our settlement journey -- yes we can!

We are a family of four with 2 young children. My husband lost his job since March and is unable to find one, so im the only one working. Its tough and couple of times we set a meeting with BK lawyer and cancelled. We decided to settle it ourselves as long as i am still working. We have 95k in unsecured credit. Heres our timeline:

credit card = 45k

1.) Chase (mine) 2,200 - settled for 864 (40%) after 60 days, 9/19/09, 1 lumpsum

2.)Chase (husband) 5,986 - settled for 2,395 (40%) after 90 days, 4 payments of 598 (10/30-1/30, 2011).

3.) BoA (mine) 8, 050 - settled for 2,415 (35%) after 120 days, 4 payments of 704 (10/30-1/30, 2011).

4.) BoA (husband) 24,800 - 90 days late, will wait for 2 months.

5.) Amex (mine) 3,600 - 2 months late, will wait.

6.) Citi (husband) 2,100 - 2 months late, will wait

7.) Citi (mine) 1,900 - 2 months late, will wait


Promissory note: (short sale of our Florida residence)

Dyck o Neal - 40k - paying $10 a month x 3 months, refused to settle, 7 months late. This is going to be our hardest settlement. I am praying that this one will go for 35% for 2 years. Will keep u updated.

Hi congrats on your settlements. Stay the course and finish it out. I have one left to settle and am patiently waiting until they can meet my terms.
At that point we'll be debt free, unless we get sued for our mortgages.

In reference to Dyck O'Neal.... My second mortgage was just sold to them. Now, I have not paid it either in about 8 months. I just sent them a validation request yesterday. Mind you I am not paying the first Mortgage either, and we have tried to short sale for about a year with no buyers. It will probably foreclose in about 3-4 months is my best guess.
I'm just wondering what you experience has been like with Dyck O'Neal & associates.

what state are you in?

I stopped paying Dyck since March and 4 months later offered settlement, they refused. They dont want to settle less than 50% according to 2 ladies i spoke to. So i paid $10/month so i can buy time and settle with other cc. Its tough dealing with them and they dont call, maybe once a month, but not as as aggressive as the others. Im just hoping that they will not send the collection to their litigation. 40k from promissory note short sale is unreasonable, this is not even a HELOC, this is a note that Radian asked us to sign on behalf of the 1st mortgage so we can proceed with the short sale. At that time we want to save our credit and we have the income to pay. Now, we dont care anymore about credit score, we just want to be debt free and restore our life.

Hi, how did you managed to settle your credit card co? We are a family of 3(1-young 6yr old kid) and my spouse is currently unemployed and have accumulated $50k of credit card debts which we can't really afford now and we will be skipping payments soon. How many months you need to be delinquent before credit card co settle for less? Are you in direct communication with them even if you started being late? We also got hit by foreclosure and this makes our lfie even more complicated. I highly appreciate any advise you can provide us and God Bless you and your family!

Did you try and/or have any luck negotiating a Pay for Delete?

congrats on the DIY settlements - good to see it working out for you.

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we stopped payments and talk to them whenever they call. We made sure that they know we are not running away from our obligations. Around 60+ days when we negotiate settlement, told them that we borrowed money from family. Dont be discouraged. They will come to you by 90 days. Chase, i.e want 85% coz its a new account at 60 days but settled for 40% around 90 days. Just persevere!

Since your not worried about your credit anymore have you considered Bankruptcy. I filed chapter and included house and everything. No one would work with me until I did this. No my 1st mortgage has set up I repayment plan and the second settled for $20 thousand on a $50 thousand loan. Because after filing Bankruptcy if we did a short sell which is six months here the second mortgage would have ended up with nothing and the same if they foreclosed. Don't know how much money you have on hand.And if you wanted to keep the house. I know it's a huge impact on your score put it is an option and you can be debt free and still keep your house.

just an update ... we are done with our 49k debt as of today. I was able to settle everything at 31%. DIY is the best way to do it, you dont need debt settlement companies. The only debt i have is the DYck o neal which is at 39k and we are paying $10 monthly. They are willing to settle for 20k lumpsum but i dont have the money right now. Spoke to someone who does short sale negotiations and said we can settle this for 6k lumpsum. She works with a law firm and has good results, charges $500 to do it. What do you think?

hey burried, did you start the settlement talk with all the CC's at 60 days or wait for them to bring it up?

Dyck Oneal,Inc engages in dual collection with certian mortgage lenders by reporting balances on both theire new account and the previous lenders doe snot show transfered/zero balance as required, provides false data to the credit reporting agencies, and generally disregards Fair Debt Collection Practices and Fair Credit Reporting Act. Look over the calculations they provide, they claim I am past due for many month I paid even prior to the origination of the mortgage, they fail to include the entire note or modifications, and generally have a terrible rating with the BBB. I encourage everyone to file a complaint with the BBB if your mortgage account is sent to Dyck Oneal, Inc. They are a predatory collection agency and have no interest in settleing. They see no need to work with the homewoner, as they acquired the account for pennies on the dollar, and hope to take advantage of homeowners who have lost all theire equity and have nothing left. Hopefully a state attorney general will see this and look in this collection agency. Also the state of Georgia suspended them for unlicensed loan activity. I encourage everyone who find errors to sue Dyck Oneal in District Court for violations of the FDCPA and FRCA, if these violation are found. The Fair Debt Collection Practices act only requires proving one violation of FDCPA to find a violation, and therefore a discharge of the collection and a fine. Lets shut this bottom feeding, predatory mortgage collection agency, who is inflicting undue pain and suffering on families who have already lost everything.

I had to sign a 40K note with Radian in order to get my short sale. Now the note has been sold to Dyck Oneal, Inc. I have to settle this.. no way I'm paying 40K. Can anyone give me advice? This is my first debt collection and I have no idea how to handle these people.

We are paying 160 a month. They would not settle. Our house was foreclosed on. Thins was a second loan for 20 k that the bank didn't settle. Dyck bought it for 1dollar. We went to attorney and they said we have to pay. They would not settle for less. We live in texas. Any advice?

Just a quick reference as to I feel your pain. Got behind with a smaller division of BofA called Home Loan Services aka three ring circus. Fell behind in Sep 08 and foreclosure started Nov 08. We pleaded with them to try and save our home but they were ruthless. I explained to them that the home needed many repairs and they would lose in the long run. They would not and refused to work with us. Dec 08 home went to auction and did not sell for even a fraction of the amount it was worth.
Magically the bank suddenly wanted to work with us. We said no that they had their chance and we are moving on.
Here are the interesting factors:
**They still report for 7 years that you enter foreclosure regardless of whether you catch up or refinance
**we had an 80/20 loan from day one (basically a 20% 2nd mortgage)
**although we asked multiple times how to handle this they would not answer us consistently, the Bill Clinton runaround
**over 2 years later I pulled my credit reports and Dyck Oneal is reporting over $40k
**to salvage my credit I settled with Dyck Oneal for $7k
YES they will settle for much less than 50%, I offered 5% at the beginning
**YES it is UNSECURED so they can not touch you or your money or your work unless they file a suit and win
**depending on your state and how much you care about your credit score, they can not collect on this debt past the states statute of limitations which in some states is only 3 years, however the credit report can only report 7 years from the time of your first default payment, not when Dyck acquires it, NO unless you agree to a new loan they can not start the time over
***Call the FCRA and get advice on the correct law regarding 2nd mortgages and how they are handled, I believe many mort co are in violation.
***as much as I hate to say it, if your credit is ruined then get advice from a BK attorney, they have worksheets for a clean sweep even if you make more than your states or counties minimum.....i chose to fight and continue to clean up as much as possible and in time it falls off

HOPE THIS HELPS ANYONE DEALING WITH DYCK ONEAL[/LIST]

Just to clarify........

I settled a $40k+ debt for $7k and make payments of $100 per month for several years, they wiped the old debt clean from my credit and it is verified so a year of bad reporting gone. ALL in writing.

The catch is they now own me for $100 per month until paid. Good news: It is possible and they will work with you. It is unsecured and they can not take your first born