Cap One, lawsuits & Wage garnishments

Bankruptcy threats are a dime a dozen....they hear it all day long....for most it is an empty threat. It is business as usual for them until you have retained an attorney or you have a bankruptcy filing number

Have you even tried to negotiate with Cap One? You should try to negotiate with Cap One first. Contact the customer care department and tell them that you'll not be able to pay the total outstanding balance. Tell them the amount you can pay them. If they reject your settlement offer, then get professional help. There are lots of settlement companies out there. You can work with any of them. The representatives at the settlement companies are professionally trained to negotiate with the creditors/collection agencies, etc.

There is no harm in telling Cap One representative that you'll be forced to file bankruptcy should they refuse to negotiate with you. They may agree to negotiate with you after hearing that.

Going to have to disagree with you Nelly...avoid settlement companies. Why on earth would you pay someone to settle an account when you can do it yourself for free? Plus there are too many horror stores surrounding them,. Cap One is a fast litigator and you do not want to waste time or money dealing with settlmeent companies.

CapOne is admittedly the current collection goon on the card issuer block.
It is not impossible to settle the debt and avoid litigation though.

Is the account with CapOne currently or out on assignment to a debt collector? If assigned, who is it with?
How long have you had this account?
How was the account used prior to your default? Were there many charges prior to ceasing payment? Could some of the charges be defined as outside your normal pattern of use and for higher dollar amounts?

The theme of this section of the DCC site is primarily DIY settlement. I support the DIY tone of the many posters and moderators when it comes to first stage collection. There are times however where using a pro can make more sense.

Soap is correct about threatening BK. Waste of breath for the most part.
A better approach would be to suggest you may be able to resolve the account with borrowed funds from a friend or family member, but all they have to loan is XXXX.XX amount.
The amount based on current trends should realistically hover around half the balance, though I have seen better deals recently with them (they are still rare). Having said that, there are accounts where 70 is as good as it gets until more aged (which only increases the potential you are sued instead).

Best to you in your efforts to put CapOne behind you

I've been with them for close to 8 years. I'm behind about 2 months so far and the account has not been used out of the ordinary. Should I get ready for a lawsuit once it goes to collections?

Hello,
I was able to settle my husband's $8000 cc account for $4,000......after 4 months deliquency. We were unable to settle a Cap one small business loan however...but I believe that is because it was a gov't backed loan. I agree with soap lady.....we settled about $98,000 worth of my husband's debt and did it ourslves for $31,500....I just added it all up.....I have not had time to even do that until now. I have been promising to post the results of our settlements, but with all we've been through....i could not even find the time or energy to post. Now that I look at it, it is unbelieveable......But Cap one settled an $8,140 account for $4004 ....dont ask me why the odd numbers, but they did settle at 4 months out!!! Hope this helps! read the forums and settle your accounts yourself!

DEBTORD, how often did you speak with them prior to the settlement? They call every day multiple times a day. Your advice gives me hope. I'm 2 months behind so far and I think I'll wait 2 more months and see what offers I start getting. Hopefully, they won't pull the stubborn trick on me and refuse to go below 80%.