Starting around October of last year I ran into some major money problems and fell behind on everything. At first I did the wrong thing and hid from the creditors because I was broke and didn't know what to do. At the beginning of this year I got back on my feet a little and started contacting my creditors to work things out. People from places like Wells Fargo, Chase, Citifinancial, etc. were very easy to work with and worked out payment plans with me, lowered interest rates, etc. In fact, none of those other creditors even got to the point where they turned things over to collections.

Citibank, on the other hand, turned me over to collections almost immediately and have refused to work with me. They have now turned me over to an attorney's office. The guy at the attorney's office has been good to work with and has been pretty clear about what my options are and that things would be much simpler if this were anyone but Citibank, but that Citibank is a pain to work with. He basically gave me 3 options. I can settle with them for $6200 (amount owed right now is $8400), they can take me to court and seek a judgement against me, or I can make equal payments to pay this off in 24 months, but they are still going to take me to court and seek a judgement.

I've been trying very hard to come up with the $6200 by the deadline that I was given (3/31/07), but can't do it. The most appealing option would be to pay it off over the 2 years, but I don't know what the downsides would be (other than having a judgement on my credit which is already messed up). The attorney's office tells me that the judgement would just be there and they wouldn't seek any other action against me (like garnishment, liens, etc) since I am making payments. Does that sound right? I think that I can come up with the $6200 by 5/4/07 if I had to, but I'm not sure that the attorney's office will wait.

Can anyone offer me any advice here? I really appreciate it.

Thanks,

Rick

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Originally Posted by rickagoodman

Starting around October of last year I ran into some major money problems and fell behind on everything. At first I did the wrong thing and hid from the creditors because I was broke and didn't know what to do. At the beginning of this year I got back on my feet a little and started contacting my creditors to work things out. People from places like Wells Fargo, Chase, Citifinancial, etc. were very easy to work with and worked out payment plans with me, lowered interest rates, etc. In fact, none of those other creditors even got to the point where they turned things over to collections.

Citibank, on the other hand, turned me over to collections almost immediately and have refused to work with me. They have now turned me over to an attorney's office. The guy at the attorney's office has been good to work with and has been pretty clear about what my options are and that things would be much simpler if this were anyone but Citibank, but that Citibank is a pain to work with. He basically gave me 3 options. I can settle with them for $6200 (amount owed right now is $8400), they can take me to court and seek a judgement against me, or I can make equal payments to pay this off in 24 months, but they are still going to take me to court and seek a judgement.

I've been trying very hard to come up with the $6200 by the deadline that I was given (3/31/07), but can't do it. The most appealing option would be to pay it off over the 2 years, but I don't know what the downsides would be (other than having a judgement on my credit which is already messed up). The attorney's office tells me that the judgement would just be there and they wouldn't seek any other action against me (like garnishment, liens, etc) since I am making payments. Does that sound right? I think that I can come up with the $6200 by 5/4/07 if I had to, but I'm not sure that the attorney's office will wait.

Can anyone offer me any advice here? I really appreciate it.

Thanks,

Rick

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Rick, they will be glad to accept your payment plan, keep in mind that you are about the eleventeenth bizillion past due customer they have had, this week. You have run up against rigid policy and they just don't have the time to consider your sensitive feelings. Just remain calm and do the right thing for you. Clear it by May 07 and make sure after you have paid in full and received the paid papers, that they inform the credit bureaus that you have made payment, and "you" police your credit each month. Oh and one more thing, if it is not a mortgage, or you can afford the car payments, pay cash, for the rest of your life.

Hello Rick:

You're between a rock and a hard place. If they get a judgment, chances are it will be for a lot more than you owe now. Plus, it they get a judgment, and you fail to make one payment, they can just waltz right into your bank and clean out your account AND garnish your paycheck.

I don't know if I'd want to give these scumbags that kind of power over me. IF you can settle BEFORE court, that would be a REALLY good thing to do.

excon

First don't be impressed because that they have a collection firm, and then an attorney, check the addresses, normally either in the same building or next door, they have basically their own people, they can't really be part of them, but I would bet they have no other clients.

These people make their money off what they collect, and they want to be paid. Tell them what you can afford, mention talking to a bankruptcy attorney and they said you should be able to work a better plan but if not to call them back, they are playing hard, what is the worst, if you can't pay the amount they want, they are going for a judgement anyway,? So play hard back and see if you can get a better deal. They know the moment you go bankrupt they won't get a penny.

Okay, so things are progressing with this. It turns out that I can't come up with the $6200 by 5/4/07 either so I'm having to look into other options. The collector and I have been discussing monthly payment options, but this morning I was still served with a summons to appear in court. I called the collector and he told me that he can still work out monthly payments, but that Citibank requires them to get the judgement anyway just to cover themselves.

He said that as they will get the judgement and put a lien on my home, but that as long as I make my monthly payments to them, which are the total that I owe divided by 24 months with 12% interest added, they will not take things any further. He tells me that there will be no further consequences other than the damage to credit report and that at the end of the 24 months the judgement will be satisfied and they will release the lien. I'm very concerned that I may somehow lose my home or have other negative consequences from having this judgement placed against me.

The collector also advised me to check the box on the summons that indicates that the creditor and I have payment arrangements and I do not request a jury trial and then return that to the court instead of appearing in person.

Does anyone have any experience with a situation like this? I couldn't find anything about someone agreeing to make monthly payments to the creditor and the creditor still seeking a judgement. I just want to be absolutely sure that I don't end up paying them $450 a month to try to get this caught up and somehow end up losing my house, car, etc.

Thanks, Rick.