Is it normal for a creditor to tell you that they won't take monthly payments and take it to court?

Question

I informed a creditor of what I could pay monthly and the represenative said the amount I could pay was not an option. Should I contact them again or is it normal for them to just to take me to court?

Answer 1

My guess is that they can do that. You do owe them money after all which I assume to agreed to repay. What I would suggest is a consumer credit counseling place. They will be more effective at negotiating your payments with your creditors.

Try this link:
http://www.cccsstl.org/?referrer=google&credit&counselors

Answer 2

I ran a debt recovery team in the 1980's.

Every company is different except - they are want to do business & will do as much as they can to find a solution. They should have told you what the minimum solution was.

You might want to check with a credit counselling service - sometimes having someone else call the creditor will carry more weight. Your creditor may not have believed you, when you said it was the minimum you could afford.

One tactic, is to list all your debts, bills & expenses. Then match them against any income. You need to show the creditor that you really can't afford to pay any more than you are offering & That if they take you to court, they won't get any more out of you.

BUT - be very sure you don't try to pass off optional expenses as essential - if you are buying something on installments - see if it can be returned, to get rid of the repayments - even if you lose moeny on the deal, it can still cut your expenses.

BTW - I'm going through some of this myself - I just got laid off from a $100K job - it went offshore for the third time in 5 years. So I know a little of what you are going through.

Answer 3

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/credit/coninfo.htm . Are they taking you to court, or is it just a threat. To threaten an action that they are not going to persue is illegal according to the FTC. This website has a wealth of information about dealing with creditors, to make payment arrangements, sample letters. When I deal with a rep that I have difficulty with, I ask to speak with their supervisor. And up the chain until someone can actually say, yes we can take payments for that amount. But first go to FTC website and read up before you persue any talk with your creditor. Also, if you send payments in the form of check or money order and keep records, i.e. canceled checks, or money order reciepts, and they take those payments, then decide to take you to court, at least you have it on your side that you were making payments and a judge is more likely to go in your favor, because you were making an effort. And if you send payments and they send them back, keep records, because you were trying. And keep sending the payments, and let them send them back, because you are trying. Who do you think a judge is going to side with, the person trying to make things right, or the company that is trying to keep someone down

Answer 4

By law they have to take payments from you. I suggest sending a letter with yrou first payment stating that you will send no less than $$____ per month (whatever you told them that you could afford) until the debt is paid off. Then let them know that if they need to contact you in the future they need to do via the United States Postal Service. At least this way you have it in writing that you agreed to a monthly payment.

Not to mention the fact that it would probably cost them more to sue you than it would to just accept your payments (depending on how much you owe).

Answer 5

This happened to me a couple of years back. I work for an attorney - he told me that they have to take whatever you offer. I told the gentleman (who was rude) that I could pay $100 a month and that I had consulted an attorney. He shut up right quick and I just sent them $100 a month until the debt was paid. Just send them whatever you can - I guarantee you they won't refuse the payment.

Answer 6

Depending on where you are from and what the amount is, keep in mind that it would cost them many dollars to hire even a hack lawyer to take you to court. Send them the payments and giggle at them when they make that threat again.

Answer 7

You should contact them again and see if you could work it out. However, they don't ever have to work with you on payment. Technically, you made a promise to pay them what you owed them from the beginning. If you couldn't do that, it is your fault. Usually what happend ids they send their bill to a collection agency, who reimburses them, and the collection agency comes after you for payment. That is who you will probably be working ouot payment plans with.

Answer 8

Depends of amount of debt. Normally under 6-10K, no they won't. If there are other mitigating factors such as fraud/misrepresentation and they have proof of it, AND you have salary/assets they can seize, then yes, they will go to court. Going to court is the last resort and only used if they have confirmed you have something they can get at to repay the debt.

Answer 9

You're trying to work with them, they're being uncooperative, and if they take you to court, that is exactly what the judge will tell them.

No, they aren't going to take you to court as long as you're making an effort. Next time some CS Rep gets you on the phone with threats, get their name and talk to their supervisor.

Answer 10

I had a creditior calling me and saying things that were not very nice and even sending me threatning letters saying "we will be forced to take you to court" and it was just over a freaking magazine that I received and never payed for. I told them I had moved and they never called back.