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Credit Repair Do-it-Yourself without Bankruptcy
26. Negotiate and Settle Your Debts Collectors only have a limited amount of time to attempt collection of payments, because of the statute of limitations. First, determine if the statute of limitations for collecting this debt in your state has passed. If the last payment or charge you made on an account is older than the statute of limitations, tell the collector. Then tell them that they are wasting their time by harassing you for an un-collectable debt, since the original creditor or the assigned collection agency cannot succeed in court by getting a judgment. Certain debts are good candidates for settlement, for example, most unsecured debts can be settled. An unsecured debt is a debt where there is no collateral. Unsecured debts include medical bills, credit cards, department store cards, personal loans, collection accounts, deficiency balances remaining after foreclosure or repossession, and bounced checks. There are a few creditors who will never compromise, but most will take a less-than-full payment as settlement-in-full, but make sure you get any settlement in writing. You have the natural advantage in debt settlement, because you have something the creditor wants, and you must hold out for your terms until the creditor gives you what you want. But once you've written that settlement check, your advantage disappears. Get the settlement terms in writing, long before you even consider sending a payment. Everything must be in writing and, even then, you will likely have some work to make the creditor live up to their end of the bargain. Getting any penalties and additional interest removed or reduced should be your first goal in negotiating on the debt. Most companies would agree to you paying the original debt, even without the extra penalties, and will often be willing to waive these fees, just to get some money paid. As long as you have made no payment or agreement to pay, time is on your side. The longer the debt remains unpaid, the better your chances will be of getting a good settlement. Eventually, the creditor will have to consider the bad debt a loss in order to receive a corporate tax write-off. This does not necessarily mean that they won't pursue you for the debt. The corporation may then collect on the debt themselves, sell or assign the debt to a collection agency, press for a judgment and garnishment, or temporarily ignore the debt. The course of action chosen by the creditor will vary widely from corporation to corporation and debt to debt. If you are contacted by more than one collection agency on the same debt, it may mean that the original creditor has retained a secondary or even third collection agency. This may indicate that the original creditor and perhaps the first collection agency have given up their collection efforts. A collection agency agreeing to take this bad debt at this stage will likely insist that the original creditor pay a fee (usually 50%-60% of what is owed). Many of these collection agencies will in turn accept 33-55 cents on the dollar, and if the collector has been unable to contact you by phone, but knows that you are receiving their letters, they may be willing to take even less. Never appear too eager to settle. If you let slip that you really need to get this settled to get into your dream home, forget any kind of reasonable settlement, the creditor will most likely insist on the full balance. Just keep reminding the creditor that the statute of limitations is approaching, and after that date, the debt will become un-collectable. To be effective, know when the statue is up on each debt, and be prepared to share that information with the creditor. 27. Negotiate Your Credit Reporting Always ask for a "Good Pay Rating". The ideal is to get the creditor to report your account after the settlement as "Paid as Agreed" or "Account Closed - Paid as Agreed". Some creditors may not change the status to "Paid as Agreed". At least, get the creditor list the account as "Paid". Since this is an accurate statement on the status of the account, many creditors will agree to this wording. Of course, insist that the account show "Paid" only, and that all other negative notations (such as "Charge-off," "Repossession," late payments, or "Collection") are deleted at the same time. A simple "Paid" notation on a regular trade line is neutral and should not hurt your credit. If they think it to their advantage to restore your rating, they will do this. For example, "I know you would like to receive the $1500 balance on the account, but it will not help my credit report if you can't change the account reporting to 'Paid as Agreed'. This is all I have and I will pay it to the other creditors who agree to change my credit rating in writing." Collection agencies will more readily agree to delete the negative reporting than banks or credit card companies, since the collector can change their reporting, but you remain stuck with the original creditor's negative reporting. Better to negotiate with the original creditor, because the reporting on your "applied for" accounts that primarily determine your credit rating. Finally, upon settlement of the account, verify that all three of your credit reports have been correctly updated. Send a copy of the letter you received showing the account has a zero balance to the credit bureau to have the collection account removed. The Fair Credit Reporting Act requires that you have no more than one listing per delinquent account (you can have the original creditor report you late but you cannot have a collection listed for this same account). 28. Paying Your Debts Once You Have Settled Tips on Paying Never disclose where you work or bank. Never pay your settlements with a personal check Make sure you keep a copy of your money order or cashier's check and put it in a safe place! I negotiated a settlement with a creditor for less than I owed. The creditor is now suing me for the balance. Is this legal? Yes! You need to read the following information carefully. Some collection agencies will agree to settle with you for far less than you owe and then turn around and hire another collection agency to collect the difference. However, in many states this is illegal. Once a creditor deposits or cashes a full payment check, even if she strikes out the words payment in full or writes "I don't agree" on the check, she can't come after you for the balance. The states in which this law is enforced:
Some states have modified this rule. In the following states, if a creditor cashes a full payment check and explicitly retains his right to sue you by writing "under protest or without prejudice" with his endorsement, then he can come after you for the balance. But those exact words must be used. If he writes "without recourse," communicates with you separately, notifies you verbally or writes on the check that it is partial payment, it is not enough.
29. Statute of Limitations The statute of limitations (SOL) for a delinquent debt is the time limit for the creditor to file a lawsuit. This period starts when the debtor becomes delinquent. The fact that the SOL has "run" (expired) on a particular debt will not necessarily prevent a lawsuit from being filed (via a Summons And Complaint), but the defendant can have the suit dismissed on this basis. The Statute Of Limitations only covers lawsuits, and SOL expiration does not affect other types of collection action or reporting of the account to credit bureaus. The creditor or collection agency may theoretically continue with letters and telephone calls forever (although third-party collectors are subject to the "cease and desist" provision of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.) However, they will generally put much less effort into collecting "Out-Of-Statute" debts, and may give up easily. Out-Of-Statute debts can still be reported to credit bureaus for the time limits specified in the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Credit cards are generally considered Open Accounts. Auto loans and other installment agreements are Written Contracts. If there has already been a lawsuit resulting in a judgement, that judgement has a separate Statute Of Limitations. (The numbers on this chart indicates years.)
30. Statute of Limitations on Judgements After a creditor wins a lawsuit against a debtor and is awarded a judgement by the court, there is a time limit for collecting that judgement. However, many states allow judgements to be renewed one or more times, which could substantially extend the enforceability of a judgement, if the creditor is vigilant about the renewals. This can potentially result in a permanent legal obligation until it is paid.
Iron Mill News Service Credit News
Note: Send all debt settlement letters via "Certified Mail return receipt requested" and keep a copy for your records and send one copy to the original creditor. |