BOA Any recent settlements? What %? How many days late?

I settled with BOA 25% at 90 days late. I think they won't settle at least you're late at 90 days.

I settled for 27% at 60 days late about six months ago. Balance was around $18,000.
They were pretty easy to deal with.

Did you pay the full settlement up front, or did they let you pay it over a few months? It's hard to come up with that kind of cash all at once, and that's what holds me back from trying to settle.

I paid a lump sum settlement.You will get better deals by paying in one lump sum. Some may let you spread it out over 2-4 payments.Good luck!

Did you use a debt settlement company or do it yourself? Also, did you go through their collection process that they offer help with?

I just settled with BOA for 20% on my own. The story goes like this. The first bill I could not pay I called and let them know I was in financial difficulty and could not pay. I called them once a week ( I ignored the rest of their calls via caller ID) and updated them on the fact I could not pay. Each week I got a diffrent rep who updated my file. Some of the reps were decent, some were quite rediculous. About 90 days past due I started to recieve offers for diffrent programs but none that I could pay. I ran it all the way to the 179 day mark and finally got a offer of 20% of the current balance, 4 payments over 4 months. A success cut and dry. If you can handle a little pressure and take good notes, it can be done! This forum helped me do it to it!

Thank you. I plan on doing my own settlement. I need to pull out of my debt mgtm program and put the $1100 monthly payment toward settlement. I figure if I could handle my PDLs with the help of this board, I can do the settlement too.

thank you everyone on this board for your help. I can sleep at night again. No more PDLs or credit cards for me again!

Aubrey,

Were you originally in a debt management plan (DMP) or a debt settlement program (DS)? If this is the case, I would strongly suggest moving in the direction of debt settlement.

If you were in DMP and looking to settle your debts yourself, you will find that you will not need to contribute the entire $1,100 per month to settle your debts in a timely fashion. Please understand that you should save AS MUCH as possible on a monthly basis. Most professional debt settlement companies will work out a plan that is roughly 55 – 60% of your current monthly minimum payments, or DMP payments. If you were only to contribute $600 per month to your savings for DS, you should be able to have most if not all of your debts settled in 3 – 4 years.

I would suggest calling the creditors and offering a settlement as soon as you reach 20% of the balance of the debt in your savings. For example: You have a $10,000 balance with Discover. This month your savings balance is now 2,000. Call Discover immediately and offer them the $2,000 to settle the debt. They are going to balk and counter offer. Play hardball with them and try to come up with a number that you feel comfortable with. A professional debt negotiator will typically get the debt settled for 40% of the original debt (or $4,000 in this scenario). Keep that in mind as a goal for settlement.

It is also important to work chronologically from the smallest to the largest creditor.

I hope this helps. I would also consider working with a reputable debt settlement company. Although I am not trying to dissuade you from settling the debt yourself, there are three major reasons to at least consider it.
1: $$. The professional debt negotiator knows what the creditor is typically going to settle for before he/she picks up the phone. On the other hand, creditor knows what the consumer is going to and uses the emotional and industry leverage as tactics in the negotiation. End result – you settle for much more than if you were to work with a professional.
2: The emotional stress. I don’t think I need to elaborate here.
3: Savings regiment. With a debt settlement company, you have your monthly savings funds wired out of your checking account automatically. When you work the plan yourself, you must have the dedication and commitment to continue this month after month. Unfortunately this is the biggest of the three reasons people fail at “do it yourself” debt settlement.

I hope this helps. Let me know if you have further questions!

I settled with B of A last month at 25% over three months.

http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50643

I'm going to stop my DM payments and save them toward settlement. The rate I'm going it will take me 4 years through the DM plan. I can do it faster through settlement then start saving for retirement.