Should I let credit cards go to collections?

Question

My hubby and I had to have some major repair work on house (pipes& sewer) last July. It cost us $12,000 to repair, and we had no choice but to put a majority of that on our credit cards. Our minimun payments due, are so high ( like 1000) a month. Ive kept up on them till last 3 months. We have decent credit besides these, and just cant afford minimum payments. I was wondering if I should let them go to collections, and then pay them, since they work with you? . Anyone done this before? We thought about a consolidation, but they want $600 a month, and we'd have to get rid of our other cards (which are lower credit limits and we pay them off as soon as we use them.) Any advice? Thanks

We really only use credit cards for an emergency. Poop coming up through basement is an emergency. So it was either live with crap coming back up (we spend alot of time in basement (other side is our den) or get it fixed. The entire thing cost 20,000 (we charged 12,000). Pipes from house to road were in bad condition. Anyway, it was just a question. Minimum due is so large because I have only been paying 50 on both cards last two months, and with fees and not paying minimum in full payments got high. Im not irresponsible so please dont treat me that way. I was just looking for options. I pay my bills, and dont expect to not pay this also

Answer 1

I am using Care One and didnt have to put ALL my cards on it. I did end up doing that though since I decided I will never have a cc again.

Answer 2

I usually side with the debtors in this forum...I can't this time.

This is a silly game you are playing. There is no way you are going to get a chuck of your credit card debt excused without trashing your credit score.

Once you are a couple months late, the credit card companies will begin offering you a chance to pay the debt off at a reduced rate, but they will want the entire balance paid. You don't have that, so forget that plan.

They may renegotiate a payment plan, but that's doesn't happen often.

Either way your credit is ruined. You should have thought this through when you did all the home repairs and placed them on a credit card.

My suggestion is to try and get a home equity loan. But then you mentioned that you don't want to give up your other cards. So this plan, too, will end in failure. You will either lose your home or file for bankruptcy. I've seen this happen over and over again.

So what you need to do is sit down, take a very serious look at your situation and accept the fact that major changes have to be made in your lifestyle. Otherwise start looking for a bankruptcy lawyer.

Answer 3

it would take years on non-payment before you could have a chance at negotiating the balances down. Otherwise, they're much tougher to deal with than the banks.

it will also take you even more years to get your credit back to decent again.

Consolidate if you must, if that will let you survive. Most credit cards only want 2-3% of balance as a minimum payment, so I'm surprised yours are so high. Call them up and see if they'll negotiate a rate reduction. If you tell them you're going to consolidate and pay them off entirely if they don't, perhaps they'd do it. pay them off and they get no interest, so maybe?

And there's no reason any consolidation (i assume you mean credit counseling debt management program?) should absolutely require you to pay off those others. If it's a zero balance when you do this, there's nothing for them to consolidate anyway.

Answer 4

Letting them go to collections will destroy your credit rating. Whether or not the collection agency works with you, the damage to the credit report will be pretty bad and take many months to clear off.

I'd keep shopping consolidation loans or personal loans (have you tried a credit union?) I'd also call the card company and see if you could negotiate a lower rate. You might also see if you can find a 'zero interest on balance transfer' deal to cut back on the interest part of the payment.

I am not sure I understand why your payment is so high, or why the consolidation loan would affect other cards. Something sounds rather fishy here. Do some more research.

Answer 5

I would consolidate before I would let any bill go to collection. Keeping good credit is very important. The rest of the world realizes that things happen, but the people that want their money could give a crap. So you would have to get rid of other credit cards that you have if you were to consolidate So what? Sounds to me like you're a bit overextended as it is. You need this extra money to pay off this debt from home repairs. I'm not criticizing. I promise. I've been there. My husband and I had to sink ourselves into credit card debt to survive one time when he got laid off from work. Once he was working again we had to dig our way back out. We figured out really quickly that in order to do that we must lay off a few things in the meantime. It will cramp your lifestyle some. However, when the debt is paid you'll be totally relieved.

Also, if you let your bills go to collection you'll have a much harder time getting credit in the future. Everything from credit cards to car loans. The interest rates that you would be offered would be outrageous because the lenders wouldn't know if they could trust you or not. They wouldn't have a clue about your past situation.

Answer 6

Alot of what you are saying doesn't make total sense. $12K on credit cards doesn't equal a $1K payment...You were making the
$1K per month payment and now you can't even make $600? You use credit cards to buy things then pay them off in full? I would say a consolidation of everything using the equity in the house is the best bet. It gives you the best rates and tax advantages. You will eventually fail if you keep trying to use credit cards for everything. I would recommend using only one once you consolidate and pay things off, you will have to practice self control or you will fail.

Answer 7

I have had a bill go to collections and they wanted it paid off in 4 months. I would consolidate the bills and see if they can work with you more than $600. A lot of them can really cut your payment down a lot you have to look for a good company but it is better from what I have found.

Answer 8

Settle or declare bankruptcy. In collections the late fees and over limit fees continue to build plus the interest on the overall amount owed plus you will also have the collection fees added on and then if you don't pay they take you to court and basically get a judgement against you. Then you can't ever take out a loan with that on your record and the juice is still going. I have a credit card bill that has gone from 3650 to over ten thousand.

Answer 9

I think I would go to the bank and take out a personal line of credit. Then you can pay off the credit cards(which are at 19%) and have the PLC at around 6-7%. Then cut them up. You can make smaller payments to the bank, till you get caught up, then pay that off ASAP. Try not to use credit cards for every day things. If you don't have the money, then dont spend it.

Answer 10

Call your credit card people and explain the money issues. They will work with you to lower your payments. You may not be able to use them for a certain amout of time but it will save your credit. Having bad credit should not be an option. Save your credit at all cost. Having bad credits effects more of your life than you can imagine.