What should I do, I have this credit card that I have been paying $100 each month for over a year?

Question

the collection agency stopped taking $100 out of my checking account a few months ago and now they want the full amount. I don't have $9000 to give them. They won't work with me. THis is a credit card. Bank of America bought out Fleet bank (the original credit) Therefore bank of America bought out my account. I had a payment plan with Encore who was the collection agent for Fleet before Fleet and Bank of America merged. What should I do? I don't have the money. I am living from paycheck to paycheck right now.

By the way, Bank of America hired Client Services to try to collect the full amount. Client services stop taking $100 a month from my checking account.

Answer 1

Try calling a credit counselor like CCC. Thjey are a good starting point. You could also attempt contacting the BofA collections department and ask to speak to the Manager. The actual collections people you talk to are simpletons (I know, I used to be one). Explain the situation and ask them how you can get set back up on the payment plan again. If they dont offer this same service, then you need to go through a credit counselor. They will stop the collections and most of the time work with you. Just remember, stay in constant contact with BofA until the payments start getting made to them. In the meantime, let the Manager know that you will mannually mail the $100.00/mo until the CC arrangement is set up.

On a side note, I found an easy way to get out of all debt. Only pay the minimum Payment on the higher debt cards and pay off the smalles card 1st, then the amount you could pay to the small card add it to the next smaller card with the amount of the minimum payment. It will take a little time for these to get paid off, but before you know it, your paying over $600.00 payments and can have all your debt paid off within 2 - 3 years.

Here's a better breakdown:
CC1 = $250.00 (min payment = $25.00)
CC2 = $500.00 (min payment = $30.00)
CC3 = $2400.00 (min payment = $72.00)
CC4 = $6000.00 (min payment = $160.00)

Total Min = $287.00

Pay CC1 = $100.00, and pay only min on other 3. Pay off CC! in 3 months.

Then Pay CC2 $100.00 + $30.00(min)=$130.00. Pay off CC2 in 4 months.

Then Pay CC3 $130.00 + $72.00 = $202.00. Pay off CC2 in 12 Months

Then Pay CC4 $202 + 160.00 = $362.00. Pay off CC4 in 17 Months

Debt Free in a little over 2 1/2 years.

It worked for me and I am now working on the 2nd on my house and almost have no debt other than my main mortgage. And I have money for things I want to do. Just remember to budget it and stick to your budget.

Answer 2

Call or go to a Bank of America and speak to loan counciler over this.....if they work with you.....fine......if they won't then politely tell them that you are sorry but you don't have the money. I hope you boiled, baked, and burned your credit card.........

If your credit is bad.........don't worry about it.........if your credit is good or better because of making the payments then don't worry about it....

If they WON'T work with you I would just let them put it into collections and then work with whatever collection company they turn it over too....make sure that you ask about not paying interest....some places will stop the interest if you request that they do so.......it will save you a lot in the long run......

If NO ONE will work with you.........then leave the 9000 in limbo...does not sound nice.......but that would be your only choice other then taking out some kind of loan...with high intrest, if you were lucky enough to find some bank to loan you anything and you would be paying a lot more then 9000 in the long run.

Answer 3

well, I myself am living $60000 in the hole...so I know where your coming from. But theres several things that i though up of. I started a website under business for services. http://zwacka.com It has an odd name but I made sure it would attract many people to help make money. So if you can do something like that It would really help you out as I found some buisness credit cards offer much much less lower apr's e.g. Capitol one has 0% apr on balance transfers. Second I'm taking out a loan so I can pay off the bills. But thats also backed by income. Personally I'd look for a cc with an ungodly low apr for an entire year and balance transfer it over to there. After that force as much money onto it untill you can get it below 3k and then you should be able to live easier. And if all else fails contact a free debt source thing online. Never used one, Never will. Hit me up if you want advice etc, i sit on here way too much tinking of things.

Answer 4

1-10% credit utilization is optimal. 30% and less wont hurt your score. In my expereince 1-10% gets you the most points on your FICO score. You are setting up well for your future! Keep doing a good job. By the way, since you want to plan ahead, in 3 more months, you might want to get a couple of more cards. What this will do is dip your score slightly (20-30 points) for the short term (a year or so) but in the next 5 years, you will have 3 credit card entries showing good age. 15% of your FICO scores depend on the age of your credit and since you are a student, you might want to open a couple of cards more now and let them age. By the time you are 25, you will have a very solid credit history with multiple old accounts which will count for a lot. Also, never close your oldest credit cards.

Answer 5

don't mean to sound harsh, but let's face the facts. It is very easy to get a financial mess with a credit card. When you buy on a credit card, you should pay it when you get the bill and not let the balance get higher and higher. Now you are paying more then what the actual purchase was because they add on finance charges every month. I guess I would call Bank of America and try to make a payment plan with them. Cut up the credit card and do not make anymore purchases. If you can't pay with cash, then you really can't afford it. Credit cards are for responsible people, not for impulse buyers

Answer 6

If you own a home, you could refiance and get an additional amount to pay off those high interest credit cards. That is what we did. Our mortgage interest is only 6% and the credit cards were between 14% - 21%. If you don't own a home, there are agencies that will help you by negotiating with your creditors.

Good luck. If you do this, don't get caught in the trap of charging again.

Answer 7

Maybe try doing debt consolidation. They can lower your interest and you wont be paying the bank anymore. You'll pay the debt consolidation people and they will pay the bank. Ive been working on mine for a couple of years. I have an account with A New Horizon. They got both my credit cards down to 7%. Check it out at anewhorizon.com. Good luck!

Answer 8

Contact bank of America and explain the situation and offer to pay them If they don't accept you made a good faith offer and just send them the $100 dollars a month but make sure you send it to them in money orders so you can have proof.

Ignoring the problem is not going to make it go away. They will just charge you more interest and late fees and your original debt will balloon.

And cut up your credit card and make a budget and learn to live with in your means.

Answer 9

Honestly, im sorry to hear that you are going thru all that. I would recommend that you take a loan out if you can with an APR lower than 10% which would be lower than most credit cards current APR. If you want you can also call a consolidate agency that will help you with your situation. If worst comes to worst comes to worst you may have to apply for chapter 11: Bankruptcy. Depending on which state you are in will vary on how long that will stay on your credit report.

Answer 10

I don't believe they can come after you for the full amount just because they were bought out by someone else. Unless you haven't been paying the $100 as promised, they have to agree to the terms that were set at the time they merged.

Hope you have something in writing from that company.