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Business Credit Card....best course of action?

Date: Tue, 06/17/2008 - 14:37

Submitted by bgwtyper
on Tue, 06/17/2008 - 14:37

Posts: 4 Credits: [Donate]

Total Replies: 8


My fiance and I previously owned a business. When we sold the business we still owed a balance of roughly $7,000 dollars on the business card. He had trouble finding a job right away after we sold so the monthly payments we recieved for the business did not go to paying of the card but to living expenses. Although we ALWAYS paid well over the minimum we were late a few times and, consequently, our interest rate went up to nearly 30 percent. Over the months my frustration with this card and the company have grown because we have paid thousands and thousand of dollars to them with no results. Right before Christmas we made a payment of $4,000 dollars to the credit card company with the last of the money we recieved for our business and within 2 months and about only about $400 worth of charges from Christmas shopping we were back at the same balance again because we were being taken advantage of with that interest rate. We contacted the company to ask them for a lower interest rate and they refused, but could not tell us why. So we decided to apply for a personal loan to pay this off. We have been approved for the loan but my question is this....is there any chance that we can get the credit card company to settle for a lower amount and how would we go about doing that? We have paid them well over the amount we have charged over the years and I would like to be able to take a lesser amount for the loan or put whatever is left back into the loan so that we can pay it off faster. Also, this credit card is not even showing on his credit report. I'm not sure if it is because it is a business card or what the case is it's just not on there. It has never contributed to a positive credit rating so I don't know if it will work negatively against him if he requests a settlement. Please offer advice if you can....I am a believer in paying what you owe but as a customer of this company that has paid many times over what we owed I am hoping to get out of it now with a bit of a break.


bgwtyper, welcome! My husband and I also have a business credit card and a business line of credit. Neither of them have ever shown on his credit report either. My guess would be that if it's not showing on your credit report, then it wouldn't show as a negative if you settle either. However, I don't think credit card companies are usually willing to settle an account as long as you are current--you would have to stop paying it for several months before you would know if they are willing to settle.

Also, to get a business credit card, your fiance may have signed an agreement to pay it personally if the business didn't pay it. In that case, it might be that a settlement would end up showing on his credit report.

Have you checked your bills for accuracy? Even at a 30% interest rate, it doesn't seem possible that after making a $4000 payment and then charging an additional $400, you could end up back where you started in only six months!


lrhall41

Submitted by alias1958 on Tue, 06/17/2008 - 14:47

( Posts: 1230 | Credits: )


Exactly! And it was 2 months, not 6. I have pored over the statements over and over again trying to figure out how that adds up and it never does. I absolutely want to pay what I owe....we have not yet made the payment this month because I found that paying the minimum of around $600 every month about $100 is going to the balance while the rest is all going to interest. We are throwing away money! Thus we were waiting to hear on the loan. We have been approved but I am just hoping that there is a way I can get out of some of this unnecessary money they claim we owe them before I pay them off.


lrhall41

Submitted by bgwtyper on Tue, 06/17/2008 - 14:53

( Posts: 4 | Credits: )


With a $600 monthly payment, only $100 of which is going to the balance, that means that $500 is going to interest. At 30% interest, you would be paying approximately 2.5% interest monthly. Therefore, your balance would have to be approximately $20,000 in order for the interest to equal $500. I know you said that it was originally $7000, but is it up to $20,000 now? If it isn't, then I can't see how your interest can possibly be $500 per month--unless there are also late fees and over limit fees being added monthly.

I agree that 30% is outrageous (my husband calls it usury!). Several of our cards were also at that rate before we decided two months ago that we could no longer keep up with the payments. Now I think they're probably all at that rate!


lrhall41

Submitted by alias1958 on Tue, 06/17/2008 - 15:35

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No, the balance is around 10,000. This is exactly why I want out from under it....we pay on time and are not over the limit there should be no extra charges. I have searched and searched through my statements trying to figure out the justification for the outrageous balance on the card but I am baffled. Customer service at the card company has been no help either....they claim they can't look far enough back in our records to see why this is such or why we are not eligible for a rate decrease. They only say that with one year of timely payments the rate will automatically go down. We cancelled the card several months back just so that we would have proof that we were not making an charges on these cards. Unfortunately, my fiance is one who will just sit back and take it but I am more of a take charge kind of person....I mean, what do you mean my bill is multiplying at an enormous rate and you can't see back far enough to tell me why? I definitely do not wish to do business with that company any longer. I'm just hoping for a strok of luck when it comes to how much I have to pay them to get out of our arrangement.


lrhall41

Submitted by bgwtyper on Tue, 06/17/2008 - 15:44

( Posts: 4 | Credits: )


Wow! The numbers sure don't seem to add up. I haven't settled any of my account yet, but from all of the posts that I've read here, it seems like creditors won't be willing to settle for less unless you are several months behind on your bill. Maybe someone else will be able to offer some advice if you hang in there!


lrhall41

Submitted by alias1958 on Tue, 06/17/2008 - 20:49

( Posts: 1230 | Credits: )


I'm in a debt settlement program because I had to close a business and was left with a lot of debt I couldn't pay. I started the program in January which is when I had to stop paying on the cards. My three largest credit card balances were all business cards, and one of them, which was 16,000, has already been settled at 30%. I discovered the business cards weren't showing up on my credit reports because they did not use my social security number, but my state employer's tax number instead as an ID. I can't guarantee they're not showing up now, though, with the dive in my credit score. BUT, at least I have a light at the end of the tunnel now.


lrhall41

Submitted by on Wed, 06/18/2008 - 06:39

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