Request for help with settlement offer. Need answer from someone with legal knowledge.

[Anonymous]

Quick History:

I am not a lawyer but have POA to handle my girlfriends debt negotiations. 

I have credit card settlement agreement letter for 50% of debt...of a "Joint Account"...and no I am not a debt settlement company.

She is divorced, and has had a joint credit card ( of which all charges are hers).

The divorce decree states that each person would be responsible for their own credit card debts.

Being unemployed for last 9 months has required us to work with, or settle all accounts.

All but this last Credit Card  " Discover" are resolved.

Current situation:

Contacted DCC ( Discover Credit Card) on 12/15/2010 at 4:25pm and acquired approval for settlement. DCC recorded conversation with their employee " Alexander" who acquired approval for settlement from supervisor.

Pay $237 now, and we will send settlement ltr to you. The remaining balance of agreed settlement amount of $5,132 will be due by January 31st for compliance of settlement agreement. And a tax form would be sent to for the remaining balance to my girlfriend.....no mention of ex-husband.

We needed the extra time to sell some assets to meet our agreement with DCC....and we have accomplished it. Thank goodness!

Paid the $237 as settlement agreement payment in December.

Waited for letter... no letter.....called back on Saturday 1/08/2011 to follow up on settlement letter.......person answers and states that the agreement was only good through 12/31/2010......it gets better!

I had her inform her supervisor of the prior agreement...time...date...employee, and that it was recorded by them, and I have a witness. As far as I am concerned we have a binding agreement.

DCC supervisor honored agreemnet and sent letter.

Here is the point where I am requesting help!!!!!

Only during the 2nd call made on 1/08/2011 did they ever state the the ex-husband would have to contact them and agree to the settlement agreement before they could accept any settlement funds.

THey already accepted $237 as part of settlement funds back on 12/15/2010.

I explained that there was a divorce decree clearing any responsibility to ex and that all charges were ours, and that nothing was ever...ever previouslty stated or requested for ex to be involved when settlement agreement was accepted back on 12/15/2010.

What grounds do I have at this point to push this settlement to be finalized......

1.) They already accepted an agreement and amount on 12/15/2010. To accept funds from girlfriend...... well call her lady " L'.

2.) I have a decree signed by Judge stating who is responsible....in state of Minnesota....so lady  "L" is responsible.

3.) Lady  "L" will be responsible for paying or reporting the tax form sent from DCC. so they shouldn't even send anything to ex...they file separately anyway.

DCC stated in 2nd call made on 1/08/2011 that they will not accept funds unless they hear from both ex and Lady "L".

With all the information that I have documented....I am willing to send certified letter to DCC stating that if they decline to acept our pre arranged settlement agreement...then were ready to go to court and let a judge decide.

The ex will NEVER be called to participate in any way period......that said......what are my options.....legal preferred.

Thanks to all.... for the past 7 months of education.....as you can see it has helped us get to this last CCC to settle.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Quick History:

I am not a lawyer but have POA to handle my girlfriends debt negotiations. 

I have credit card settlement agreement letter for 50% of debt...of a "Joint Account"...and no I am not a debt settlement company.

She is divorced, and has had a joint credit card ( of which all charges are hers).

The divorce decree states that each person would be responsible for their own credit card debts.

Being unemployed for last 9 months has required us to work with, or settle all accounts.

All but this last Credit Card  " Discover" are resolved.

Current situation:

Contacted DCC ( Discover Credit Card) on 12/15/2010 at 4:25pm and acquired approval for settlement. DCC recorded conversation with their employee " Alexander" who acquired approval for settlement from supervisor.

Pay $237 now, and we will send settlement ltr to you. The remaining balance of agreed settlement amount of $5,132 will be due by January 31st for compliance of settlement agreement. And a tax form would be sent to for the remaining balance to my girlfriend.....no mention of ex-husband.

We needed the extra time to sell some assets to meet our agreement with DCC....and we have accomplished it. Thank goodness!

Paid the $237 as settlement agreement payment in December.

Waited for letter... no letter.....called back on Saturday 1/08/2011 to follow up on settlement letter.......person answers and states that the agreement was only good through 12/31/2010......it gets better!

I had her inform her supervisor of the prior agreement...time...date...employee, and that it was recorded by them, and I have a witness. As far as I am concerned we have a binding agreement.

DCC supervisor honored agreemnet and sent letter.

Here is the point where I am requesting help!!!!!

Only during the 2nd call made on 1/08/2011 did they ever state the the ex-husband would have to contact them and agree to the settlement agreement before they could accept any settlement funds.

THey already accepted $237 as part of settlement funds back on 12/15/2010.

I explained that there was a divorce decree clearing any responsibility to ex and that all charges were ours, and that nothing was ever...ever previouslty stated or requested for ex to be involved when settlement agreement was accepted back on 12/15/2010.

What grounds do I have at this point to push this settlement to be finalized......

1.) They already accepted an agreement and amount on 12/15/2010. To accept funds from girlfriend...... well call her lady " L'.

2.) I have a decree signed by Judge stating who is responsible....in state of Minnesota....so lady  "L" is responsible.

3.) Lady  "L" will be responsible for paying or reporting the tax form sent from DCC. so they shouldn't even send anything to ex...they file separately anyway.

DCC stated in 2nd call made on 1/08/2011 that they will not accept funds unless they hear from both ex and Lady "L".

With all the information that I have documented....I am willing to send certified letter to DCC stating that if they decline to acept our pre arranged settlement agreement...then were ready to go to court and let a judge decide.

The ex will NEVER be called to participate in any way period......that said......what are my options.....legal preferred.

Thanks to all.... for the past 7 months of education.....as you can see it has helped us get to this last CCC to settle.

---

Totally irrelevant.

A divorce decree stating financial obligations assigned to the parties is virtually never binding on any creditor where the account predates the divorce decree. 

Where you may have legal recourse is in an action for breach of contract, but your position there is precarious unless you have a recording of the actual agreement in your own hands.  Even so, the creditor's liability may be limited to simply refunding the initial $237 paid.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for responding!

That is exactly what I needed to know, not what I was hoping for..... but facts are what they are.

For the next week I'll continue to decide how I should approach this with DCC.

My first thoughts are:

1.) Go ahead and send certified letter stating that we are prepared to fulfill the agreement which was made on 12/15/2010 to settle and finalize the account. In the letter I will establish the intended date of call for transfer of funds as documentation. At  that date... if they chose to decline acceptance of the funds as agreed, then at least I will have supporting documentation if this leads to court.

Question:

Now that I have a letter from DCC stating that they accepted $5132 as final payment on the account.........and if they decline....can I file in local conciliation court to push the issue based on $5132 amount...because the total bill is 10k which is higher than allowed for conciliation court.

I know it sounds bad to settle when we are responsible for the debt...but we pulled all our 401K funds to put an end to this instead of  going through Bankruptcy for which we qualified for without affecting any assets.

Still open for any guidance....and thank you again IAALBNYL..:0)

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Thank you for responding!

That is exactly what I needed to know, not what I was hoping for..... but facts are what they are.

For the next week I'll continue to decide how I should approach this with DCC.

My first thoughts are:

1.) Go ahead and send certified letter stating that we are prepared to fulfill the agreement which was made on 12/15/2010 to settle and finalize the account. In the letter I will establish the intended date of call for transfer of funds as documentation. At  that date... if they chose to decline acceptance of the funds as agreed, then at least I will have supporting documentation if this leads to court.

Question:

Now that I have a letter from DCC stating that they accepted $5132 as final payment on the account.........and if they decline....can I file in local conciliation court to push the issue based on $5132 amount...because the total bill is 10k which is higher than allowed for conciliation court.

I know it sounds bad to settle when we are responsible for the debt...but we pulled all our 401K funds to put an end to this instead of  going through Bankruptcy for which we qualified for without affecting any assets.

Still open for any guidance....and thank you again IAALBNYL..:0)

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Going for a settlement is in no way a bad thing.  Banks settle debts they owe to others all the time.  Heck, banks even send jingle mail to their landlords!

I would send the creditor a letter reaffirming what was discussed and ask them to either do as they promised or refund the money you paid since they obtained it under false pretenses. 

I would sue them for the difference between what the original debt was and the amount you are willing to pay to satisfy the debt.  I believe that upon being served they would rather just accept the money and close out your client's liability.  Any deficiency they could always try and collect from the other party.  Legally, i see no reason why they couldn't do that.  Are they performing a PFD on this issue?  Credit reporting could be a concern of theirs.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the quick response.

I's not  PFD, and was stated that they would report the account balance as zero, and  that the account will show as settled for less than the full amount with CRA's..... and a 1099C would be sent after payment  received for tax filing. If this one goes through as agreed at least the 1099C will fall into 2011 tax reporting, all others are hitting this year 2010. Still unemployed but were doing our best to make it all happen. Creit score dropped from high 700's to below 600 fast. Back up to 650's after settlements, and paying down all others to $100-$200 balance. Just DCC left to dael with.

DCC was one of the toughest to deal with which is completly understandable in todays economy. I was relieved just to get the settlement offer. Now it's just getting it finished.

Thank you again.....IAALBNYL.....we all greatly appreciate your sharing of knowledge.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Thanks for the quick response.

I's not  PFD, and was stated that they would report the account balance as zero, and  that the account will show as settled for less than the full amount with CRA's..... and a 1099C would be sent after payment  received for tax filing. If this one goes through as agreed at least the 1099C will fall into 2011 tax reporting, all others are hitting this year 2010. Still unemployed but were doing our best to make it all happen. Creit score dropped from high 700's to below 600 fast. Back up to 650's after settlements, and paying down all others to $100-$200 balance. Just DCC left to dael with.

DCC was one of the toughest to deal with which is completly understandable in todays economy. I was relieved just to get the settlement offer. Now it's just getting it finished.

Thank you again.....IAALBNYL.....we all greatly appreciate your sharing of knowledge.

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There is nothing that legally prevents DCC from complying with the original agreement.  IME, going further up the food chain will probably yield the results you are looking for without having to actually file suit against them.  I would send a complaint to the BBB, the federal agency which supervises Discover Bank (I think DCs are under DB, no?) and the CEO of Discover.  Again, IME, that should produce results.

I can see where having the other account co-applicant 's involvement could be very problematic.  Still, can anybody approach him and ask him to at least call and give consent?   The court order that seemingly absolves him of responsibility for that debt is pretty much not worth the paper it is printed on.  If DCC does decide to take legal action to collect the debt, they will sue him and get a judgment against him.