I am being billed by a debt collection agency for an unpaid credit card balance. What are the chances of them making payment arrangements with me? Interest seemed to accrue on that account up until two months ago. Does everything stop and you just pay the amount back to the debt collector?

Is it better to send them a cease and desist letter and have the debt sent back to the original creditor? Does the interest then begin accruing again? Do they send it to another debt collection agency? Is the original creditor more likely to work out a payment arrangement with you?

I just don't know which way to go with this and I am completely clueless.

Say you do go to court and they find you guilty of whatever and order you to pay it back. Do they take payments or what?

Any advice and/or experience would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much!

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Originally Posted by amys123

I am being billed by a debt collection agency for an unpaid credit card balance. What are the chances of them making payment arrangements with me? Interest seemed to accrue on that account up until two months ago. Does everything stop and you just pay the amount back to the debt collector?

Is it better to send them a cease and desist letter and have the debt sent back to the original creditor? Does the interest then begin accruing again? Do they send it to another debt collection agency? Is the original creditor more likely to work out a payment arrangement with you?

I just don't know which way to go with this and I am completely clueless.

Say you do go to court and they find you guilty of whatever and order you to pay it back. Do they take payments or what?

Any advice and/or experience would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much!

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Depends on the creditor - some will accept a smaller, lump sum payment in full payment.

Some will enter into an agreement with you to make monthly payments but if you default, then they don't want to hear about it and won't deal with you again. They'll go straight to Court.

Some will get a Judgment and hold off on collecting on it if you make regular payments.

Some just file a garnishment against your wages or lien against your bank account.

It's hard to say -

Is it your debt and is it within the Statute in your State?

It is in my name, but I am unemployed. The only things in both our names are the house and the car, but we don't own either of those, we're still making payments. And yes, there's almost 3 years left on the SOL in pa.

I just don't know where to go from here.

Can you make arrangements with your original creditor or have they "washed their hands of the account" so to speak?

If the original creditor assigned the debt to collection or sold the debt to a third party then they will not deal with you.

So youir best bet is to offer a payment plan.

Have they filed suit yet or are they just dunning you?

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Originally Posted by amys123

It is in my name, but I am unemployed. The only things in both our names are the house and the car, but we don't own either of those, we're still making payments. And yes, there's almost 3 years left on the SOL in pa.

I just don't know where to go from here.

Can you make arrangements with your original creditor or have they "washed their hands of the account" so to speak?

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If they get a Judgment they can file a lien against the house. Simply stated, that means when and if the house is sold, they get paid "off the top."

They could move against the car but creditors almost never do, particularly if there is a loan against the car.

Here is my original question. I just don't know where to go from here... As far as I know, they haven't done anything at all yet. I really would like to have this matter solved as quickly as possible, but believe it or not, I don't have an extra $15,000 laying around as an unemployed SAHM... you know?



The text of the letter is as follows:

This letter is your opportunity to make arrangements to pay the balance before the account is forwarded to an attorney licensed in your jurisdiction who will review your account to determine whether to initiate a lawsuit to collect the outstanding balance.

If you have any intention of resolving this account, please contact us within 30 days from the date of this letter.

You may also make payment by visiting us online... (blah, blah, blah)...


I don't know what to do. A little background: This was from an AmEx account. I was not able to pay anymore because of family reasons (SAHM, new baby, not enough money). I stopped paying this account back in December 2007 or January 2008. They wanted me to settle the $13,500 debt for $10,800. Obviously, I didn't have the cash laying around, so I couldn't settle. They sent the debt to one collector (GFS) and now it's on its' second collector (NCO).

So, NCO sends me this letter and now I don't know what to do. Everything on the net says these guys are ruthless, but I have yet to speak to them. I seriously don't even answer my phone anymore.

I had two other accounts which I was able to settle for 50% of the original debt, but I am officially tapped out. To make the final payment on one, I had to borrow money to buy groceries.

I don't know if this is a scare tactic. Should I call them? Should I let them send me to court? I don't have a clue which way to turn.

Background on the credit account: My husband was listed as an authorized user, but then I removed him when we were going through a rough patch. I did not add him back on or anything before I stopped paying it, and removing him was probably 4-6 months before.

Any advice?

Ok, its simple, You owe it and they want it. Now with that being said since they want to be paid try offering them a payment plan but GET IT IN WRITING The sol's will not come into play here because you stated that you quit paying in dec. 07 or early 08 Ignoring this will be worst thing you can do. Try working out a payment plan and go from there

Sometimes they do, sometimes they settle for a smaller amount. I used to do debt collections for GGP and what I have noticed people do (and there is not a dang thing the agency can do about it) is if you only need to stretch it out over a few months. Try this

1. Dispute the debt (takes 30 days, make a small payment)
2. If it comes up valid (which is always) Request the original documents to verify the debt (that takes about 30 or so days so you can make one payment then) send partial payment
3. After those small payments, ask if they can settle since you have shown good faith in making payments. Chances are it's cut in half and can be taken care on in one last payment

In looking at that amount though, that may be tricky. Disputing will still buy you time, but the first thing I would be doing is seeing what the laws are in your state. If your husband or whomever is working, some states allow the spouses wages to be garnished. If your state does not, and they do not accept a payment arrangement then does it really matter if they do sue? All assets would be the spouses property and therefore untouchable, you don't have wages to garnish, and so on so suing would be ill advised. On another note, they cannot threaten to sue you.

Right now they are still in dunning mode. They may decide to file suit. You need to determine if you have any assets that they will want. If you don't, then filing suit will get them little if anything.