How long does it take for a collection agency...?

Question

to settle a debt for less? how about before they sue you? and do they let you know before they take action to sue or do they just do it?

Answer 1

That would really be dependent on the individual collection agency. Whether or not they proceed with legal action is really going to depend on the amount of money owed and if its worth the time, effort and expense on their part. You should be served papers when being sued. First thing a collection agency does is send you a letter giving you 30 days to dispute the validity of the debt. They like to call a lot too. Rarely have I a seen a collection account go to the point of a lawsuit or a garnishment. But again the amount owed will be relevant. Either way, your credit will be affected. Do what you can to take care of this debt. Credit is a useful tool in life, so if you can prevent something negative from going on it, then you should. Good luck to you.

Answer 2

A lot of factors go into this. How large is the debt, how old, can they verify that you have a job or own your home, who is the creditor? For example, hospitals tend to sue less than credit card companies. Because of the costs involved, the larger the debt the more likely they are to sue. Plus, some collection agencies just send more things to attorneys than others so there is no accurate way to tell if they will or not.

They aren't required to tell you that they will sue because that is a legal collection effort at any time. However, they almost always will because it puts more pressure on you to pay the debt. The cannot tell you that the are going to sue unless they really are.

If you do try and work out something on settling the debt for less money, make sure you get it in writing. Anything they say over the phone is as good as the paper it's written on. They have no legal obligation to abide by a verbal agreement, so if they can get you to send them a check by saying they will settle for less they don't have to actually settle for that amount. Get everything in writing before you send them money.

Answer 3

what is the agency and how much those are the 2 determining factors?

If it is Capital One you are referring too, it always seems to be them, they will mess around with it for months running up those over the limit and late charges, then offer you a settlement for 50-75 percnet of the amount owed. Then they WILL turn it to the Lawyer's office in your area and they WILL take you to court. Others just keep circulating the debt to evey agency in the country.

Answer 4

trust no collection agency, should an agency make some kind of a deal with you, be sure that the deal is in writing so that way you have a binding contract.... good luck.....

Answer 5

Less ? I've never heard of that . . .

All the ones I've seen escalated debt with high % and late fees . . .
AND I've seen small claims court allow up to 500% for late charges , which collections was awarded by the court ( & then allows them to garnish wages )

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Answer 6

Any thing you do with a credit agencies must be done in writing and if you do speak to them write down every single piece of info the two of you discus and I do mean every single thing,ie time,date who you spoke with etc...and PLEASE ask for deletion..

As for suing they don't give you any warning just like Yahoo answers when they suspend your account they just do it but unlike Yahoo answers you do get served papers and you are able to negotiate a deal.

Answer 7

Get everything in writing !!! Get them to validate the
debt before you agree to anything.

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