credit card in collections, have some money to pay off, not sure how to negotiate

[animatorindebt]

This board has been incredibly helpful so far.

Ok..my fortunes have a changed a bit since my last posting. A relative is giving me a sum of money to deal with at least one of my outstanding debts.

I've been scouring the boards and internet trying to educate myself on credit, and how to deal with collection agencies - i had foolishly used a debt settlement company and was able to reclaim all my accounts to decent status but one.

I had a balance of 23,000 on my card. When i went the the debt settlement company, it then escalated to 26,000 due to interest hikes and misc. fees.

The CA has given me until tomorrow to give them 18,500 or they have threatened it will go to the legal department and action will be taken.

I'm doing my best to negotiate with them and could use some advice on what I can hope to achieve in a negotiation. The 3 months of missed payments will not be stricken from my credit report, but if I pay them the 18,500, they will report the balance as paid in full.

I'm very concerned about my credit report and want to know if
a. this deadline of tomorrow is my only option, or just a threat to get money out of me quickly.
b. what i have the power to negotiate (% of debt, any improvements to how they report, etc, amount of time for payoff)

thank you all for your time

[hannah]

Quote:

Originally Posted by animatorindebt This board has been incredibly helpful so far. Ok..my fortunes have a changed a bit since my last posting. A relative is giving me a sum of money to deal with at least one of my outstanding debts. I've been scouring the boards and internet trying to educate myself on credit, and how to deal with collection agencies - i had foolishly used a debt settlement company and was able to reclaim all my accounts to decent status but one. I had a balance of 23,000 on my card. When i went the the debt settlement company, it then escalated to 26,000 due to interest hikes and misc. fees. The CA has given me until tomorrow to give them 18,500 or they have threatened it will go to the legal department and action will be taken. I'm doing my best to negotiate with them and could use some advice on what I can hope to achieve in a negotiation. The 3 months of missed payments will not be stricken from my credit report, but if I pay them the 18,500, they will report the balance as paid in full. I'm very concerned about my credit report and want to know if a. this deadline of tomorrow is my only option, or just a threat to get money out of me quickly. b. what i have the power to negotiate (% of debt, any improvements to how they report, etc, amount of time for payoff) thank you all for your time

How old is this debt? When was the last time you made a payment and what state are you in?

[animatorindebt]

in california. the collection agency is in NY.

the last time i apparently made a payment was in april (i had been paying a debt company thinking they were disbursing my monthly payment)

[jlynn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by animatorindebt in california. the collection agency is in NY. the last time i apparently made a payment was in april (i had been paying a debt company thinking they were disbursing my monthly payment)

Please, please, do not hand over 18K to a collection agency. This account may not even be charged off yet. Have you called the Original Creditor?

Do your best to work with them.

DON'T WRITE THAT CHECK just yet. Just ignore their calls for a bit while you get your head on straight.

[hannah]

Quote:

Originally Posted by animatorindebt in california. the collection agency is in NY. the last time i apparently made a payment was in april (i had been paying a debt company thinking they were disbursing my monthly payment)

In California as in many states, the SOL begins to run when the payment due was not made. This means that unless your payment brought the account current and in good standing so that you were able to again use the account for purchases, then the SOL began from the time you failed to pay what was due and owing regardless of whether you made smaller payments later.

Your credit report would probably have this information.

In addition, written contracts SOL is 4 years. Oral is 2 years. Written contracts must be in writing with your signature detailing the terms of the written agreement or have the parol evidence to effectively conclude there is one although the courts there consider the cc agreement to be a written contract in most cases I have reviewed but by no means have I looked at all of them. The problem is that there are three ways to state a coa for defaulting on a credit card: (1) breach of contract; (2) account stated; (3) on an open book account. Each of these are under the 4 year SOL.

Under California law, a plaintiff must establish (1) "the existence of the contract, performance by the plaintiff or excuse for nonperformance, (2) breach by the defendant and (3) damages" to state a breach of contract claim. First Commercial Mortgage Co. v. Reece, 89 Cal. App. 4th 731, 745, 108 Cal. Rptr. 2d 23 (2001).

While I have not looked for any authority in this, I am going to say that if the debt buyer who has this account has no documentation, then it would under the 2 year oral contract SOL.

Please someone correct me if I am wrong.

BUT -- You haven't yet been sued so you need to send a DV letter and get your hard copy credit reports. If it were me, I'd also call the original creditor and get some info that way if I could.

[animatorindebt]

Thanks you both..

The account has NOT been charged off. FIA/Bank of America will not work with me in this matter at all and transfers my calls back to Creditors Interchange when I call. I called my local branch of Consumer Credit Counseling and they warned me that this could go into a law suit unless I act and make some sort of payment. This is all very confusing.

[hannah]

Quote:

Originally Posted by animatorindebt Thanks you both.. The account has NOT been charged off. FIA/Bank of America will not work with me in this matter at all and transfers my calls back to Creditors Interchange when I call. I called my local branch of Consumer Credit Counseling and they warned me that this could go into a law suit unless I act and make some sort of payment. This is all very confusing.

BoA is obligated to charge off under FDIC's Rule 5000 if the debt is past due 180. Read this.


It would have had to have been charged off but it doesn't have to be sold although BoA does this on a fairly regular basis.

I would call them and say you were not looking to negotiate with them, you were wanting information to back up the collection agency's claims. Get to a supervisor.

[animatorindebt]

looking at statements, it seems that 180 days will be the first of september - i don't know what that means in terms of being charged off or not, or really, what being charged off means.

[jlynn]

Charged off is both an accounting term, and a status which is highly negative on a credit report. If you can pay B of A the past due payments, they should then update your reports to indicate current that it "was" xxx days past due - its better than a paid charge off or a notation of settled.

[animatorindebt]

i'm still negotiating with the CA and trying to understand the status of things. It looks like B of A still owns the debt and is using the CA to collect and at the moment, it reads on my credit report that I am several months late on payments.

I'm still negotiating with the CA and am getting advice from a cousin who is a lawyer as well as the CCC local to me...

Really, what's the best outcome I can hope for, assuming I can work this out with my CA at this point regarding my credit report?

[hannah]

Quote:

Originally Posted by animatorindebt i'm still negotiating with the CA and trying to understand the status of things. It looks like B of A still owns the debt and is using the CA to collect and at the moment, it reads on my credit report that I am several months late on payments. I'm still negotiating with the CA and am getting advice from a cousin who is a lawyer as well as the CCC local to me... Really, what's the best outcome I can hope for, assuming I can work this out with my CA at this point regarding my credit report?

If all you say is true, then the best outcome if you pay your credit card either up to date (current) you become again a member in good standing within the family of BoA. Even with this outcome, BoA has severely dinged your credit rating with a bunch of lates. The more you pay off on the card, the lower your credit limit will be (I'm just guessing on this based on past behaviors of BoA.) Someday down the road in the next few years if you stay current and in good standing you can try a goodwill letter to get rid of the lates. Good luck to you.

[animatorindebt]

it doesn't look like i can be a member of boa again...they said they legally aren't allowed to discuss my account and just transer me back to the CA.

[misstjb]

My husband foolishly did the very same thing. B of A account that has been assigned to Creditors Interchange. We were able to negotiate a fee for half of the amount owed in writing, but they did not allow enough time for us to secure the funds. I am in a position to pay this now. It is nearing the 180 day mark though and I am curious to your outcome. I am not sure if we should proceed with another settlement offer. CI letter stated that our account would be considered settled in full and reported to CA as "settled as agreed" charged-off account. I've done a lot of researching and still not sure how to proceed. These people are not nice...