Settling charged off debt

First of all, what state are you from? A 3 year old cache of junk debt is not old enough to attract very low settlements but its worth a shot in your case. I would check the SoL for debts before getting into negotiations with the collectors.

In my opinion, I would be DVing every single JDB...it they cannot show proof you owe the debt, DON"T PAY THEM A DIME! Paying these debts is not going to do a thing for your credit.

I'm in California and our SOL is 4 years. The reason we would like to try and settle these debts is because we want to pay what we can back if we are able to and also because we are fearful of being sued. Once these companies sue it is difficult to get as good of a settlement deal. With the SOL only having a year left, I feel there is a good chance that our financial life could be impacted more adversely than it already has been. Wage garnishment and frozen bank accounts would be very unpleasant and we'd like to avoid judgements on our credit report. I have sent out three DV's already and have only gotten two responses. One I posted about here a couple of weeks ago. I'm also afraid that sending out these DV's may anger the gods, so to speak, and bring more lawsuits. My husband and I would really just like to get out from under this and not have to worry about being served at home or work. So...any suggestions. Is my thought process incorrect?

One more thing that I've learned is that not all of these accounts have been sold by the original creditor but most seem to have been. I think there are three that are still owned by the original creditors, although all have been charged off.

No use speculating whether the debts are with the OC or a JDB; first get the facts right, then decide. As for the debts already sold to JDB's, I'm with soaplady: it makes little sense to settle them. Settling debts still with the OCs that still hold them after chargeoff, would be much better use of your money. And don't jump to conclusions regarding the Cal SOL before you've studied it; it has a "borrowing" section, which, under some circumstances, borrows the shorter SOL of other states.

Thank you for your response. I appreciate it. I can go look at the letters I have filed to determine which ones are still with the OC's, but I'm not speculating, there are very definitely three with the OC's. You didn't answer my concerns about being sued, garnished, levied....etc by the DB. I had no idea that there were any "loopholes" in regard to the SOL but again, ethically, my husband and I would feel better if we paid the money we owed. Not the exorbitant fees tacked on after they were charged off, but we'd like to try and make good on our debts if at all possible. Before our finances when south we had excellent credit scores and no debt so this is not how we'd like our situation to stay.

JDB's business model relies on getting default judgment. They rarely if ever have competent evidence that to overcome a contesting consumer, and so the typical case is they get 99% default judgments, and roll over on the remaining 1% or so that put up a fight.

I do not see the ethical case for paying a JDB. They did not loan you any money, they did not take any business loss as result of you defaulting on the OC. They paid pennies on the dollar to try to collect on a defaulted debt. It's all a game factored into their business model. If you understand that, great. If you don't and you keep getting panic attacks at night just by the thought of their attorney's shadow, go ahead & pay them, your well being is more important than exercising your consumer rights.

I do understand that and am not suffering from panic attacks at night, but I also realize what a nightmare it would be to try and fight one lawsuit after another coming up in the next year or so. My husband works full time, I homeschool four of the five of our children. That leaves very little extra time for filling out legal paperwork and doing the research to try and figure out how to do it properly. I have read about the different defenses and to be honest it just seems like a lot of headache. Correct me if I'm wrong. Also there is expense to filing paperwork with the court and what if all the defenses we put forth are struck down and the JBD still obtains a judgement. Then we are on the hook for the entire amount. It is a gamble. We can't afford to pay 100% of the balance on these debts. Even if we are only sued by two of them and they win, our whole savings with which to settle all of them could be wiped out. You see the dilemma. I'm trying to make an intelligent decision, not an emotional one. You say that the people who put up a fight don't lose. Are you certain of this? I'm not.

I am not "certain" of anything, it's a game of likelihood, not of certainty. For the JDB to win after you file an answer and show up, is not just a matter of striking your affirmative defenses, rather, they still have to show competent evidence which they often don't have. And they'd typically settle before, during, and even after trial: They are cash hungry, and care a lot more about getting some money now than potentially getting it in full at some future date. Why don't you post the names of the JDB's involved and that way we can check how litigious they've been in other cases they've been involved in.

Posting the names is a good idea. Thank you for suggesting that. Currently the debt buyers that own some of our debt are:

Asset Acceptance (they are doing their own collection)

Fairfield Asset Management (being collected by CFS II)

Asset Capital Recovery Group (being collected by collection attorney Kenosian and Miele who are licensed to practice law in my state)

Mainstreet Acquisition Corp (last collection agency to send correspondence was AmSher collection services)

Portfolio Recovery Associates is collecting and so far, I have only received one letter from them despite the fact that they have had the account for a long time. This account has been sold but I don't if it is to Portfolio Associates or another debt buyer

We have not received correspondence on the sixth account that reports as sold/transferred on our credit reports since it was sold.


The OC's that still have accounts are Us Bank and Discover.

I'm sure there are factors that play into whether or not a JBD will or will not sue other than their past litigious actions. Does the amount owed not matter? The debtors asset situation?