Settled Discover!
Date: Mon, 01/04/2010 - 09:38
That makes four down, two more to go. So far $90k settled at an average of 25% (although heavily weighted by the settlement of my HELOC loan which was below 20%).
I'll circle back to Wells and Citi later this month. I did find out that they still own my debt, even though it charged off 4-5 months ago now.
sounds like your getting it done! i know what you mean about dis
sounds like your getting it done! i know what you mean about discover they were a real pain. but in the end i did get the best settlement out of them.
When you offered and they counter offered was it in % or in $, t
When you offered and they counter offered was it in % or in $, thanks.
Quote:Originally Posted by mojoWhen you offered and they counter
Quote:
Originally Posted by mojo When you offered and they counter offered was it in % or in $, thanks. |
They countered in dollars this conversation, but happened to be exactly 30% of the balance.
However, I find with most of my creditors, they talk in percentages typically. But I always talk in dollars, so there's no confusion as to what you are offering to settle at.
So your account was already charged off? How late was it? I ju
So your account was already charged off? How late was it? I just settled for 40% but this is a month before charge off.
Yes, it charged off at 180 days, around September or thereabouts
Yes, it charged off at 180 days, around September or thereabouts. I'd have to go back and look for certain, but that's close.
After charge-off, there was about 3 weeks or maybe 4 weeks of silence. It was nice to not have my phone ringing 24/7. Then I got a letter and some calls from a third party collection agency. I sent them a validation letter. About three weeks later I got a lot of documents back from Discover to validate the debt, so I knew they still owned it. Since that point, I have called Discover every 2 weeks or so to offer a settlement. The same amount I was offering before charge-off.. And this one particular time they countered at 30% and I accepted.
Amazing. Discover charged me off around September 2009. I sett
Amazing. Discover charged me off around September 2009. I settled the debt at 30% on the last day of December 2009. Then yesterday, June 2010, I receive a credit card offer from Discover in the mail (complete with a balance transfer offer at 0% for one year).
I really can't believe they are looking to regain my credit card business at this point. I literally just finalized my last debt settlement about two or three weeks ago.
that is amazing. just curious; I asked this in my own thread, bu
that is amazing. just curious; I asked this in my own thread, but did you have a lump sum of funds laying around waiting for these offers to come in or did you have to put $ away each month until you had enough for an offer?
Quote:Originally Posted by tryingtobedebtfreethat is amazing. ju
Quote:
Originally Posted by tryingtobedebtfree that is amazing. just curious; I asked this in my own thread, but did you have a lump sum of funds laying around waiting for these offers to come in or did you have to put $ away each month until you had enough for an offer? |
I think everyone's situation is different and you will find a lot of different responses. In my situation, I was fortunate enough to realize the problem early enough to put aside a lump sum from the beginning. Then I added to that pile of cash by cutting costs and saving as much as I could, particularly once I realized that debt settlement is not easy and my creditors were not going to accept 10-20%.
But I think if you read the posts long enough, there are some folks that have to pass on good settlement offers beause they don't have the cash and are still saving. And in a lot of cases, creditors will let you pay in installments if you don't have it all right now.
I think others borrow from friends and family too.
The biggest thing is, if you plan to try to settle your debt, start saving as much money as you can. Then take it one debt at a time. And once you settle a debt, keep saving for the next one. It's not a short process, or at least it wasn't for me. I thought I'd settle my accounts in 90 days or worst case 180 days, just before charge-off. I just settled my last card (Citi) a few weeks ago and that was over a year and a half after my last payment to them.