I talked today with a lady regarding my 57 day late Advanta bank corp account. First of all she mentioned to me debt management, I then mentioned to her that dmp would not help my monthly payments be lowered and I mentioned debt settlement. She then told me that they do not deal with DS companies as they require them to "sell" my account and they don't do that. I had never heard that before. And she also said that as of the 30th my account would leave her department and so somewhere else, collections I assumed. I explained my situation to her and she wasn't rude but she still was wanting me to make a whole payment when I had just explained that I could not. We then got cut off when I went down into a bad cell phone place. If they don't deal with DS companies, will they deal with DS lawyers?Reason for Editing (Minimum 15 Characters)
Asked on 11:23 am Sep 23rd 2008
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If they have a specific date they are telling you the account is going to another company and they are telling you the company it will go to, it's legit. That is specific, that isn't an idle threat. That means that someone submitted the account for legal and it has been approved. On that date, the account will be gone. Advanta rolls their accounts at the end of the month, as far as teams/offers/delinquency level, so if your account is approved for legal on the 26th, I HIGHLY doubt you will get a better offer than the ones they have given you as of right now. Your account will not be switching collection teams between Jan 1 to when it goes to the other company. With your personal FICO being that high, they aren't going to believe that you really can't pay. That high FICO says to them that you can pay, you're paying other people - you're just choosing to not pay them. Now that may not be true, I'm just telling you how it's looked at. They see it as preferential treatment - you are choosing who to pay. I don't know anything about that agency/attorney they are going to place the account with so I can't tell you how that would go down if you just let it roll to legal.
I can tell you that there are pros and cons to both. On one hand, once the account charges off it is pretty much as bad as it can get as far as your credit and you could just let the debt sit there as a charge off and refuse to pay any agency that acquires it and hope to wait out the 7 years. Your problem is that an $8000 balance is plenty high enough for that agency to garnish your wages and/or put a lien on any property you own (depending on what state you live in, but most all of them allow this at that balance amount). An agency is a lot more likely to go after you with a lien or garnishment. 3rd party agencies are also typically much more vicious as far as talking to you on the phone - but they are the agencies that have to, by law, follow the fdcpa, so sometimes they will call less often - especially in comparison to Advanta, who is definitely the MOST frequent calling collections department. A 3rd party agency will probably offer you an even better settlement than the original creditor, but they will offer it after they've tacked their fees onto the balance and probably increased the total by at least $1000.
The only thing I can really tell you is that based on what you've stated, I feel extremely confident telling you that they will not pull out some last minute better offer to try to get you to agree to save your account from being sent to that company on like January 20th. What is on the table is as good as it is going to get.Reason for Editing (Minimum 15 Characters)
Answered on 9:37 pm Jan 11th 2009
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Yes Susie, reputable debt settlement companies can work I suppose - but they are pointless. They do not do anything that an individual cannot accomplish themselves. I would NEVER recommend anyone EVER go with a settlement company.
If you are struggling to get by, why pay a company extra money to settle your bills when you can keep the payments, plus that extra fee, in your own savings account and let it build up (which is all settlement companies do - that and send form letters to the companies that the companies ignore) and then YOU can start trying to do settlements once the accounts get far enough behind and the offers start becoming available.
The only possible benefit of an agency is that they are holding the funds so you are circumventing that temptation of spending what you are supposed to be setting aside to save up for settlement. However, that can also bite you in the arse because that non access to your accruing money has left many hundreds of customers with no accounts settled and no money recouped when dishonest settlement companies have shut down or disappeared after customers have spent 6 months sending them funds.Reason for Editing (Minimum 15 Characters)
Answered on 9:43 pm Jan 11th 2009
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I think only dishonest companies hold the funds themselves, for the very purpose you mentioned. My funds are being held in an independent bank account that I have complete control of. The thing is, settlements take a lot of time and effort. I had $90,000 in debt, spread out over nine accounts, plus I have overwhelming responsibilities within my family and community. There was no way I could coordinate doing all this on my own. Absolutely I would have settled on my own if I had only 1 or 2 accounts, or a way lesser amount than $90,000. It's just peace of mind, knowing I have turned it over to professionals. I do not feel this type of assistance is pointless at all, it all depends on your situation. Although I have settled one account on my own, my company has settled four others in my first year of the program. To me, it's been well worth the fee to let someone else handle it.Reason for Editing (Minimum 15 Characters)
Answered on 8:06 am Jan 12th 2009
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Glad I found this forum. I have several debts that are about 90 days delinquent. I have an account with advanta that is roughly 120 days past due. I owe about 19,000. I finally started talking on the phone to my creditors and must say that Advanta has been the least cooperative. I was warned by their customer service rep that unless I made a payment of at least 450 by Jan. 9th my account would be transferred to legal. By the way, my minimum payment shows up as 2,500. I now think that this was a bluff. But I made that payment because he said it would buy me time to negotiate a settlement. During this phone call he offered a settlement of 12,000 which I countered with 7,500. He said he would submit my offer for review. Well... I talk to a new guy a few days later that has apparently taken over my account and there is no record of my offer. Not only that, he said their settlement offer is 17,500! Did I make a mistake by paying them $450? Will they be more willing to negotiate come Feb 9? Also, could someone recommend the best way to pay creditors including CAs. Over phone, personal check, cashiers check? Thank youReason for Editing (Minimum 15 Characters)
Answered on 10:25 pm Jan 14th 2009
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Well today I was contacted by a guy named Matt Couangi from Advanta. He said that if I send in $1,084 by the end of the month that my interest rate will be reduced to 21.99% WOW!!! Just like the guest above I am afraid that without something wrighting it is all smoke and mirrors and any monie sent in will be just absorbed in fees and do no good for my situation. He also wanted to get the monie electronicaly direct from my bank account. I dont like that idea due to being afraid that they would do it more than once and cause further problems. He did say that the conversation was taped and not to wory about him saying something was not true. So I requested a copy of the recording for my records. He said he could not do that, hmmm why not?Reason for Editing (Minimum 15 Characters)
Answered on 9:24 am Jan 16th 2009
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I just checked my credit score and it has dropped from a 720 to about a 540. So at this point, I don't really care anymore the impact to my credit score (see above). Any advice on how to handle this upcoming settlement that is due Jan 26?
Where would be a good starting point?
On a side note, anybody had any luck negotiating with AMEX?
The best the offered me today before they send it to collections is 25% off the balance. It sucked. My account is about 120 days past due with them. Thier hardship program is terrible too.Reason for Editing (Minimum 15 Characters)
Answered on 12:42 pm Jan 16th 2009
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I just checked my credit score and it has dropped from a 720 to about a 540. So at this point, I don't really care anymore the impact to my credit score (see above). Any advice on how to handle this upcoming settlement that is due Jan 26?
Where would be a good starting point?
On a side note, anybody had any luck negotiating with AMEX?
The best the offered me today before they send it to collections is 25% off the balance. It sucked. My account is about 120 days past due with them. Thier hardship program is terrible too.Reason for Editing (Minimum 15 Characters)
Answered on 12:43 pm Jan 16th 2009
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My account too has been turned over to Phillip Cohen. The last message I got said that they may have to turn it over the Advanta attorneys. They are a collection agency right? Do they sue or does the OC sue? or both? I am really just considering BK. Right now NOTHING is an option.Reason for Editing (Minimum 15 Characters)
Answered on 2:51 pm Jan 17th 2009
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Phillip & Cohen are a collection agency. My experience with the particular collectors I talked to is that they were nasty jerks. I received a summons from Advanta themselves. But the summons came along with an alternative settlement offer that was very good that I took, then the lawsuit was dismissed.Reason for Editing (Minimum 15 Characters)
Answered on 9:45 pm Jan 17th 2009
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Well, payment date is here and I am not paying. I wrote back in December about be raised to a 38% interest rate after being late only 1 time in the last 12 months. My rates graduated from 7%, 19%, 22% and now 38%. I kept in touch every few months for the last 6 to see about getting a lower rate. Each time I was told wait a few more. They claim to have sent letters warning about increased rates. They want me to call a Debt Company....Why?? The girl that talked to me said even if I went that route they could still refuse to settle. Ok, incentive there. But, I am not having any other issues with my other cards. Like many, running businesses it was tough last year. The economy did not help. I want to pay but cannot justify this rate for no reason besides..."We feel you warrent this rate."
So, what can I expect....hundreds of phone calls, no working with me, lower credit rating and all for what.
What to do. I have never had this situation before. :?Reason for Editing (Minimum 15 Characters)
Answered on 11:47 am Jan 20th 2009
Anonymous
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