Charged off credit card debt

I am in the process of trying to get my life together from a financial prospective. I/we have credit cards that were charged off and some settled for less than the balance.
My cards with capital one have not been settled. 2 of the accounts were being handled with a collection agency last summer. I haven't made payments on them since September. I had a couple of calls from the collection agencies through November, but have heard nothing since. The other account is with Capital One and being handled internally by their collections area.
Given the balances are less than $550 per card, total of 3 cards. What are the odds they will pursue with a law suit.

The odds are pretty good. Capital One has been known to file suits for small amounts. If any are being handled by law offices or are in the future do not mess around with them or you will wind up paying lawyers fees and court costs and having judgments and liens. Not a good thing. Charged off debts with third party collectors are not usually taken to court. Not usually but sometimes. Household and Orchard bank are lawsuit happy also.

None of my capital one cards are currently being handled by an attorney. At least not that I know of, I haven't received any communications from a law office. If the accounts are turned over to an attorney will I have time to request verification of the debt? Are you allowed to offer a settlement for less than the balance if in the hands of an attorney?
I want to take care of this debt, but currently I must focus on my primary expenses mortgage, car payment (so I can get to work), irs, etc.
2 of my household/orchard bank accounts were settled for less than the balance. 1 has a balance of $150 and the other is approximately $300.
Is there any advance warning that I am getting close to law suit so I have time to respond prior to suit, liens?

I have 3 capital one accounts. To be the best of my knowledge none of them have been placed with an attorney. I assume I would have received some sort of notification if with an attorney?
Will I have time to respond if the accounts are listed with an attorney? Do I request verification of the debt? Will an attorney accept a settlement on the account?
My household/orchard bank accounts have been pushed through to two or three outside collection agencies....does that mean I am probably clear of a law suit? One account has a balance of $150 and the other $300'ish

Can any one provide any response to my last post?

Seems like a really small balance for a law suit. Does CapOne still own the account or have they sold it off? I would just call them and offer a settlement and get rid of it. If they've sold it, they can tell you what CA to contact.

Can anyone guide me on what type of offer is a reasonable offer for capital one? I only have one account still with Capital One and it's being handled internally. The other two accounts were turned over to collections, but I don't know who is handling these accounts. Do collection agencies typically accept a lower settlement amount? If an agency has the accounts and I haven't heard from them in 3 months or so??? Does this mean they are not going to contact me any longer?

I can't offer and pay all of these accounts at one time, even with the low balances. Would you approach the capital one account first, since its still being handled in house.

-First thing is to pull your free credit report and see who is claiming what amounts are due.
-Second. There are different types of collections agencies. Primarily in house, third party and zombie collectors. If you are still in house with Capital One I would try to work with them first.

Capitol One wants their money. You can try to negotiate it but there is no standard discount amount they will settle for. Start with a number that you can write a good check for today and see if they take it. If they insist on all of it ask to freeze the balance with no further interest and make payments.

As for the other debts.... if you have not been contacted for 3 months it is possible that the debt was written off (that is why you check your credit report) and the primary company will not contact you anymore.
It is also possible that your debt is being sold to another company for a discount.
You can definitely negotiate with them as they will try to get the full face value but don't have as much at risk.

Good Luck.

25% is usually a good starting point.

I have no advice for your problem. But I'm sorry to you, hopefully you can get the best settlement. We should be careful when using credit cards. Find a low interest, spending a maximum of 30 percent of credit limits and pay monthly bills on time. That is the key to maintaining good credit score. I hope you can do better in the future.