made my first settlement
Date: Sun, 10/30/2011 - 07:31
The settlement was with Citibank mastercard.
Balance: 9809, settle for 3433. (9 payments of 392)
THe numbers might not be exactly right, but close enough, I dont have the papers in front of me.
This account was being handled by "Capital management"
Does anyone know anything about them?
The guy I spoke to was reasonable, we negotiated a bit, he said he could do 30% if I paid in lump sum, unfortunately I can' t do that, so I had to do 40%.
My other citi card is still with citibank and they had no settlement offer at all, so I'll wait.
If I made a payment for October, on all the other ones, does that mean they will move out of collections and I have to wait another 6 months before I can try to settle?
I was considering going with CCCS, I have an appointment in about 2 weeks, but I really just want to settle these. So I'd rather save up the money in an interest bearing savings account, then pay settlements as I can.
I'm not sure which I should do?
I fear getting sued, otherwise nothing else is bothering me.
Do they generally go to collection agency before they would settle?
here's my cards: 2nd column is min payment.
Lending club is a private loan, have about 16 mos left. Can't negotiate any lower. The first 3 are chase. The bottom 6, I was going to pay off.
Thanks everyone!
southwest 6761 4097
79 marriot 2681 2652
55 Chase VIsa(bal tx)/slate 4193
85 Discover 5198
120 Discover business 1782
88 commerce bal trans 5149
168 Citi AmEX 10965
212 Citi Master 0595 9724
185 Gap VISA 2504
50
46264
1042 delta amex 991
35 american eagle 130
35 gordmans 510
54 tires plus 296
25 kohls 654
18 HSN 169
25
58014
192 lending club 9000
511
Hi smlill, Making one months payment if already behind severa
Hi smlill,
Making one months payment if already behind several months and where that payment does not bring the account current will generally not reset the charge off clock of 180 days consecutive nonpayment. At most, making a single payment after having missed several months already is a tactic you can use in month 5 of payment default to buy yourself an extra month before the account gets charged off. There are circumstances where a small payment to avoid the account being placed with a collection outfit or attorney or sold off to a debt buyer for an additional month is of benefit.
Going with a credit counselor with collection accounts will not serve much purpose. If you can take accounts not charged off and enroll in a debt management plan because you are 100% confident you can come up with the calculate monthly payment they give you, that may be something to pursue. You can do the math they will be doing for yourself using some rough calculations:
Add up your balances other than the peer to peer loan. Take that total and figure what 2.25% of the balance is (historic DMP monthly payment has been 2.5%, but averages are closer to 2.1% right now, so I shot for the middle).
Can you pay that 2.25% and your other obligations on time every time every month? Does doing so still allow you to save a few hundred each month for an emergency? If not, you may be just one flat tire away from missing a payment to the credit counseling outfit which will likely lead to being dropped from the plan (losing the payment benefits from several of the creditors enrolled in the plan etc).
I would not recommend starting down the DMP path unless the math works for you.
Chase settlement targets pre charge off are between 30 - 40%
Discover 40 - 50%
Citi 30 - 45%
GE Money (Gap) 30 - 40%
Commerce account you refer to as a balance transfer (depending on the recency) may not qualify for any settlement pre charge off.
Settling any of the above with assignees the accounts are placed with for collection will yield different results depending on where they land. Discover placed with Zwicker may still be settled in the range above, but also may be stuck at as much as 60%.
You do have payment term options with the reduced balance settlement that can go longer with outside third parties that you don't have with the OC pre charge off (pre charge off settlement payment terms are limited to 94 days with the OC). The Citi account you just settled with a third party is a great example of the types of payment terms that can be set up with 3rd parties, just don't expect that type of deal all the time.
If your accounts are placed with a law firm with offices or a license to practice in your state who have been authorized to sue in the collection efforts your settlement averages will likely increase (though not necessarily).
If you are making minimum payments on multiple smaller balance accounts you may find you are more of a target for litigation from an attorney assignee or an attorney assignee of a debt buyer.
There is quite a bit more to navigating all of your creditors and the settlements you are attempting.
Add up the balances you want to settle and use the higher range of the settlement percentages above. If you knew you could get this all behind you for the amount you come up with in 12 months and that doing so in this time frame will likely greatly reduce your risk to being sued, can you identify any other resource to come up with what you will short from using monthly cash flow? Tax refund next year, sell a relatively unused item, loan from family member etc.
The state you live in may increase risks of being sued. What state are you in?
You can take this longer than 12 months, just know that the risks increase as do the balances.
Take each account one at a time and use this forum to get help and tips.
If you can tell me the state you live in and what amount of money you have access to and are setting aside religiously every month in order to fund the settlements, I can reply with how I would approach prioritizing which accounts to settle next.
How long ago was the Commerce balance transfer?
How many payments have you made to commerce since?
Is the entire balance from the transfer?
What is the credit limit on the commerce account?
Best of Success in your efforts!
