Acceptance of monthly payment

If you know the creditor for whom this collection agency is collecting, try a proposal with them. They will be much easier when you negotiate for a lower payment plan. Ultimately, this debt remains valid and it has to be paid before any legal actions are intended against you.

collection agencies want their money in full. If you have no way but to deal with them and they are not adjusting to your proposals, talk to a debt counselor. Maybe he will assist you in finalizing the proposal.

Well, if they've already secured a judgment as she told me, then I'll need to deal with them directly then, would I not? Thank you for your time and the info. This is a very helpful board and I certainly appreciate the help you're giving to all of us.

Don't they have to send you some kind of legal paperwork from the courts to secure a judgment? I don't think they can just say that without a court order, right?

Say o.k, they will place your file in a hold tank. It will be documented as a flat refusal to pay, so the next person to contact you will see in the notes your previous offer. Keep the 100.00 handy so that when they call back, you can tell them your situation is the same and your offer is still the same...rule number one in collections, balance in full first, payment plan offered when they realize you can't pay. Just wait and stick to your guns.

Beauty1217 - thank you for your information. I'm in a position where I got into trouble several years ago and couldn't pay anything to anyone. I even got evicted. But I'm back on my feet and I want to do what is right. But I can't pay everybody all at once, nor can I pay what everyone may want me to pay. If I win the Powerball, fine. Until then, I believe in paying what I can comfortably afford, and do the best I can in paying my legitimate debt. As a debt collector, how do you feel about that? Thanks again for your reply - I truly appreciate your time.

I just want you to know it is not personal. If i ever talk to anyone and do not request the balance without budging i will get cursed out. Rule number one//bif which stands for balance in full. Call back and talk to a manager, or wait for them to call you. See if i get 40% of what i collect why would i take 100.00 for 40.00 istead of 1000.00 for a whopping 400.00. Some people actually have the money to pay, they just want to take their time paying it. Those are the ones who will usually do whatever they have to do to get it paid in full. They will never send you your money back

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collection agencies do not have to accept partial payment arrangements.

The next legal step would be, if allowed in your state, is wage garnishment. It would take up to 20% of your disposable income (every state has their own %).

My advice would be to just start sending in payments. At least you will have proof of attempting to pay the account should they go back to court to garnish wages.

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There were a couple of bills that I paid on and sent the CA a letter offering a payment plan of one that I could afford. I sent these letters out of the blue and not in any recent response that they sent to me. I also sent a partial payment (10%) in good faith. I've had one accept my offer with no problems. I haven't heard from the others yet. But at least I can show my sincerity in wanting to satisfy the debt.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention I can give you a copy of the nice letter I sent. It sort of wants to make them accept my offer, not that they don't necessarily have to.

I wanted to thank everyone for their replies and the information that has been shared. I've been in communication with NCB over the past two weeks and ultimately spoke to Scott Edwards, the Operations Manager. I made arrangements to pay $200.00 per month but I'm being told that the only way NCB will accept the payments is through ACH. I'm not agreeing to this and Mr. Edwards has indicated that if I don't agree to CH payments, then I will be "prosecuted".

That doesn't bother me because as I've been perusing this board, I've come upon a lot of useful information. I'm going to write a letter, enclose the first month's payment, and outline my payment plan. I'm going to send this letter via certified mail with a return receipt. If they want to prosecute me after that, more power to them. I've learned that giving a debt collector access to your bank account is a bad idea. Not to mention, when I mail the payment, it has to be posted towards the debt. If they want to try and garnish my wages, I feel they would have a difficult time because I'm going to send a payment via certified mail every month.

I'd like to know what others think. Thanks again to everyone that has responded.

Guest, I agree with you. I would not give my bank info. One option if you wanted is to open a totally seperate checking account at a different bank and only put that monthly amount in for them to draw off of. Once it's paid, close the account or don't use it for awhile until the next time. I have a seperate checking account just for that reason (haven't used it yet though). If they decide to take it to court and you can show that you honestly tried to pay this debt in good faith, I think a judge would side with you. I've posted a pretty good payment offer letter that I use. It's in the FYI..FYI..FYI..FYI.. topic. Go take a look and see if it will work for you. Good luck

Guest,

It sounds like you've been doing your homework! Good for you. I am so glad you didn't give your account info. I also am very cautious about who I give mine to anymore. The best of luck to you.

If anyone would like to see the letter I wrote, I'd be more than happy to share it. I spoke to the Operations Manager, Mr. Edwards briefly today. I told him I mailed a letter and that it would be very self-explanatory. He almost sounded sad when I told him that I wasn't going to provide bank account information for the purpose of ACH. Perhaps they will still attempt to seek legal remedies against me. I enclosed a payment and will continue to send payments regardless of what happens.

On another note, they had been calling me at work. I expressly stated verbally and within the letter I sent that they are not to contact me at work as per the guidelines of the fdcpa. Frankly, I don't intend to have any verbal communication with them again. I requested in the letter that all future communication between us will have to be written. I told them I would respond in writing within 7 days upon receipt of their correspondence.

The point I really want to make is that you can do the right thing, pay the debt you owe, be polite, don't scream, don't curse, and you can still invoke your rights and not allow them to push you around.

Thanks to all of you that have replied. I appreciate your time and assistance.

I have a collection with this company.I tried to make
payment arrangements.The amount I could pay wasn't enough.So they have me down as refusing to pay.Now it's gone to a Lawyer......

Some of the letters people send are funny. The only thing you can demand is to stop verbal communication, debt verification, a settlement letter and a zero balance letter. That's it. Anyhting else is pretty much futile because collection agencies have computer generated letters for legal purposes. The only way a letter is even personalized is with information that is put into the computer such as name, address, their client and balance.

I sometimes think that some people here are expecting hand written letters from collectors and their agencies bowing down gracefully and accepting terms that a debtor dictates. You lose the right to dictate terms when you default.

This business isn't personal it's on a completely professional level.

My suggestion will always be, even when I get glares from my boss, is to send in what you can so it doesn't appear to look like a refusal to pay completely.

I have a collection with this company.I tried to make
payment arrangements.The amount I could pay wasn't enough.So they have me down as refusing to pay.Now it's gone to a Lawyer......

That sounds like you haven't spoken to the right people. If I can offer some advice from my experience with them I believe it would help you. First, ensure you take notes when you have verbal communication between you and the CA. If you can't record the conversation, take notes and keep a log. Make it clear during your conversation that you want the debt verified and have them send you a written verification. If the debt is indeed valid, you can write a letter offering a payment plan and enclose a money order as a sign of good faith. Send the letter via certified mail. Within the context of the letter, make it clear that you are not refusing to pay. You are merely trying to make an arrangement that you can afford.

Hope that helps.

I agree with FYI, there are a only a few letters that really work. AND, they only work if it ever winds up in court. I have just the four types I use that FYI mentions. I tailor them to each situation but for the most part it looks good if it some one actually reads it rather than just peruses it and again, if it goes to court. Then it shows that you did everything you possibly could so that at least if there is a judgment, it will be favorable or acceptable for you.

Just a quick update on this matter. As I've mentioned in my previous posts, I mailed a certified letter along with a money order to pay the first installment. I haven't received any communication from NCB since they received the letter on December 26. I know the money order was cashed on December 29. Apparently, everything I did was an effective way to deal with this particular CA. If anyone has questions, please feel free to pose them.