How do i get started settling VERY old debts?
Date: Fri, 07/29/2011 - 15:11
The judgements/cc debts i have the money to pay off now. However, I have to figure that debt is worth pennies on the dollar now because it's been almost a decade since they have heard from me (I've been living abroad).
The judgements are by Asset Acceptance and Great Seneca. Should I use a debt settlement company to contact them or contact them myself. How much discount should I aim for considering it's been so long?
My goal is to pay off in one shot all the old judgement's / credit card fees and then get back current on the student loan debts (6 years old) and begin remaking payments on that.
How do I find a worthwhile settlement company that can help me? Should I even get a company since they are going to take a percentage of the entire discount even though the first 30-40% of discount really requires no work since the companies will probably give that with no fight.
I'm new to this and appreciate the feedback.
[QUOTE]I had a bunch of credit card debt in 2002 - 2004 and have
[QUOTE]I had a bunch of credit card debt in 2002 - 2004 and have never spoken to the creditors since. 2 of them got judgements for about $12k each in 2006. Today I want to fix my credit. I have some more smaller old credit card debts without judgements and alot of student loan debt that I would like to consolidate.[/QUOTE]What state are you in?? Paying old credit cards is not going to fix your credit...and they should all be dropping off by now.
Now your student loans.....are they federal or private??
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The judgements/cc debts i have the money to pay off now. However, I have to figure that debt is worth pennies on the dollar now because it's been almost a decade since they have heard from me (I've been living abroad). |
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The judgements are by Asset Acceptance and Great Seneca. Should I use a debt settlement company to contact them or contact them myself. How much discount should I aim for considering it's been so long? |
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My goal is to pay off in one shot all the old judgement's / credit card fees and then get back current on the student loan debts (6 years old) and begin remaking payments on that. |
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First, thank you very much for the thorough reply, Quote:And li
First, thank you very much for the thorough reply,
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And living abroad, your SOL would have tolled ... been frozen |
what does that mean?
I live in FL and yes I have noticed that some of my old credit card debts have dropped off (debts equaling $40k). And I haven't gotten collections letters on those in a while. However, I fear that if i do nothing about that, the debt collectors will eventually notice that i have good credit again and will go after those debts again. Should i go back and try to pay off old credit card debts if they are no longer on my credit report?
What is the statute of limitations for them to file a judgement on those debts?
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You can not get current on defaulted student loans |
Then what are the options? Can i get a payment plan or do i need to pay off in full? I have some private loans and some federal loans. What's the best place to go get the federal consolidated?
Judgments
Your first priority should be to work on settling the judgments. To do so, you can contact the law office(s) and offer a lump sum settlement. If you're reasonable, and don't expect them to accept $0.05 or $0.10 on the dollar, chances are they will be receptive to a fair settlement amount.
As far as the debts that are no longer on your credit report, I'm not sure why you would want to pursue these. They're not negatively impacting your credit score, and the SOL has probably expired. Why bother?
As far as the accounts that are appearing on your credit report. just be sure that they're all legitimately owed. Sometimes you'll see the same account appearing more than once (by the original creditor and subsequent purchasers of the debt). Don't pay for a settlement on one debt more than once.
After you have paid for these settlements, request that the credit bureaus update your credit reports to reflect zero balances. Also, be sure that they delete any and all accounts that shouldn't be appearing, such as those I mentioned above.
Remember, before forwarding funds for a settlement agreement, ,make sure that you have written confirmation in your hand, outlining the settlement details (amount, deadline, account number, etc.). If it's not in writing it doesn't exist.
Best of luck to you!
thank you. what does SOL mean ... i assumed s%^$ out of luck, b
thank you.
what does SOL mean ... i assumed s%^$ out of luck, but given your context i'm probably wrong