Having a hard time with money-advice on my current situation
Date: Tue, 11/01/2005 - 10:36
My name is Ralph and I've recently come on some hard times with money. I'm probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 10k in credit card debt and I'm late on the various cards about 2 months. I've submitted for assistance with your fee counseling. My question is how far can a collection agency go to retrieve the money? Do I have to worry about people coming to my house? Do they just incessantly call? I'm very new to all this and I understand that my credit is taking a hit. Is that the only downfall?
Thanks
Ralph,
Ralph,
The collectors have the legal rights to collect the past debt sold to them by the creditors. But they are bounded by some federal laws in the collection process. Know your legal rights which force the collection agencies to work within the stated laws:
http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/fdcpa.html
The collectors should not harass you at your doorsteps and call ceaselessly to recover the amount from you. Before you agree to pay them any amount towards the debt account, they will have to validate the debt.
Unless the true picture of your debt is produced, you have the rights to dispute it. After receiving the collection call, your first move should be to send a debt validation letter and request for account information.
http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/validation.html . After the debt is validated, you can arrange for payments and get your credit report updated with the bureaus. Get receipts of all your payments made so that you know the latest status of the account. Also send all your correspondence through certified mail with return receipt requested. This will leave legal proof of each and every effort made with the collection agencies.
Ok, all of my debt is with unsecured loans. All of it is credit
Ok, all of my debt is with unsecured loans. All of it is credit cards. No mom and pop loan places. I got a call from superior debt management and was told that the only thing the creditors can do is call me or do a judgement. Is this true? Also, they said the best plan of action was to do a settlement with each creditor. Do you agree? Thanks!
Hi Ralph Do you mind telling me the total amount of debt that
Hi Ralph
Do you mind telling me the total amount of debt that you wish to put in the program?
If you have a huge debt and have problems in making the monthly consolidation amount, settlement is preferable. But talk with your consultant about your good ratings. Your file should not show 'Settled' for these accounts included in the program. You should insist for 'paid in full' or 'paid as agreed' to be updated in your file.
Also, if you have a huge debt, consolidation program will take some years to complete.
I will be interested to know the total amount of debt and the settlement amount offered to you before I can comment on anything.
Regards
Roxette
Hi Roxette, My total debt is somewhere in the neighbor hood of
Hi Roxette,
My total debt is somewhere in the neighbor hood of 11k. I'm told they can get that down to around 6.5k. I was also told that consolidation looks worse on my credit report than settleing and getting a 'paid in full' or 'paid as agreed'.
Hi Ralph Your ultimate concern should be that your credit rep
Hi Ralph
Your ultimate concern should be that your credit report puts a good view to the future lenders. If your credit report can get the status 'paid in full' or 'paid as agreed', then you go ahead with the deal.
Get the assurance from them in writing. In comparison to settlement, consolidation is a far better choice but the purpose of any of these programs is to improve the credit file by wiping off all the past debts. If you are sure to have any of the two statuses, you can go ahead with the deal.
Regards
Roxette