What is the best way to deal with credit cards that have been written off? Any personal experiences?

Question

Do you contact any organizations or is it better to just ride it out? I've heard that if you contact the collection agencies after a certain amount of time that it "resets" the clock in terms of how long they can harass you for. I'd prefer personal experiences rather than negative insults or judgements. I know I screwed up and I'm trying to fix it, thank you.

Answer 1

If you just "contact" the collection agencies it will not reset any "clocks". What will reset the clock is if you make a written promise to pay or actually make a payment.

They can NEVER harass you, but they can make reasonable attempt to collect the debt until it is paid. If they do harrass you, they could be in violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act(FDCPA). You could then turn around and sue them for the violation.

A negative item can only be reported for 7 years from the date of the negative item, so for charge-offs that is 7 years from the date of the last delinquency. If you have passed that date it can no appear on your credit report. There is another time limit called the Statute of Limitations. This varies by state but is between 2-6 years for Credit card debt. Once you are outside of this they can no longer take any legal action(sue) to get you to pay.

If you are no where near either of these you will first want to send them a request to validate the debt by certified mail. They have 30 days to do this, and if they do not you can have it removed from your credit report. If they do validate the debt, you should negociate with them that if you pay off the account they will remove the colllection account. Do this by mail, making sure you list the amount to be paid and the dates it is to be paid on. DO NOT send them any money until you have a written aggrement from them as to the amount and that they will remove the information.

Answer 2

Whether or not you put the money back on to the card, your BF's mother will likely still pursue the investigation. Suicide is a ridiculous thought to consider over $500. If you're going to top yourself, it's certainly not worth doing it for such a small amount. The easiest thing to do, for this amount of money, would be to simply admit it. Come up with a good reason why you stole from your mother-in-law, and simply admit it. If you can't face doing it face-to-face, do it with a little more drama - leave a written confession and babbling apology where your mother-in-law will find it, then disappear to a friend's house for a few days. Your mother-in-law will call you and tell you everything is all okay. And all will be well. Probably.

Answer 3

acermill is confused. You have no legal obligation to pay a debt after the Statute of Limitation (SOL) has run out. Unscrupulous collection agencies may try to collect from you forever banking on your ignorance of the law. On rare occasions they also try to sue you hoping for a default judgment. If this ever becomes the case, the SOL is an affirmative defense.Depending on the state you live in, the SOL may be as little as 3 years.
http://www.cardreport.com/laws/statute-of-limitations.html
If your debt is close to SOL, and if they do not bring you to court first, I would try to ride it out.
Good Luck

Answer 4

If your credit card holders have given your debt to a collection agency, they can hound you all the way to your grave. There is NO law which says they must stop contacting you after a certain time period has elapsed.

You are confusing the statutes of limitations time frame requirements for bring legal action to effect debt collection. Once the SOL has expired, they can no longer take you to court to collect. But they CAN and WILL hound you forever until you pay it off.

Answer 5

get a copy of Bob Hammond's "Life after Debt", read it and follow his advice.