Please suggest me how to negotiate with creditors on my own

I need some guidance on starting debt settlement negotiations with creditors, on my own. We were with Total Debt Services for three years, settling close to $85,000 of debt, and they were wonderful. The recent changes to debt settlement firm laws caused TDS to close their services, and they have sub-let us to EFA Processing. This place is horrible, and we no longer have control over our money. I am in the process of closing our special purpose account, and getting into finishing this off ourselves.

What I have questions about are what avenue to take first. We have six accounts left, and I only know where a few of them are currently held at. Do I contact the third-party collectors, or can I contact the original credit card companies to propose settlements?

I see contact numbers all over these forums for credit card company's settlement divisions, can I simply call them, or should I find addresses and go the written route? I am just starting this, and am wondering the best route to take. Thanks in advance for any insight.

You can contact the collection agencies to negotiate a settlement. It is better to go for the written route. This way, you\'ll have the documents. You can go through the following page to know how to settle debts on your own: http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/steps.html

I would suggest contacting the original creditors to learn the status of your accounts. You can learn who still owns the debt and which ones have been sold. Once you get that information you can begin negotiations. Negotiations are 99.9% over the phone with a settlement letter being mailed/faxed when agreed on.

sbartell7, once you find the address of the collection agencies, you can send a settlement letter to them. If the collection agency does not respond to it, then you can make a better settlement offer to them. If they accept it, then you can sign a written settlement agreement with them. This way, the collection agency can't say that no agreement was made between you and them.

Even if you negotiate over phone, then record the conversations in a tape. You should also avoid giving access to your savings accounts through phone.

Nelly?? Have you ever had an account in collections??? No collection agency will negotiate in writing....they will only negotiate over the phone. It takes too much time and manpower to write letters...plus mailing time.

NO collector is going to want their inventory clogged up with these types of accounts. Once you come to an agreement, they will mail or fax a settlement agreement to you. If they refuse, then you dont pay.

When I got married I inherited 95K of bad debt that I was unaware of with my husband. We filled bankruptcy which was discharged in 1999 and we started a clean slate and now have immaculate credit. I commend you for paying it off, but I guess I would take the easy way out.  It wasn't credit card debt though ours was a house that the property values went way down and the house couldn't be sold for what was owed on it and it went into foreclosure. Drug dealers on the corner, not safe at all.  We had no choice, we tried to rent it out but the neighborhood only provided section 8 and welfare people and they destroyed it so many times it was driving us into the poor house. took all our savings and then some. I guess I am saying if you can get out from under it legally and do the bankruptcy thing sometimes it's just better. No more sleepless nights or harrassing phone calls.  

Since you started this process three years ago, I would definitely NOT call the original creditors. This will lead to numerous phone calls and a lot of frustration.

Request all of your documents from the current company; they should have the most recently received collection letters for each of your accounts, and this will indeed point you in the right direction.

If you are unable to obtain this information from this current company, go online and get a 3-in-1 credit report, which should list your accounts and their whereabouts.

Good luck!

Marie Megge

I have worked for EFA Processing in the past but now work for USDR and the best thing would be to contact the creditors who are collecting on behalf of the original creditors to determine your options to resolve the debts based on your financial budget/hardship.  If an agreement is met, you should request the letter in writing before providing any personal bank information.  For more information you could check us out on the web for additional information.

Actualy, you don't even need to waste your money to negotiate with negotiator company. And yes, you can do it on your own. What you must and Not too: Debt Negotiation – Can I Do This On My Own?

SPAM