Settling debt
Date: Tue, 01/25/2011 - 06:12
I recently filed bankruptcy, in Sept. 2009, I now only have a few things on my credit, that happened directly after the bankruptcy.
$1500~ towards a TMobile debt (cancelled plan with 4 lines), the debt is owned by NCO financial
$1200 or so in medical bills that have been given to collection agencies (multiple collection agencies) one holds $400, one holds $600.
How would I go about settling all, or any? I've just received some cash and do have the money to pay these in full, but would rather settle for less. I think I can settle with the $1500 debt, but unsure of the medical bills. Both debts are over a year old now. I've not received any recent calls regarding the $1500, but the medical debts do call.
Thanks for your help.
You can either consolidate or settle your debts in order to get
You can either consolidate or settle your debts in order to get rid of the medical bills and the TMobile debt. As far as the medical bills are concerned, they are with the collection agency. In such a situation, you should ask the collection agency to validate the debt. Unless they validate the debt, you shouldn't start paying them.
Once the debts are validated, you can contact any debt relief companies and apply for consolidation or settlement - whichever suits your needs.
I would really rather do it myself, and I do not wish to consoli
I would really rather do it myself, and I do not wish to consolidate. I'm just unaware of the process to go through to get this started. Should I call these creditors myself and offer a percentage? And if so where should I start? Or should I just send them a letter rather than calling them?
Rez, don't pay someone else to do this for you. I suggest you fi
Rez, don't pay someone else to do this for you. I suggest you first [URL="http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/letters/sample6.html"]request validation [/URL]from all of the CAs. If they can't validate, don't pay them a penny. If they do validate the debt and actually own the debt (i.e. aren't working on behalf of your original creditor) then you start negotiation. I would start with an offer of 25% to settle the debt in full. You can work up to an agreeable amount from there if they counter or refuse. I wouldn't pay more than 40% on these accounts, since they're so old. Also, be sure to get your agreement in writing and include the stipulation of receiving a PIF letter after payment is made. You may also want to include a request to have the trade line removed from your credit report alltogether, after payment is made. They are under no obligation to do this, but it never hurts to ask.