.

[bigmistake22]

On 3/1/2022 at 11:54 AM, BV80 said:

It’s not corny at all.  Those of us who love our furry children completely understand.  

Thank you for understanding. I had posted this situation on reddit when it first started and I was attacked for "spending that much on a dog" and "don't spend what you don't have". I tried to explain that, at the time, we did have the money to pay off the bill in 1 year. We were shocked when my husband lost his job due to downsizing. It was not expected and we have been so humbled by this experience. This doggo, he's special. My credit is trash but he's still here. 5.5 years later, he can walk again, he's eating normally. He's my crazy 60lb lap dog again. 

So, again, thank you. You have been a tremendous help through this all. Im looking forward to getting the lawsuit settled (literally and figuratively) and figuring out how to fix the chase situation and the rest of the credit issues. When we bought our house in 2013, my rating was 780. That seems so far away but I'll get there again one day.

 

 

[bigmistake22]

14 hours ago, shadow99 said:

I agree. We had a dog die way too early from cancer about 4 years ago.  We have a lot of dogs, but he was very special to us.  We've just gotten to the point that we can talk about him without someone crying.  I think I'd feel the same way about that one.

Cancer is such a cruel disease, especially with our pups. I am so sorry. And, thank you for understanding. My boy is my heart. Some days I'm feeding him (he needs to be fed in a special chair now) and I get emotional just thinking of how closer we came to losing him. He's back to his crazy self (aside from the eating upright). I know it was worth it but, holy cow, he broke my heart and my bank account all at once. 

[bigmistake22]

Just a quick update, since everyone was so incredibly kind to help me out:

As expected, Chase sent another offer letter of $2180 instead of $3100. I am a bit anxious we are getting closer to them charging it off. I didn't want to wait much longer, although I was tempted. 

I called them today and asked if they would accept $1100 because in one lump sum. I told them this was from taxes and I did not have any additional money to put towards it. They asked if I could do $1800 and I said there is no way I can do that right now. They asked if I could do anything additional and I said I could only go as high as $1200. They asked if I could do payments for the remaining amount and I reiterated that I had no additional funds to put towards this debt right now and I didn't know when/if our situation would change anytime soon. They quickly agreed to $1200 lump sum payment. They do not offer pay-for-delate but they will reduce remaining unpaid balance to zero, notify the credit agencies that the account was paid for less than full balance and stop any further collection activities. 

I guess, considering I owers $8700, $1200 isnt that bad, considering this is with the OC, right? That's about 13% of the full amount.

I'm not sure how this will affect my credit going forward but hopefully this was better than getting sued and having to fight it. It is a debt I owed, so it was the right thing to do! Thanks, everyone, for the advice earlier this month!

 

 

[shadow99]

7 minutes ago, bigmistake22 said:

I guess, considering I owers $8700, $1200 isnt that bad, considering this is with the OC, right? That's about 13% of the full amount.

That's an amazing settlement amount - good for you!

I think the reason the OC's will go so low is that if they have to sell to a JDB, they might get less than a penny on the dollar. So taking your offer was better than what they might have gotten otherwise.  I read a paper where Midland or someone similar was investigated by a government agency.  They said Midland had bought $X billions of accounts for what amounted to about no more than 1/2 a cent on the dollar, meaning this might have been sold to a JDB for about $435.

[bigmistake22]

Thank you, @shadow99!

I think I probably could have sob-storied it a bit more and started a little lower but I felt asking for half of what was already a low amount seemed wrong, so going lower felt like bad karma. As you mentioned a few weeks ago, most of us owe these debts. I'm just trying to get back on the right side of things and build myself back up.  I didn't want to see the money disappear but he was agreeable. I think they were happy I called them. The greedy side of me wonders if they would have gone even lower before charging off but I didn't want to find out. I'll take 13%!

 

[shadow99]

47 minutes ago, bigmistake22 said:

The greedy side of me wonders if they would have gone even lower before charging off but I didn't want to find out. I'll take 13%!

Don't second guess yourself.  I'd be happy to settle any of mine for 13%.

[Bulldoger]

13% that's great I settled for 40% after charge off with Chase in payments (still making them $63.00 a month).  If this is all you settle then you should be o.k. on taxes next year as you be paying on $7,500 extra income. Unless you can claim insolvency.  

[BackFromTheDebt]

That is a fantastic settlement. 
 

The only account I was able to settle before charge off was a FNBO for 25%, and I considered myself extremely lucky since FNBO doesn’t sell to JDBs, always sues and always wins.  

[bigmistake22]

11 hours ago, Bulldoger said:

13% that's great I settled for 40% after charge off with Chase in payments (still making them $63.00 a month).  If this is all you settle then you should be o.k. on taxes next year as you be paying on $7,500 extra income. Unless you can claim insolvency.  

Thanks, @Bulldoger - I didn't think they would go lower. Maybe I caught them at a good time or maybe I sounded just the right amount of desperate. I also expressed that this was money I received back on my taxes and I wanted to settle before it went to something else. That might have helped? I'm not sure. I'm pretty shocked they were willing to go lower than the $2100 offer they sent in a letter - I'm feeling grateful today. Unfortunately, I have some other things to tackle but this was the big one. I hate that it's there for another few years (about 4.5, I think) - I know charge offs aren't good - but maybe the fact that it's paid will help me out down the road. Now to tackle the medical collections...

[bigmistake22]

11 minutes ago, BackFromTheDebt said:

That is a fantastic settlement. 
 

The only account I was able to settle before charge off was a FNBO for 25%, and I considered myself extremely lucky since FNBO doesn’t sell to JDBs, always sues and always wins.  

Thank you, @BackFromTheDebt! It's good to hear from others with more experience that this was considered "good". The $1200 wasn't easy to give up, especially since it came from our roofing fund but I'm so glad the weight of "will they sue me?" is off my shoulders.  I've heard FNBO is a tough one - 25% sounds great! I ended up settling for higher than I wanted for my old Synchrony bank care credit, esp b/c it was with a JDB, but I felt under pressure b/c they were suing. This made settlement with Chase made me feel much better.  Figuring out how to settle the medical collections are next - I didn't realize they were in collections/weren't paid and Im going to research more on how to tackle them. They are fresh enough that I think they are hurting my report - so hopefully I can get a few pay-for-deletes. Fun times

 

 

[BackFromTheDebt]

1 hour ago, bigmistake22 said:

Thank you, @BackFromTheDebt! It's good to hear from others with more experience that this was considered "good". The $1200 wasn't easy to give up, especially since it came from our roofing fund but I'm so glad the weight of "will they sue me?" is off my shoulders.  I've heard FNBO is a tough one - 25% sounds great! I ended up settling for higher than I wanted for my old Synchrony bank care credit, esp b/c it was with a JDB, but I felt under pressure b/c they were suing. This made settlement with Chase made me feel much better.  Figuring out how to settle the medical collections are next - I didn't realize they were in collections/weren't paid and Im going to research more on how to tackle them. They are fresh enough that I think they are hurting my report - so hopefully I can get a few pay-for-deletes. Fun times

 

 

Not all medical collections wind up on credit reports.  Those are usually relatively easy to negotiate a payment plan. If you are paying the whole thing off, they will pretty much take any payment plan you offer.  Negotiating a settlement for less than the full amount can usually be done. Every place is different.  
 

I don’t mean to pound on you, but for the benefit of anyone reading this, Synchrony cards have a great arbitration clause and many JDBs will walk away with nothing once it gets to that point.  However, when time is valuable, it is often better to settle than fight. Not criticizing anyone here.  Everyone’s situation is different. 

[bigmistake22]

1 hour ago, BackFromTheDebt said:

Not all medical collections wind up on credit reports.  Those are usually relatively easy to negotiate a payment plan. If you are paying the whole thing off, they will pretty much take any payment plan you offer.  Negotiating a settlement for less than the full amount can usually be done. Every place is different.  
 

I don’t mean to pound on you, but for the benefit of anyone reading this, Synchrony cards have a great arbitration clause and many JDBs will walk away with nothing once it gets to that point.  However, when time is valuable, it is often better to settle than fight. Not criticizing anyone here.  Everyone’s situation is different. 

This is very helpful info. I am glad you included it - I'm learning so much and, hopefully, this will help someone else (b/c I do not intend to get myself into this situation ever again!)

My history with synchrony (which I posted about separately) was caused by hardship and ignorance. We hit some hard times and I continued to ignored it. Head in the sand and just trying to keep everything else afloat. Turns out, that was a terrible idea.  Had I known better, I would have gone to arbitration b/c of info I read here in the forums about success w/ synchrony. Unfortunately, we were going through some hard times outside of the lawsuit and I didn't respond property - I only entered an appearance with the court, not a response. I didn't know - bit mistake on my part - they received a default judgement.  On the same day, I chose to settle b/c by this point I was finally pulling my head out of the sand and realized I had a lot of work to do and I had a judgement coming my way.  Long story short, I settled b/c arbitration wasn't possible at that point. I could have done a payment plan for the full amount but we had some money we inherited and opted to just pay off @ about 60% of what I owed. It was similar to what I owed before interest anyway, so I felt it was the right thing to do. If anyone is reading this, listen to Backfromthedebt...and don't stick your head in the sand. I could have saved myself a ton of money that way!

Thanks again, backfromthedebt! You are so helpful!