Settlement Offers

Usually on a settlement they want a lump sum but it IS possible they wud take payments if u called and explained that u have other obligations that come first but u are willing to faithfully send them payment. Now they may want more than the 50% with a payment plan! It's worth a try!
Also, i think if u wait until u have the money to pay a lump sum they may still offer the 50% but u run the risk of them suing in the process of waiting it out!
Plz know that all of this is just my personal opinion from my personal experiences!
Good Luck,
Ang

Thanks Ang...yea I figured they would more than likely want the settlement in a lump sum, which makes sense, but I had to ask.

If we cant settle, we will do 1 of 2 things...call and make a payment arrangement of some sort, or by that time be on a debt management program and the dmp can send them a proposal.

Hi Volley. I have gotten settlements from several companies before (unfortunately I didn't have the money for the settlements at the time), but they will continue to offer the settlement amount to you. The companies I had offered the settlement amounts for about 6 months and then I think they re-sold them or whatever. But, I would at least try to contact them for payment arrangements on the settlement amounts. It can't hurt. Good luck! :-)

Thanks el-The worst they can do is say no :lol:

Your right, all they can do is say no. Maybe you could try a 'haggle' tactic? Send them a letter with a proposed amount of your own and see what happens. I have had settlement offers come in through the years and have had them offered over the phone. They like to say these are a limited time offer, but they are full of it, if they offered once they will likely honor it later. Again, just my suggestion and opinion. :D

I agree with el, u can surely ask and also i'm sure they will offer another settlement later when u DO have the money! But for now call and ask em! Can't hurt!
Good Luck and let us know,
Ang

Aw Volley, who would ever say no to you??
Seriously , you dont lose anything by asking, and i have come to believe that these collectors would much rather get something than nothing

I think so. Are the offers coming from CA's? If so, they are probably just hoping to make a little profit on the debt. This puts you at an advantage and maybe even you can negotiate a smaller settlement.

Did you already go through the DV process with these 3? If you DVed em and they have never responded, yet you got these letters, that is considered continued collection activity...could use that as leverage for negotiating a smaller settlement.

el-Yea, these are from CA's

Golden-Dont I only have from 30days of the original notice to as for DV? I think we got other notices but just ignored them :(

They like to try and stick that to ya, but technically I think you can still ask for validation -any- time..they don't have to respond, but they do have to cease collecting until they do.

Hmm...have you responded to them at all? You could claim you never got the original letters, since they never send them certified like we do, they would have no proof to the contrary.

What state are you in? Does your state have any debt collection laws? I need to go re-read the federal laws...I just go by the Texas laws because they have such a nice big nasty bite to them. :lol:

Hi golden-I am in California. Now that I think about it, I guess I am just "assuming" that I never got the first notices. hmmm.....

I have never responded and just got the settlement letters yesterday...the offers are good for "30-days" is whats listed on the letter.

I suppose I could send out a DV letter for kicks...

We have settled many credit cards. Pay the one that you can and get that one off your back. You can do it two ways to take care of the others. First you can call them and tell them that you would like to settle with them but you don't have the cash right now but can you make payments or give you an extra month or two to come up with the cash. The second is when you have the cash again to settle, call them and ask for a settlement. 9 out of 10 times they will do it. We had just settled with 2 of ours (one in a lump some, one with 3 paymments) when a third called. I set up payments arrangements for $100 a month, but was able to when I had cash again call and settle on the remaining balance. I had to start making payments on the original amount on the third because they were getting ready to take me to court. Had the court papers in hand. It never hurts to try. Worse case they will say no and is that really going to be any different than where you are now?

Hey VBmom I found a site that lists CA law here:

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/calaw.html

There is a lot..but so far I found about disputing with the CRA...are these on your credit report? CA law states that the CRA not only have to investigate the dispute, but also have to furnish the procedures if requested. Might want to look into that.

If nothing else, at least make sure these collectors have the right to collect these debts. Seriously, on my report I have the SAME account being reported and trying to be collected by THREE different CAs..somehow I don't think they all can legally be entitled. :) So you should check into that.

Oh I found something you may want to look into...it depends on if these things are in your credit report..



So basically this forces a CA to prove the debt to the CRA, who in turn have to furnish you with this proof. Oh and here is another little gem you might be able to use against them:




So...if they have info on your report, by california law they should have sent you ntoice that they were doing this...if not...they are in deep doo doo.

Something to make you all warm and fuzzy :D

golden-you have outdone yourself! Thank you very much for all of this info!!

What nasty letter did you recieve?

As far as settlemnts go you will likely not recive another by mail from the same agency but there is nothing preventing you from asking them about one.