Is 60 days too early to bring up settlement, how long till collections

Yes your jumping the gun and it's way to early yet to talk settlement. I'd figure about 4-5 months then consider a settlement.

How do I know? I did it with Discover, BOA in that time frame.

Citi I know has a settlement structure that is strictly enforced. You are looking at 4-5 months for a settlement and at 180 days it goes from in house collections to an outside collection agency. You can offer a settlement at 60 days but at the very least they are going to require 85% of the total debt and only if it can be approved.

I collected on Citibank cards for over 2 years. They were sent to the company I worked for after a 90 day default perior. My suggestion would be to contact the creditors and attempt to settle if you can. It doesn't hurt any to try and you may get lucky. You likely won't get a good settlement offer from them beyond taking off a few fee's. If you can get a settlement prior to a charge off it shouldn't hurt your CBR reports as much.

I think if you couldn't originally pay and honor the debt it doesn't and isn't gonna matter how your credit looks today !!!!!I think if you couldn't settle before it got sold then dont pay and play game and wait till it gets out of sol I wouldn't worry about settlement but wait for the charge offs if you are in a situation where you can't pay to begin with.. you wont be able to start rebuilding the cbr for a while now anyways ? If your debts got passed on and you have several don't pay any of them ignore and fight until out of sol and then rebuild your credit history..people who have b.k.'d in past 7 years have more credit cards than most people here I think ?

I agree with above guest----if you can't pay original creditor DO NOT PAY to second hand COLLECTORS--the time you spend proving you paid is the same time you can spend proving it is out of sol years later!

I'd say to the previous 2 posters, that you are giving very *bad* advice. They will never let you get out of SOL. The world is a different place now since SOLs were first put into place, now with the internet it is not likely (although possible) that you can hide out so long without a lawsuit. And with a $20K +, they will likely sue.

As far as CAs, well that depends on the CA. Some are better to settle, others are best completely avoided. Same with the CCCs. Some will refuse to settle and will rush to court when they hear you are attempting to settle.

I think you are better off filing Chapter 13 bankruptcy.

And I would not call creditors predators, that term goes better with junk debt buyers and many online PDLs. You opened the line of credit, you signed a legal agreement, you spent the line of credit - so they have every right to demand payment. But, if they break the consumer protection laws in the process of their attempts to collect, that is a different story.

"so they have every right to demand payment"

yes they do but if they were greedy and allowed you the credit line and you could not pay and then they sold the unpaid debt to the "feeders" I say do not pay if you couldn't originallyuwork out a payment plan with original creditor BEFORE the debt was sold and renamed and reworded to the next "feeder" on tha list..I still say--if you couldn't pay ORIGINAL CREDITOR it might be very bad advice I am offering but I would not PAY A DIME AFTER THE DEBT HAS BEEN RESOLD!!!!!!!!

Ah, I was speaking of the creditor not the collection agency.

But true, junk debt buyers often do not have solid proof and you can tear their case apart in court. Another regular poster here stated that they would never pay a junk debt buyer unless they were forced to by the courts.

But a judgment is *very bad* on your credit, for a loooong time.

"If they were greedy and allowed you the credit line"??! So if you ask me for a pencil and I give you one and you stab your eye with it then is it now MY fault??! I don't understand your logic here. I understand totally when collection agencies cross the line in their zeal to collect. And I understand totally when circumstances beyond your control change, and the seeming lack of consideration on the part of the original creditor, but debt just doesn't go away. If it did, no one would lend at all (not really a bad thing, I say - except for large ticket items such as a home or a vehicle). But to say that they should just forget that you signed a contract or owe them anything just because you say that you can no longer afford it is unreasonable and unrealistic.

We do not advocate ignoring your bills here. We are here to assist people who are being treated unfairly and illegally. Even the illegal payday loans, we advocate paying them back the principle.

Oh, and collections are normally commissioned by the creditor. A debt buyer is different from a debt collector, even if some of them operate as both. But usually the collection agency is hired to collect, and they get to keep a percentage of that collection as their fee, the rest going back to the original creditor and your credit report notation changing to COR (charge-off recovery).

All I was trying to say is that people with good-excellent credit in these trying times have had their credit ratings and limits and score greatly reduced and did nothing wrong
people who can not payor haven't paid and aren't able to now because of the mortgage meltdown and job losses and bank ad credit card companies greediness to offer way too much credit for those who shouldn't have had it in the first place ---these people should not pay if they are in default their credit score will be very bad for many years whether they pay now or not...the times they are a changed----people who always paid on time and had excellent credit scores--in this day and age are also getting stung-----if people with good credit have a hard time getting more credit? Because of tha crappy economy? I still say people who have defaulted since all of this went down should not pay a dime sorry just my opinion./......the credit system and fico and reporting sytstem needs to be revamped before anyone should care any more I think...I repeat---if people with good credit can not get CREDIT now? why should people with bad credit PAY ANYTHING??????????????????????

I AGREEEEEES THE BANKS AND CC CO'S GOT THE BAIL OUT MONEY AFTER PROFITING EARLY FROM THESE BAD LOANS NOW THEY GET MORE MONEY AND CREDIT HAS NOT LOOSENED FOR GOOD CREDITORS BUT BAD CREDITORS ARE EXPECTED TO PAY THESE BAD LENDERS FOR THEIR MISTAKES YAH THAT WOULD POKE ME IN THA EYE WITH A PENCIL!!!!!!!!!!

So because a credit card company offers a line of credit that may be larger than you can afford and you accept the offer, knowing you cannot afford to pay back the entire line of credit that is somehow the credit card companies fault? Why did you sign a contract and accept a line of credit you couldn't pay back? If your circumstances have really changed that much and what you once could pay you are now unable to pay, then file bankruptcy or work out payment arrangments. What I see too often is people who accepted credit, used it, not thinking that anything could change, then really they don't do anything, file the chapter 7, give up your house and car, and jewelry, or work out ways to pay your debts, one debt at a time. It can be done. Find out what credit cards continue to add interest after charge off/being sent to collections, pay those off asap, frequently the monthly payment plans only cover the interest and barely touch the principal, use whatever resources you have to settle those accounts with single lump sum payments. Try to find out what accounts do not continue to add interest after being sent to collections and negotiate minimal payments to those creditors and as your situation improves and you pay off the interest bearing creditors apply those funds (if available) to the non interest accruing accounts.

"So because a credit card company offers a line of credit that may be larger than you can afford and you accept the offer,"

COLLECTOR THREE WORDS FOR YOU "MAXED OUT DOCUMENTORY"

WE KNOW WHAT YA'LL ARE UP TO SLEEPING IN BED WITH THE COMPANIES WHO GAVE TOOOOOOOOOO MUCH CREDIT TO PEOPLE WHO DID NOT DESERVE IT AND NOW ARE PUNISHING THE PEOPLE WITH GOOD CREDIT WHO NEVER TOOK ADVANTAGE OF YOUR BAD BAD BAD OFFERS THAT YOU NOW LOST MONEY FROM AND NEED BAIL-OUT FROM GOV? DO NOT PAY ON THESE BAD DEBTS----IF YOU DID PAY THESE COMPANIES TIGHTENED UP CREDIT SOOOOOOOO BAD AFTER THE BAIL-OUTS THEY RECEIVED NO ONE SHOULD PAY JMO THEY ARE VULTURES!!!!!!!! AND ANYONE WHO ORIGINALLY COLLECT OR GETS THE FEEDER COLLECTION...HOPE YOU STILL HAVE YOUR JOBS A YEAR OR TWO FROM NOW... NO ONE SHOULD PAY YOU!!!!! DO NOT PAY A DIME...YOU CAN HAVE IT REMOVED IF YOUR HOUSE CAN BE REMOVED---WHAT ABOUT THE MEASLY LESSOR DEBTS???? DOPNT PAY DONT PAY DONT PAY AFTER THYE HAVE BEEN RESOLD

Posted: Sat May 02, 2009 1:24 am Subject: not paying

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"So because a credit card company offers a line of credit that may be larger than you can afford and you accept the offer, knowing you cannot afford to pay back the entire line of credit that is somehow the credit card companies fault? "

yAH IT IS THEIR FAULT IF THEY OFFERED A LINE OF CREDIT WRONGLY WITHOUT DOING ANY RESEARCH WHATSOEVER AND LOOKED INTO YOUR CREDIT HISTORY AND DETERMINED THE AMOUNT THEY COULD OFFER YOU-----THIS IS THE WAY CREDIT USED TO BE----AND WHY THE WHOLE SYSTEM COLAPSED....THE PEOPLE OFFERING CREDIT AND LOANS ONLY CARED ABOUT IMMEDIATE PROFITS...NOT RESEARCHING WHETHER THE PEOPLE THEY GAVE LOANS TO COULD ACTUALLY PAY THEM...YES THEY ARE AT FAULT AND SHOULD NOT RECEIVE ANY MORE BAIL-OUT MONEY!!!!!!!!!!!!i THINK ANYWAYS!!!!!!

So they obviously held guns to your head and told you to sign the contract or else right? and then they walked you to the store and showed you the giant flat screen lcd t.v. and helped you load it into the cart, take it to the check out and then to your home????

I guess you would then agree with this scenario right, you hire a plumber to remove and replace all of the water pipes in your house, you and the plumber agree and sign a contract, you pay the initial payment on the contract the plumber starts the job, then simply walks off leaving you with a house with no working plumbing. You let him go and keep the money right?????

Ok, Ok, Ok..............lets all take a deep breath here (and easy on those caps eh)?!

I looks like my thread has been high-jacked.

Look-it, now I'm the first to agree that the whole banking/monetary system is corrupt beyond anyone's imagination and is actually designed to make us all debt slaves.
That is a fact.
I also realize that most common (well meaning) folk's who just needed a job (and got one working for a bank, credit card, collection agency) don't really have any idea how the Federal Reserve banking 'industry' really works and where all the 'money' actually comes from or how corrupt the system is.

The 'money' we pay all that interest on does not actually exist. Its a bunch of 0's and 1's on a computer.
I don't mind paying interest to a friend who loans me hard earned $$$ for instance but the banks charge boat loads of interest on money that came out of thin air (doesn't really exist). So the banks are just a big corporation that rule the world and all it's poor, unsuspecting citizens therein based on DEBT.

At the same time, (considering it's just "business") I realize that no matter how much credit/background checks the banks could do, there are still things that are beyond our control and a debt that we could have paid when we were employed, now becomes a great burden that neither party could foresee.
Thats not anyones fault but the fact is that no matter what any individuals circumstances may be, the banks are ruthless all the while they get their asses bailed out.

ANYWAY, back to the point of the thread..........
I asked about the 60 days because I am looking to settle with the original creditor. I'd like to pay my debt before it goes to collections. Mainly because it seems it would be easier deal with overall and would be quicker and less painful to rebuild my credit. I don't wanna have to deal with "proving" to anyone that I settled the debt. I want it to be paid and over with.

You see, I can pay my debts, but if I did, I would just be treading water for the next 20/30 years because of interest and thats not the life I want.

SO....I'm taking matters into my own hands and eliminating my debt on my own terms (somewhat) via settlement.

I'm happy to pay for the debt that I used, I just don't want to pay all the interest (that will keep me in debt for life) to the crooked 'bankster gangsters' who charge loads of debt on money that does not exist while they get bailed out.

So to clarify, the original post was regarding how many days till I can pitch a settlement to the original creditor without going to collections.

Thanks for reading,
Stiggs

"Thats not anyones fault but the fact is that no matter what any individuals circumstances may be, the banks are ruthless all the while they get their asses bailed out. "

I agree..a few years ago I was aproached at a WAMU bank that I had been banking with for years.."do you own your home? Do you have renovations or vactions or credit card debt that you need to pay off ?...you can use the HOME equity in your loan and we are here to help you do this"

Okay they aproached me with the home equity loan "idea" real estate was on the "rise" DIRECT QUOTE from the employee---"let's see what your house is WORTH" hah-hah I took out a home equity loan re-did kitchen bathrooms and roof--paid everything off (credit cards and cars)and because I knew I had that "over-inflated" (now I know the truth :-( ) face "value" on my home..I THEN afterwards charged more, took more vacations, rewarded myself for all those hard years of work...and of course-------now my I.R.A. got spanked, I owe more on my house than what it is worth, and I have always paid my bills on time and still have excellent credit however I will have to work at least ten more years in order to be able to retire...and to think it all started with a WAMU employee approaching me in line while I was waiting to make a deposit..asking "Do you own your home? Let me tell you what we can do for you" LOL It is a joke..what they did and now the banks still here got the bail-out to supposedly open up "the tightened credit market" and small business are still going out of business because the banks are not giving their customers any more credit! I NOW think they all knew it was a house of cards waiting to fall LONG before they approached me? Sorry just had to put in my 2 cents! for whatever it is worth here

Fyi (information fabricated in my opinion..false information from the fy hehh-heh mod heh-heh will get remove I bet heh-hehe) anyways can FYI formerly know as debt collector--can you enlighten the people who come here very wary of debt collectors and their opinions as to what your profession is these days? Were you able to leave the shame behind and assimilate into normal society or are you still lurking with help of hubby mod?

Hi Stiggs,

As in most things in the collections business, that is impossible to guess ahead of time. Some creditors will send it to collections in 2 months. I had one credit card that held on to it for over 8 months before they sent it to collections.

If they held it for 8 months they were trying to give you a chance to pay? Or knew once they sold it they got jack?