Settled BofA with Collection Agency!

Well, it's been rough going this year. After getting rid of my payday loans last fall, I started on settling my credit card debt. Entered into agreements with HSBC, Bank of America and CitiBank. Even though the settlements were broken into 3-4 payments, due to financial setbacks, I was unable to honor them. I WAS able to pay off HSBC.

Last month I settled with Citibank and will be making the last payment next month. Today I settled with Bank of America through their collection agency. My balance was $13,715 and I settled for 3428 over 4 payments. Was offered a lump sum of $2,757 but cannot do it (drats!).

CA will send me letter tomorrow and I will be paying via cashier's check overnight. This account will be settled end of January.

Only leaves Chase (small balance), Capital One (oh, how I HATE Linda!) and a small Bank of America (2,300) which I hope to settle soon. I entered into a payment agreement with Discover and that will be paid next September.

I came on this site last summer and pretty soon I will be debt free, except for IRS but that's another story.

So to everyone on here whether you're dealing with pdls or doing settlement, hang in there. There's light at the end of the tunnel.

Congrats on getting your debt paid off, that is great! I just had a question regarding your B of A account. Was the account charged off and sold to a collection agency or was it still with B of A? I ask because I have a CC acct with them and had payment arrangements set up, but got behind and in Sept. they sold it to a lawyer/collection agency. Of course, they want a settlement amount immediately, but I can't do it. I can't even do a large lump sum. The current balance is around $7800 and I can only do monthly payments in order to get this taken care of. Were you able to negotiate with whoever had your B of A account? Thanks for any info. and congrats again!

[QUOTE=Anonymous;761353]Congrats on getting your debt paid off, that is great! I just had a question regarding your B of A account. Was the account charged off and sold to a collection agency or was it still with B of A? QUOTE]

My account was charged off and turned over to CollectCorp., a collection agency that was impossible to deal with. I finally told them I wasn't going to deal with them and that I would deal with BofA.

The account was sent back to BofA who gave it to another collection agency, who contacted me by p hone and sent me the notification by mail that they were handling. It was still with Bank of A, but the collection agency was handling it. Told them what I could afford, how many payments and they said they'd get back to me after checking with BofA. We tweaked the numbers a bit from my original proposal, but I'm satisfied with it.
So by end of January Bank of America will bite the dust.

That's great that you were able to get it all taken care of. But I want to know how in the world you were able to tell this collection company that you wanted the account sent back to B of A? The collection agency Im dealing with goes under the guise of a lawyer's office but they are actually a typical collection agency. I did try calling back B of A and they said that since the account was given over to these people that they couldn't help me and that I would have to deal with the CC. Was there some secret that you used to get the CC to send back the account to B of A because when I spoke with B of A, they seemed pretty inflexible. But truthfully, I"d rather deal with them than have to deal with this crazy lawyer/collection agency. They keep calling and I really don't have any large sum to settle with them.

What I found out is that if the account is assigned to a collection agency (not sold), the collection agency has a certain amount of time to collect. I had problems with CollectCorp.. They called at home when I instructed them not to (have disabled husband at home and all my "business" calls come to my cell). They left messages on my answering machine. They illegally took money out of my account. They said they never received my letters even though I sent them RR and I had the receipts.

The last time they called me, they told me I only have a short time before the account was accelerated. I asked what that meant and they said it would go back to BofA and then they would (BofA) probably litigate. I said fine, send it back - I'm not dealing with you people.

I called BofA several times to see if the account came back and they told me it was scheduled to come back. They said they would call me when it did. However, they just sent it to another collection agency. When the new collection agency called me, I told them the crap I have been through and that I wasn't going down that same road with them. Somehow I managed to get a polite collector. They said they would contact BofA to see what they could offer in my circumstance. So that's how I settled $13,700 at 25%.

Got the letter yesterday afternoon. Am scheduled to send cashier's check overnight on the due dates.

And am in the process of suing the first collector for violations.

Who's the collector on your account?

The collector on my account is John P. Frye, also known as Atlantic Credit and Finance. I looked them up to find out information on them and they don't have a good reputation either. So far, they have been good about not calling 24/7, but they've only had the account for a month or so. I imagine they will get more aggressive as time goes on. I wonder if it makes a difference if B of A sells the account to a typical collection agency as opposed to a collection agency that is trying to disguise themselves as a law firm, because that's' what John P. Frye is. Is there a big difference between the two as far as being able to get the account sent back to B of A, I wonder? Just trying to see if it is even possible for the account to get sent back to B of A at all if it is in the hands of this "lawyer" collection agency.
And that is great that you will be able to sue the first CA for violations; these people really are vultures and it would be great if you could get them to compensate you for your trouble.

Initially, I had asked the first collection agency for proof that the account was assigned/sold to them. All they did was provide me with copies of my statements.

I would call Bank of America's Recovery Dept. and tell them you want to confirm that this collector has your account, and ask if it was assigned or sold. If it was assigned, according to what I experienced, it will go back to them if you do not do a settlement.

You should make sure that this collector is bonded/licensed in your state to collect, and if they are posing as an attorney, find out if they are legitimate by researching your state Bar.

My account went to the first agency in early June. I tried negotiating; got screwed and last conversation with them was around 9/15. Received phone call from 2nd creditor on 10/6 and their mail notification 10/7. Settled with them yesterday.

Good luck. Just don't let them push you around. If they start to get abusive, tell them this conversation is ending.

Well, I called B of A Recovery Dept. and found out that the account was sold and not assigned, so that's probably not a good thing as far as having it sent back to B of A. They said it was sold to Atlantic Credit and Finance, which as I said earlier, used this fake law firm of John P. Frye and ASsociates to scare people into paying because they say they are lawyers. I know for a fact that they are a call center and according to the VA State Bar (where this company is located), John P. Frye is not licensed as a lawyer in that state nor is he in my state. Just not sure what to do at this point, whether to keep trying to negotiate with these people on the phone or ignore them and see if it gets sent back to B of A or what. I certainly don't have money for any large settlements of any kind, so that is why it is very frustrating. I have to say thank you, aubrey, for your helpful information regarding your experience with B of A. It is given me some semblance of hope for being able to take care of this problem.

Maybe you can negotiate a payment plan by letting them know that they are misrepresenting themselves and are in violation of federal consumer laws. You could also let it play out, while gathering evidence they are not legitimate in case they take you to court. Then again, another junk debt buyer can come along and the process begins all over.

Did you find out if collectors need a license/bonding in your state to collect? At this point you could let it ride while telling them with each phone call that you don't have any money.

Anyone else on here have any advice?

Well, I did look up both companies (JP Frye and Atlantic Credit and Finance) and neither of them is listed as being registered as a collection agency in this state. So, are they trying to collect illegally, even if they do own the debt now? I'm trying to search and see if collection agencies need to be registered in the state in which the debt is located. Wouldn't seem like that it is a legal thing to do, but I'll have to find out for sure. Believe me, I would love to settle with them and get this debt out of my hair, but companies like this make it difficult to even negotiate any kind of repayment plan.