Paying off debt question????

Question

I owe about $20,000 in credit card debt that is all in collections for over a year and a half... I recently was given enough money to pay it all off, but should i negotiate the amounts that i owe now, or just pay it off with the interest they've charged? I want my credit scores to go up rapidly so i can purchase a house in the next year. My score is in the LOW 500!!! Any advice would be great!

Answer 1

Before you even begin this adventure, you had better understand a few things.

Your goal is to fix your credit score so you can get a better deal on your new home. It will not help your score to have anything on it that reflects negatively on you.

When you pay off an old debt, the creditor will show "paid" on your credit report, but it will still have notations about being in collections, late payments, or only having a portion of the bill paid. I don't care what anyone on here says, that is still a negative report! Therefore, you have just spent a lot of money trying to fix something, and got nowhere!

Therefore, you need to be prepared to do some serious negoations.

First, if at all possible do NOT deal with collection agencies. As previously stated in another reply, they get a portion of whatever you are paying. If you pay the creditor directly, they avoid the collection agency and keep all the money! They may deal with you in this respect. So start by contacting the original creditor.

DO NOT OFFER TO PAY ANYTHING! Make it clear that you are only negotiating a payment plan and if they do not come to an agreement they can forget it. Offering to pay will reinstate the Statute Of Limitations and can even effect some legal aspects of your collections. BE CAREFULL!

Make it clear up front that exchange for payment, they must remove ALL negative reports from your credit report, or change the status to "paid in full, as agreed". They won't want to do this. Many will tell you it's not legal. Yes it is, I can prove it, and I've done it myself! You are NOT "in the drivers seat" here as long as they continue to hold your credit report over your head.

Get this agreement IN WRITING! Without it, you have no prove that they agreed, and you will have an awful time getting your credit report fixed once they have your money.

Don't give them a clue you have a lot of money! Tell them that you are trying to avoid bankruptcy and have come up with a payment plan to try and resolve your debts, and if they refuse you will just pay off your other debts instead. Start by offering to pay 60% of the debt, they will most likely accept 70% without too much hassle. Sometimes you can even get much more, but that's very rare. The advantage you have is you are going to pay it off in full, so remind them of that. They will be more willing to accept your offer if it's not going to involve monthly payments.

When you call, get names! And don't commit to paying them anything until you have a written agreement from them listing they payment plan, plus their agreement to remove items from your history.

Good luck with your battle. You can do it, you just need to get into a good negotiators mindset and be ready to fight with these people.

Answer 2

I was in somewhat the same situation. The best advice I can give is to pay them off...NOT fully. Do NOT let them know that you have inherited enough money to pay them off. Simply state that you have saved up enough money to pay them X amount of dollars (I'd say about 30-40% of the total on that card) and are willing to pay them that...TELL them if they are not willing to take that amount they will NEVER be paid. If they say no, you say thank you and have a good day. Next time they call (which they will) state that you made an offer that was rejected and that is ALL you will pay.
The thing is, these companies charged you off, meaning they NEVER expect to be paid so they will likely be willing to take ANYTHING you offer. If you MUST negotiate..(beacause they will try)do not go too high. They are there to make you feel MISERABLE and try to suck you for everything.
The way I see it, I paid them each $200/mo and the balance never decreased. In all honesty I paid back about 75% of what I USED..the rest is their late fees and interest. Don't let them steal from you. Good luck!

Answer 3

NEGOTIATE. If they don't want to negotiate, you can always pay the full amount.

Also, make sure that, if they agree to a lower amount, that they send you this agreement in writing BEFORE you pay them. This will protect you from them coming after you for the remaining amount later. Make sure you keep this letter in a safe place.

Tell them that you want it to say "PAID IN FULL" and not "PAID AS AGREED" on your credit report. Get this in writing also. This will help improve your credit score. If they're really willing to work with you, they might agree to take the old late pay notations off your credit report. Probably not, but it doesn't hurt to ask.

Answer 4

If you end up paying a negotiated amount, it will be noted on your credit report that the entire balance was not paid in full. So it may still take a while for your credit score to increase dramatically.

Answer 5

Negotiate the pay off with the understanding that they will remove the collection from your credit report, make sure you get it in writing. Good luck.

Answer 6

It's worth a try to get the companies to lower their rates since you would be paying the accounts in full. Anytime you save money, it's a good thing. :) I have heard that you can contact some companies and they will negotiate your interest fees for you, which could save you a good bit of money in the long run and help your credit rating. Good luck!

Answer 7

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In collections, the creditor will only receive half or less of the settlement. The creditor has already taken a writeoff for taxes.The agency and the creditor will share, and will jump with joy to get whatever they can recover. Do not give in easily. You are now in the driver's seat. The negotiation will not further affect your credit. It will show "Slow pay, for some time, but not unpaid. Good luck.

Answer 8

It doesn't hurt to try to talk them down. Also, I hope you've cut up some of those credit cards and the others you are paying on time! Paying bills on time will help your credit score out a lot.

Answer 9

absolutely!!! negotiate... working in the business of credit collections, I can tell you that after a year and a half, you will be able to settle in full for close to half of what you now owe! settled in full will not look any worse on your credit report than paid in full at this point, so long after defaulting....

Answer 10

Hire a Debt Counselor
http://www.askaquery.com/Answers/qn1584.html