My husband has a charge-off of $6700 from a lease termination in 2004. I sent a letter of dispute in July when the collection agency contacted us, and I just received their verification yesterday. This debt is valid...but I REALLY don't want to pay it...(who does??) :) The statute of limitations here is 5 years (Florida) so I'm not sure if I can stall them long enough on this. Any suggestions? How likely is it that they will seek a judgement to garnish wages or put a lien on, if I simply ignore their verification?? probably not a good idea...huh? What should I do now?
2007-12-15 14:34:50 · 6 answers · asked by thechick 2 in Business & Finance ➔ Credit
If I offer to settle, what would be a reasonable offer on my end?
2007-12-15 14:53:18 · update #1
Every creditor/collector is different so it's impossible to predict what their response will be. Having $6,700 of debt within the statue of limitations puts them in a good position to take legal action.
If I were you I'd make a preemptive move and offer a settlement starting in the $2.5K - 3K range...if they balk at this go for more. It's probably safe to assume that in any such settlement offer that they'd want the entire settlement up front rather than allowing you to pay in installments, so don't waste time making settlement offer amounts that you cannot pay up front.....
Doing such a settlement would be a lot better and will involve much less stress than dealing with a judgment and garnished wages. If you do a settlement, get any and all terms IN WRITING FIRST prior to paying them one penny.
2007-12-15 14:52:42 · answer #1 · answered by CatDad 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
It's pretty likely you will get sued. I just got sued by CitiBank for $5,400 plus court costs. I only charged $3,000 but late fees and interest raised it considerably. They refused to let me make payments because I was so far behind. I ignored them and about a year later got served with court papers. I had a judgment filed against me, but they can't put a lien on your property for 10 days after the judgment is approved by the judge. So I went and filed bankruptcy Chapter 7 and had all my bills discharged - every credit account for a total of over $40,000. I even had the judgment discharged, so I'm better off with a new start and no creditors calling all hours of the day and night.
If you simply ignore them, they won't go away. I learned that the hard way. Good luck.
2007-12-15 15:11:31 · answer #2 · answered by MissKathleen 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I hate to say it they are looking at sueing you right now, they were able to verify the debt very quickly. I would see if you can find 3-4.5k loan, family ect. call them up tell them you would like to setting on this debt and 3k is all you got. they most lilely will counter offer 4,500 ect-get it pd and be done with it. Any offer get in writting! they could add court/attorney fees making that 6700 inflate 10k. once they win in court they will have the right to garnish wages put leins on bank accounts and property.
2007-12-15 15:00:12 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Odds are pretty good that they will sue you, especially now that they have proof.
The economy is in the tank and I foresee many more creditors suing, especially when the bill is above $5000.
Try to work out a payment arangement with them BEFORE they file a lawsuit. Once they file you will also get slammed with additional interest, lawyer's fees and court costs.
2007-12-15 14:44:23 · answer #4 · answered by Gem 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No, not a good idea to just ignore the verification. For that amount, they are pretty likely to seek a court judgememt on it.
2007-12-15 14:48:36 · answer #5 · answered by Judy 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ask if you can get a settlement, (they should take a lower amount if you pay it off at once). Don't try to put it off the interest on the dept will grow. It will hurt your credit.
2007-12-15 14:46:21 · answer #6 · answered by James 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋