Advanta Bank is not willing for debt settlement - what to do?

I had an Advanta bank corp account also. It was a business account, a whopper of an amount since my business had closed, and they were very aggressive in trying to collect on it, even going so far as to call my elderly parents again and again, with whom I haven't lived in over 25 years. The last time I paid on it was in December of 2007. I have been in a debt settlement program since February, and it is true that they never would sell the account to a debt collector, and they would not talk to my settlement company. Instead, they offered me personally a settlement and told me if I didn't take it they would sue. Well, I took it, and good thing, because I did receive a summons just a day later. They had apparently mailed it out to coincide with the time frame in which the offer was made. (Of course, since I took their offer, the summons was invalidated by them.) They don't mess around. This all just happened in the first two weeks in September, so it took nine months to get to the point where they made the offer to me. So I can tell you from experience, they will hold the account themselves, not deal with a settlement company, and then offer you the option of settling with their offer or being sued. In my case, it was a super offer, and the people I talked to there were swell about it, but it had to be done on my own. The settlement company is then adjusting my monthly payment to reflect the absense of that account (and its fees) from the program, so my monthly payment will be less.

The settlement Advanta bank corp offered you, was it a lump sum or are you able to make payments? Do you mind giving me an example of the percentage? My balance is roughly $6700, give or take late fees? And did they take away your fees? She told me today if I could make a payment by next Tuesday she could wave the fees that had accrued but I am not able to do it. Did they turn you over to a collection agency? Or collections department?

My mom is a professional collector with Advanta in Horsham, Pa.
They are given incentives daily to collect on all accounts. She has negotiated settlements for $.20 cents on the dollar...especially on accounts that the customer states their business has closed and they have no money.
She handles all accounts over 150 days....they do settlements all day long. After 180 days....they outsource collections to a 3rd party but are always engaged. Good luck all!

Advanta was one of our most aggressive creditors, calling EVERY single day without fail, and my balance was under $2000. I do remember reading somewhere on this site about an Advanta Help site or something like that where the person just went online and took the settlement offer that was listed.

Advanta outsources a phone dialer from India to call repeatedly throughout the day. Many people in Pa have lost their jobs because of this outsourcing. It doesn't matter how much you owe Advanta....they will repeatedly call 9-12 times a day.

It's advantahelps.com but I have been there and repeatedly told I do not qualify for any of their programs. I guess 57 days late isn't late enough. And they do call many times a day.

I don't remember how late the person was that got a settlement from that site, but it seems to me that it was nearing charge off, so it was probably close to 180 days. And even if you answer the phone and talk to them every day, they will still call back the next day. Since I knew that we were going to file BK and it didn't matter if they decided to sue us, I finally just started picking up the phone every day when they called, and as soon as they identified themselves, I would hang up. Then they wouldn't call again until the next day, so it gave me a few hours of peace!

Guest, I owed 22,600 at the time of the settlement. It was only 19,000 when I stopped paying the bill, so no, they did not waive any fees. BUT, what they offered me was a 10% settlement (!), payable in two installments, and they would not budge on that as I begged for them to stretch it out to three or four. The first payment had to be made by the end of that particular week, so I had 3 or 4 days to scramble to come up with it. The second payment was due in another two weeks. Luckily, I had someone I could borrow the money from. This was all done directly through Advanta's own collection department. I want to say also, that back last year when I knew I was going to be having problems, out of all the cards I had (and there are a lot!) Advanta was the ONLY one that agreed to lower my interest rate. But I had my business account with them a long time, and they understood that the business closing was due to unforeseen circumstances not of my doing. I think the good settlement offer was the result of my having been a customer for many years, the huge balance I had, the fact my business no longer existed, and that there were a total of 9 cards I defaulted on. But then, if I hadn't been lucky enough to have someone to borrow that money from, I'd have had to go to court.

Just an update. Today when I logged in to my Advanta account I had 2 offers. One to lower my interest to 16.99 , had to make a $770 payment and one to lower it to 21.99 and had to make a $254 payment. Now I am over my credit limit which of course means more fees. There was a 3rd option to explain why you were unable to accept either of these offers. That is the choice I took and tried to explain that the only way I could make payments was to rewind my account to July, reduce minimums and put my interest rate back. I was 2 days late, called and told them I was sorry for being late and made the payment and thats what started this ....I told them that I was really not wanting to file BK, that I knew that was a last resort, and I hoped that we could work something out. What do you all think?

Well, it's always worth a try! However, my experience with creditors was that they pretty much have a system and an agenda that they stick to, and they don't vary from that no matter what you tell them.

My guess though is that the offers will improve as time goes by . . .

I have a business card with Advanta, and I have fallen behind over the last couple of months. To my horror after 4 years all of the balance appeared on my personal credit. My score just dropped by 120 points. Has this happened to you

Yes, it did. I originally had THREE business cards (3 of the 9 that I defaulted on and that are in the settlement program) and while the cards were current, they were not even on my credit report because I had used my EIN number as my identification and not my social security number. BUT, when my business closed, the EIN number became invalid and it all went under the SS#. I think when you fall behind and it is reported to the credit bureaus, it will go under your SS# even if you still have an active EIN. My score was about 780 when I started the settlement, but that would've dropped anyway, even if I had continued to make the regular monthly payments, because my debt-to-income ratio was shot and I was carrying way too much balance. Most of them were near 100% filled, if not already there. My credit score is now in the lower 600's, the last time I checked. Advanta has said they will mark my credit report "PAID AS AGREED, BUT LESS THAN ORIGINAL BALANCE OWED" (or something to that effect.) I do have about a dozen other cards that did not have balances, or had very low balances, that I did not enter into the program because I only had to put in the ones that had over $500 on them. Two of the ones left out, even with a zero balance, were cancelled by the creditors anyway. The others are still active, I buy a small thing here and there and pay it off right away, just to show I can be responsible with THOSE (and thank heaven for the gas cards, now that the prices for gas are so high!) so I am hoping the responsible use of the ones I have left is helping to keep my credit score from tanking altogether.

Worked for Advanta doing collections for many years. Advanta runs everything based on month end. If they say it is leaving their department or it is being forwarded or moving forward all that means is it is going to the next stage delinquency and a new team of collectors will call it. If it was being sold or charged off, they'd flat out tell you. The whole "forward, leaving" thing is just to try to get you to pay by the last day of the month because that is the cut off for that team to collect and meet their standard and hope to earn a bonus.

It is correct that they will not work with a debt settlement company. That is not a bad thing. debt settlement companies don't do anything you can't do yourself and they charge you a whole lot of money to do it. You would be better off just socking your money away in a savings account for a few months and then trying to negotiate with your creditors on your own. It isn't that Advanta will never settle, it's that they only settle directly with the customer. You can get settlement offers at earlier stages of delinquency, it depends on how bad your situation is. There are letters generated automatically and you can make a settlement offer.

I will agree with everyone that they are the worst when it comes to being aggressive. It was embarrassing to me how often we called people. They'd tell me their whole terrible situation and talk about how they had no money at all and then I had to call them 2 days later and make them tell me the same crap all over again. I know most of their jobs are heading or already in India so it will only get more frustrating. The best advice I can give anyone is to never get any credit cards - go to daveramsey.com - but if you feel you have to have one, DO NOT get an Advanta.

AMEN to that! I have learned lessons about credit cards the hard way. When you are in business, though, they are necessity for purchasing inventory, etc., and it is too easy for them to get out of hand. At least I know that when my settlement is over, the worst will be behind me and I won't ever find myself in this situation again.

You are exactly right about this! The guy I talked to just yesterday was adamant about Oct. 31st being the last day my account would be in his office but he could lower my interest to 21.99 if I would set up a payment for then. I told him very politely that quite honestly the interest rate was the least of my concerns if I could not make the new minimum payment and if by some reason I could make the Oct payment what was going to happen in November? So needless to say I did not set up the payment. He was going to credit my account some amount to help me, but the new minimum payment is going to be the issue...

This bank is the worst!! Kreg Monson is their alleged Vice President of the very threatening "Advanta Collections Enforcement Unit but his letters do not contain any address and the phone number he lists as his personal line is just the main phone for the Customer Service department.

These collection people break California law. First off, according to California Civil Code section 631 and 632 (a) they are not allowed to record calls made to you unless YOU give your consent. If the collection agency continues to call you and insist on recording the call, advise them they can be fined up to 3 times $3,000 civil damages and there are also criminal charges of 1 year in jail or a personal fine of $2500.

Secondly, they are not allowed to call your business which is your place of employment. Make sure to tell them to stop calling your place of employment, if they continue advise them you will report them to the Attorney General's office for violation of the California Consumer Protection Act which also carries fines.

This people are slime!!!

They were very aggressive early on, even calling my elderly parents repeatedly, who I have not lived with for many years. When I complained, they told me that since I had a BUSINESS account with them, and not a personal consumer account, the regular fair debt laws did not pertain and they could do whatever they wanted in an attempt to collect. This was for one span of time only, when it must've been in a particular person's office (Ted Miller) to deal with, because before it got to him, and after it passed to someone else, it was much better. And when I kept trying to call him back, he would never answer his phone. Finally my mother got really pissed, told them to knock it off, and they stopped calling them. This fits with what someone mentioned above - that they have different collectors within their own company that each account passes through as time goes by. I must say, the nicest ones were the last ones I dealt with. Hopefully it will get better for everyone who is still dealing with them!

Is that the case every where or just in California? The calling your place of business? They call my shop at least 3 times a day.

I'm in Illinois. And even though my business had closed and no longer exists, since it HAD been a business account, it apparently didn't matter.

Advanta Bank is no better than your local loan shark! Their policy is predatory in nature and they are ruthless! I feel for all who have been sucked into their folds!
Good Luck to all!

I have an Advanta business card. I owe around 3,000 on. I started out with rate of 9.9 It went up to 27 % and I was never late on payment or over the limit, now my rate is all the way up to 37% and again I have never been late or over the limit. Advanta is nothing more rip off bank and I will tell everyone I know about them as well as closing my account!!!!!! NEVER EVER DO BUSINESS WITH ADVANTA!!!!!! NEVER NEVER NEVER!!!!!!!

How's your credit? There are still some deals to be had on balance-transfer cards, even with this crappy economy.

How long can you push this with Advanta before it will show up on your personal credit score. I have about $7,500 outstanding with them. I think I am about 70 days late at this point. I don't mind repaying the total, I just have to work out some lower interest rate than the 30+% I currently have and a long term repayment plan.

I actually got a letter from Experian in May, about five months after I stopped paying on my Advanta account, that it had been reported. I settled with Advanta in September, and my credit report was noted at that time, "Paid as agreed, but at a lesser amount than owed." As a side-note, TeamTrav, when my business had closed and I knew I was going to have problems, Advanta, for all its other faults, was the ONLY creditor I had that offered to lower my interest rate (I think from 28% to 21% - still a lot, but makes a difference on a monthly payment), and even credit my account an extra $400 for the next month. I owed over $20,000, and my monthly payment was a lot more than $400, but at the time it was really appreciated. You might try calling customer service and talking to them about it. I don't know if business and consumer accounts are handled differently, but you could at least ask them.

Teamtrav, I made my last payment in July and it is showing on my personal credit report now. I also have no problem paying back the balance of my account but I have the same problem as you, they jacked up my interest rate when I was only 2 days late and now my minimum payment is just not doable for me. I have been given a few settlement offers through advantahelps.com but they all require pretty large payments over a few months. I'm a nail technician and business is half what it has been. If I can't make a $254 payment how can I make a $1000 payment?

What kind of settlement does Advanta offer you? I owe about $20,000. And I am 2 months behind in the payments now. There is no way I can afford to make the current payment. What offer do they make and then can you make monthly payments on that offer?

At only 2 months past due, you're probably not going to have any settlement offered. They might consider 80% at that point, however, if they pull your personal credit and it looks clean - they will not accept a settlement.

Pretty much the further the account goes behind, the better the settlement offer. At I believe, 4 months past due, the system starts automatically generating settlement offers on some accounts. When I last worked there, Advanta would only take lump sum settlement payments - not paid over time. Sometimes they would agree to split it up over 2 months, but never like a year or anything like that.

Interest rate wise, your best bet is to look at a consumer credit counseling service - only a non-profit agency though, not a settlement company or some rip off like that. Advanta does have some % programs they offer to some accounts at some times, but it's usually at or after 4 months past due, it isn't offered to every account and it usually requires that you pay the account completely current and under it's line of credit. I believe the offers are either to take it to 16.99 or 21.99 depending on what you pay.

As for Kreg Monson, he's never going to talk to you or take your call - just like no other bank CEO or VP is going to speak to you or take your call... they are people who have their names stamped on the letters but they are not going to get on the phone and haggle with you.

Also, in your cardmember agreement, you agree to receive calls, have calls recorded, etc. etc... the first time you use your card, you are agreeing to the cardmember agreement. The company is incorporated in Utah and therefore, follows UTAH laws... It is also worth noting that Advanta is a company doing their own collections for their own card, the laws that most people are familiar with and will ramble off are laws for attorneys or agencies that buy other companies charged off debt, they are not laws that apply to companies like Advanta. If it is the business you own and it's your business card, they are going to keep on calling... that isn't illegal for them. I'm not trying to justify it, I know they call way too much - I'm only stating that it's not illegal and spouting on to some collector about how they are violating the law is a waste of time because it isn't....

So then you are saying that I should wait until at least 4 months and see what they offer? I am struggling financially with the economy the way it is right now. I would be willing to make some type of payment to Advanta but it would have to be a very small amount. Business sucks right now for me.
And overall I am in minus for everything house, bills, business etc.

I am over 120 days right now, I had an offer to take my interest down to 9.9% but my payment is still 722 a month, they told me my credit score had not dropped enough for them to make a better settlement than the one they had offered, which would be about 17k out of the 34k I owe, I want to settle, but can anybody tell me once I get to the 180 day mark or so, what they may offer me? when you say 10% are you saying they could settle with me for 3400.00? Please make me understand how this works.

Hey Former Advanta Collector and everybody, thanks for all the information. I logged onto Advanta Helps today and they are no longer offering to lower my interest rates if I make a large payment. They say that I don't qualify for anything at this time. Is that bad news? My personal credit score is pretty good, so that might be a problem. When is it that Advanta will start reporting to my personal credit if this is a business card that I am Guarntor off? Online it says I am 2 months past due. I really don't know how far to push it with these guys. It makes me nervous, but quite honestly, there is no way to pay them what they are asking. Would it be smart to pay them something or just keep waiting?

Southbayap, yes, they settled my account at 10%. I owed 22,600 and the amount I paid was 2,260. BUT, it had to be paid in two installments, three weeks apart. They wouldn't budge on that. It was 9 months (270 days) past due at that point.

I was wondering the same thing about the 10%. advantahelps.com now says i am 3 months past due. My last payment was in july. I too am getting some settlement offers but too high of payments for me. I too would like to make some payments but small, really small. I am beginning to think that the only way to get out of any of my mess is BK. The work and the money just isn't there to pay. I am going to have to cancel my health insurance sooner it later. I am overdrawn at the bank and am working as much as I can, depositing ALL i make. $20, $30 whatever, trying to catch up. But all the overdraft fees are killing me.

Wow, that is impressive, my problem is, that want to see my credit score drop more, so I have to quit paying others as well. But if that is what it takes to get them to settle at 10% so be it. I had heard it stays in house 180-210 days then goes to collection, but who knows, this is very interesting. They almost had me at this 9.9, but I am going for it, I want to settle, so I will wait.


Thanks

Southbayap, from what I have heard Advanta never sells to collections agencies. Unless I am reading wrong. I have also had to stop paying my other 2 accounts, so maybe they will work better with me also. Are you talking to them when they call you? I have been sending messages to them through the advantahelps.com but I am hesitant to take their calls. Because the fact remains that there just isn't enough money to go around. If they were to settle with me for the 10% I would have to borrow that. Do you know from what balance the 10% is based? The balance + all the late and over limit fees?

The balance was based on the late fees etc. My original amount was 19,000, and it climbed to 22,600 with the fees. I had to borrow the settlement money from someone because my funds in the settlement program I am in were tied up with another account at the time. Also, my alternative to the 10% settlement was a lawsuit. I got a summons the same week. Luckily I had someone to loan me the money, because the alternative was not so pleasant.

I talked to an Advanta Rep today and she said that she would have to wait until this next billing cycle starts to see if I qualify for any new offers.

She suggested that I call National Foundation for Credi Counciling 1-800-388-2227 and that they would be able to negotiate a 0% interest. Is this smart? Everybody I have talked to says that you are better off negotiating this on your own. Any feedback?

I'm currently 2 months past with Advanta, and today when I spoke with them, the said if I didn't pay something by the 30th, they could put it in the legal department, and put a lien on me. I only owe them $2300, but cannot pay anything right now. Are they all talk? or will they really go the legal route?

I talked to Advanta today, and they lowered my interst rate to 21%, but said I had to pay a minimum amount or else I would be turned to the legal department. I'm only 2 months behind, owe less than $3000, and they are not offering me any settlement. I cannot pay anything now. How long do you think I'm safe to not pay before they doing anything drastic?

It is standard procedure to tell you that you'll be turned over to the legal department, in an effort to scare you into paying. HOWEVER, I really did receive a summons from them. It took nine months though, I can't see that happening after only two. I had a very large amount, though, and it was a business account, so I don't know if there are different procedures for different types of accounts.

no way Advanta is going to send any account over to a legal team before charge-off unless its a really large amount of money $50k or more on 1 card and you've avoided all calls or letters.
Just talk to these people....tell them you can 't afford anything right now until you work out your finances and speak to a counselor.

It is a business card, and the business closed more than a year ago. I've been paying regularly up until 2 months ago.
I can't imagine they would turn me to legal for only $2300
but I cannot pay more than $20 per month now, and that isn't good enough for them. Should I do it anyways, or forgo paying alltogether and see what happens? I can't chance getting a summons though....I'm in the hardship program for all of my other ccards, which total $100K by the way, so their $2300 is peanuts. Everyone else was willing to work with me, but them. Should I keep asking them for a settlement amount?

JenG, do you mind telling me who else you were able to work out deals with and maybe how to go about it. I am almost in the exact same position as you. I closed my business about a year ago and I have just shy of 100,000 in debt. I am just starting the negotiation process with some of these card companies.

No Problem. Chase and MBNA were my biggest balances (30K each) and they were real nice. There was an application process over the phone. They asked income (which I had to lie about) and you have to tell them all of your bills. I hate lyeing, but you won't qualify if you make a certain amount. I had to stretch a few things and also tell them my only other option was bankruptcy. HSBC are jerks like Advanta. You only qualify with them if you are sick - so you may have to lie about that as well. You do what you have to do to stay in your home, and make ends meet. Some cards like Orchard Bank, and First Financial, and WAMU will eventually charge your balance off if you're under $5000. Advanta is definitely the most aggressive, so I can't decide yet, how to handle them, but I did get a hold of a lady there that told me the only way to get into their hardship program is cancer, heart attack, or a fire. So maybe that's what I'll have to do.

Ok, so One thing I have not seen here is somebody talk about wells fargo business credit cards. I have a couple of those, these are pretty high as well, anybody have experience with them? I would really appreciate it if someboby can let me know.

Happy Holiday

troll post deleted.typical stuff,this country isn't in the shape it's in because of consumers or this board.why don't you not spend time on here talking down or judging people here...paulmergel.

I do agree that we all need to take charge of what we owe and stop buying, spending, charging, etc. if we cant afford it. This website is full of these stories and also people trying to get out of it the right and legal way.

This website has its own rules and we all must abid by them are we cant be here. I like it here, it has been a Godsend to me and I hope with your help Capitalist, we can all benifiet from your experiences.

luke

I believe that everyone posting is trying to take responsibility for what they owe. Some of it is not their faults, like Advanta's uncalled for raising of interest rates to 32%, making payments too high. Advanta does not appear to be willing to work with their customers, throws out scare tatics instead why do they not simply be fair? Most of Advanta's customers are small business owners, Advanta knew that when they loaned the unsecured funds. Small business owners now for the most part are hard hit by the economy, small business owners did not get a "BAILOUT". So now more than ever Advanta and others should be willing to work out a payment plan, with reasonable interest or no interest at all so it would work for all.

AMEN, Judy, Amen. Those of us who had to close our businesses had to put people out of work too, it wasn't just us personally that suffered. If these giant companies are getting tax dollars to stay afloat they should trickle that on down to benefit the folks that are having problems paying the ridiculous interest rates - not give it as rewards to their CEOs. These high rates are often just a hike for no reason - they continue to rise and rise as these companies get greedier and greedier. I used the cards with full intention of paying the debt back. But these companies made it impossible with the ridiculous rate hikes that in at least one case had nearly tripled to over 30%! And I had never, never been late or over my limit.

I have Advanta and they raised my rates from 7.99 to 32% after I missed just one payment by couple of days, what can I do ? I tried calling them but they said it wont go down as I missed payment and it is in their terms to raise it. I've closed account but not sure how to get it down. I owe $2500 on that account.

SusieQ, Neither had I ever been late on a payment to Advanta nor had we ever gone over our limit. The problem was their raising, tripling our interest rate to 32% that made it impossible to make the payment. On top of uncalled for raising of our interest rate came the economic uncertainity. Our business is maintaining at the present time, just barely making it. When we talked to Advanta they refused to lower our interest rate to anything lower that 22% on a 21,000 balance that is still too huge of a payment. They have refused to lower our interest rates, say things like we have to be current....what a joke that is. So not paying them because frankly we can not. Nor am I now going to pay any other credit card company with ridiculously high rates for interest. They can borrow the money for what 1%, they got a bailout, they get bonuses and what do we get, aw you got it the shaft.............Personally all comsumers should banned together and tell all of these ripoff banks to lower their interest rates and when they do, we will be sending them a payment. Or better yet, when they were so busy giving them a bailout, they should have made a stipulation that stated they could not charge anymore than 10% interest on credit card debt. Straight across 10%, by doing something as simple as that, would have eased the monthly burden of so many people being buried now in credit card monthly payments. Thoughts.........and do you think Advanta will offer us a settlement down the road????