Academy Services for CitiBank

academy is a bottomfeeder CA.i would send DV and C&D letters
asap.send them certified mail return receipt.they love to threaten,tack on insane fees.if they are collecting for citibank let them prove it.

There is no LEGAL way that you accrued $10,000 in any type of fees or interest in ten months. So DV them asking for a complete breakdown of what they say you owe and how it was arrived at.

Also make them prove that they are legally able to collect this debt, since they claim they do not own it then make them prove who does and that they are authorized to speak on their behalf.

With your financial problems as bleak as they seem to appear I would contact a BK lawyer and see if they can negoitate a settlement for you. If not seriously consider filing. If the IRS has a lien on you then that $8,000 would be better spent dealing with the IRS you might be able to settle with them and once they find out about the money they will probably just take it. I don't think you can BK an IRS debt away.

Thanks for the replies. Even knowing I could file bankruptcy I do not want to. I will pay off the debt, I just cannot pay off ALL the debt- That would take me forever especially since the interest is still accruing at a ridiculous rate. I would like to save and settle, save and settle as I have a few accounts to address.
About Academy....Can I still send a DV letter to them? They got my account in August I think it was and I just spoke to them for the very first time a few days ago. I was on the phone with the guy for close to a half hour, mostly him talking and talking. I made no guarantees, I made an offer which after loudly fiddling with his adding machine over and OVER and OVER he just couldn't accept and every time he came up with a new number it was higher than the last one he came up with...it was kind of funny.
I pretty much knew going into the phone call that they had purchased the account but he continued to insist he was the liason for citibank and he talks to one of the managers of whatever dept every week and discusses accounts "such as mine" to see what can be done. I did not argue with him just let him keep talking and lying to me. Today I got 3 phone calls from his office because I did not call hime back to let him know how I was going to proceed.
So, is it still possible to send the DV letter and if so do they have to acknowledge it or since it has been past 30 days from their first letter to me can they ignoere it. Do they typically sue...it is a large amount, somewhere near $30k now with all that crazy interest. I would certainly appreciate some advice on how to proceed.
Do they typically resell the accounts they cannot collect on? If so does anyone know after how long a time period do they do that?
This place is so full of info, almost too much info, it is a bit overwhelming and I don't quite know which direction to head in, this is unfamiliar territory for me.
If it is still possible to send a DV letter could someone please post a link to the best form letter to use. Again, being that I have seen dozens of examples I do't know what to use.
Thanks for the help!!

I just settled an account with Citibank through the collection agency Alliance One. You gotta play hard ball with these guys. We were initially told that they would not forgive more than 15,000. I then told them that I was going to move on to settling with another creditor. Low and behold I received a phone call the very next day from Alliance One stating that Citibank was willing to settle. My balance was 26,000 and I settled with Citibank for 8,000. I simply stated that all I had was 8,000 and they could take it or leave it. They then explained that they could come after me (legally). I nicely said that that was there choice and that I understood that they had to do what they needed to, but I only have a certain amount of money to work with.

The moral of the story is to stay firm in the amount of money that you are willing to settle for.

How many different companies collect for Citibank?

Does Citibank ever collect for itself, after years of unsucessful collection attemps by collection agencies?

Slk, if you didn't get the settlement in writing from the CA, you can expect them to sell the remaining balanc eto another CA.

The agency I used to work for collected for Citibank....and there are MANY agencies that work 3rd party for Citibank. They do 1st, 2nd and 3rd placements....the 1st placements going to the CA's with best collection results over the previous quarter. And believe me, NOBODY sits around talking about accounts like yours...in fact 10 seconds after he hangs up on you, the collector wont even remember your name or details of your account until it shows up in his que the next time. Collectors just slam thru accounts, trying to collect as much easy money as possible. Time is money in the collection industry and nobody in these economic times are sitting around talking about accounts.

I would use the BK trump card. Take my $8k or nothing. And I would suggest not talking to them until the last 5 days of November...usually during the end of the month push, they are more likely to take the settlement offer.

They told me I hade no option but to pay 70% settlement.
I negotiated down to %40. I was at the point a few weeks ago when i wanted to enroll in a program with Debt Settlement USA and they promised to settle my debt for a fee. I got the same deal with out payin the fee. Tell them take or leave and don't be intimidated.