Citi Offer - Saying they will only honor the offer if paid over the phone

With every settlement I have ever done for my job, they always send you a letter. Even when I settle with 3rd party collectors, the original creditor still sends a 0 balance letter.

Call and talk to someone else. She is just not being helpful and its a piece of cake for them to send a 0 balance letter after settlement.

You must be very careful in settling with original creditors like Citi because the account has probably not charged off yet. Therefore, you want to check with a tax professional to see whether you would be 1099 on the savings of the settlement. I would only settle accounts already in collections so there is less chance of that.

OBVI make sure you have it on paper exactly at the terms you want before any phone calls are made with checking info.

Also I have talked to thousands and thousands of people in your same situation. Even though I have been in the industry for a year, I got into some major trouble before my "re-education" of personal finance. I have an attorney in my state who will eventually try to summon me to court. I am not worried though because I know how to handle that now.

Don't give these guys the upper hand, don't give them too much credit. They are just collectors, there probably close to a million of them in this country.

By the way, If I didn't already mention it... that 20% sounds too good to be true right?

Because it most likely is. I saw many of those papers for my client, and after letting them know the pros and cons, they usually wanted to wait until it goes to collections to settle it without a possibility of getting taxed on the savings and then owing money to the IRS. I strongly, again, recommend talking this letter over with a tax professional. There are some things that may prevent that tax from happening, which they could go over with you.

But don't think that citi is giving away accounts at 20 cents on the dollar without some kind of strings attached...

How do I know if the debt is with cc or collections (charged off)? My CR says closed. only one accounts says charged off. Thank you!

There are no strings attached. I used DS Financial and they settle my Citi card at 20 cents on the dollar, however it was with a collection firm. DS can be reached at 866-833-6398.

Oh no the Dip Sh** Financial guy is back!

Now on to the original poster. I would call back and ask to speak to a supervisor. They very well could be offering you 20% if they can see from your credit report that you are in a bk position. BUT you should get a letter from them faxed or emailed that states the account will be reported "settled" and then all of my settlement letters had verbiage on the 1099 from the IRS and stuff about if I didn't pay by a certain date it was a void offer.

If you haven't been taking their calls it may be a ruse to see if you are still getting your mail etc so just make sure you have what you need to prove it's a valid settlement. If you can settle with the original creditor it is much much better than waiting for it to go to collections. So make every possible effort to do so.

Hey Debt Free to Be- I have no idea who you are referring to, but if it's me, take a step back son. This is my first time on the board, I have been in the debt settlement industry for over a year, and am here to offer advice based on FACTS and experience as well as learn as much as I can, but not speculation like you are offering. There are several major things you said that anyone with any industry experience whatsoever would notice are completely false.

Asking for a supervisor is of limited help. Most of them are aligned with the collector(with citi or third party) they are working with and working toward the same goal. It's a power play. Collectors used to hand me over to their managers all the time when I was doing settlements, like it was some big deal. They are all talking monkeys. And you need to realize that.

Your speculation can be harmful to the original poster. If you settle a debt before chargeoff (check with a tax professional to see if you are exempt) you will probably be 1099'd and owe a substantial amount to the IRS based on what you save. What trouble does that save you? Anonymous, that is the string attached I was talking about. Since your company settled with them with a collection agency, they have a much greater chance of having enough time gone by for the account to be charged off(210 days for citi). That's the point I was trying to make in my first post.

I am familiar with these and we would see similar ones from Citi and Chase all the time in my department. Bottom line, they are valid settlements, but working with the original creditor is not the best choice for settlement. Because the original creditor never charges off accounts that are with them, and you always stand to get 1099d unless you have an exemption (check with tax pro).

Debt Free to Be: I have helped many people get to where you want to be. I am here to share my knowledge and gain knowledge from others. Keep your imagination and paranoid delusions out of debt settlement. I am not some returning poster under a different name, and the advice you offered was harmful at best.

A couple of things here. First, 20% is a great settlement and if it works you have hit a home run. Second, settling with the oc is fine if you are technically insolvent and qualify for the insolvency exemption. As I have told everybody here, I am settling all debt and then foreclosing (in that order) since the drop in re values has turned me negative net worth. If I had not done it in that order, I may have had a 1099 problem.

Finally, with regards to the pro. You appear to be knowledgable and that always helps in a forum. I'm sure you have read the terms of service and as long as you are respectful I look forward to seeing you experiences.

Hello to the OP .....Please read a few of the threads here...you can read mine under debtor from CA (somehow I lost the ability to post under that name....have not had time to figure it out)....read posts by Jabba, Debtor to be free and danthe man.....I am debtor from CA ...I too was scared. Citi sent me one of those letters...unfortunately, I thought I was going to do a BK and I ignored them....I was so scared until I found this board and began reading. Later after finding and reading many threads on this board, I settled all of my husband's accounts and three of them were with Citi. So, I managed to settle Citi for about 30%. So, I would call back Citi and see if I could get someone else to help me. The same person is not always there....I called a few times before I found a real nice person who was very helpful. Some reps are more knowledgeable than others. But it is not hard to settle ...really. Just get them to send you a letter. I settled by giving them my bank account number;however most here suggest setting up a specific bank account for the purpose of settling. I settled with BOA, Citi, Chase, and Capitol one. All my husband's accounts....he ran up debt when his business started going under. I did tell them a short version of what happened just to make it have a little more human element. And I told the same story over and over because it was the truth. So, stick to the truth, be polite, and explain yourself as best you can briefly! I found most to be fairly helpful and kind! that is my experience. Please post back again and let us know how you are doing. thank God for family and friends who help us!!!

Also, what the above one year arbitrator is saying should not scare you. Yes, I will have some taxes to pay, but not near the amount of debt that I owed. The difference between the debt you owe and what you settle for is considered income and that amount will be added to your income and taxed accordingly. If you are in the 15 % tax bracket ....you will be taxed on the forgiven amount by that percentage. You may also be considered insolvent and not have to pay any taxes.
As an example, I have a good job that pays fairly well; however my husband is unemployed and did not receive any income for 1/2 of this year. We will be taxed on the forgiven debt. BUT, adding what we would have paid to his debtors and what we will be taxed is no where near the amount of the full debt. I hope this makes sense and I hope no one scares you from exploring all of your options.
When you cannot pay your debt....there is no one perfect answer. Settling my husband's debt was the best I could do and I am glad I did it. I am done!

Nice Job registeredd. Well done.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU all.

I spent all day Monday trying to figure this all out. (Well much, much longer actually, but finally executed the plan on Mon.).

I was able to settle with;

AT&T Citi Card at 20% - $3,030 with 3 payments of $1,010 each (I have original letter and the settlement payment plan is supposed to be faxed, I'll keep you posted)

Discover at 60% - $7,029 1 payment

Bank of America at 25% - $3,110 with 4 payments of $777.50 (recieved settlement letter same day via fax)

Chase at 35% - $5,000 with 4 payments of $1,250 (awaiting fax?)

ALL in the same day. I have one account from citi with and attorney and they offered my 50% and 1 last one with First National Bank (if any has any info here that would be great). As of today I am hoping to finalize on a home equity loan, finally got my husband to see the full picture (I think) and may be on my way to a happy debt free marriage.

When it really seems bleak remember all the people who love you and try as hard as you can to have a positive attitude. I found that the reps I spoke with were kind and were really trying to help. DON'T ever be rude. I always thanked them at the end of the call like they were the nice person I ever spoke to....

If you find yourself speaking to someone that is not the nicest, explain politely you have to go and call back at a different time to get another rep. but overall I'll keep posting!

I WOULDN'T HAVE MADE IT EVEN TO THIS POINT WITHOUT THIS BOARD. GOD BLESS!
RENAE

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