topic Re: My settlement journey... in Rebuilding Your Credit

My settlement journey...

Anonymous — Mon, 28 Jun 2021 20:53:29 GMT

So BK 7 is not an option after my meeting with lawyer and decided to do settlement myself. I thought about paying lawyer to do this, but pricey with no guarantees so I put on my big boy pants and got started. I'm like alot of you and have been researching to find common grounds, but the $$ numbers to settle are all over the place so I hope this will help others as to what I did/accomplised:

-Chase CC - $9400 bal. -> settled @ 10% = $920 in 2 payments of $460

-Chase CC - $3100 bal. -> settled @ 10%= $310 in 2 payments of $155

-Chase CC - $6800 bal. -> settled @ 10 % = $680 in 4 payments of $170

-Chase CC - $7700 bal. -> settled @ 10 % = $770 in 4 payments of $193

-US Bank CC - $7400 bal. -> settled @ 30 % = $2220 in 5 payments of $444

I'm not insolvent so there's a big tax bill coming, this is only half of my accounts so I took the easy ones first and continue negotiations on the harder accounts. All accounts are 1 year deliquent and all charged off. I made sure to get everything in writing plus my 1st payment is 3 weeks out from date of agreement so I have time to send in payments. Everything is negotiable, including number of payments, settlement amount, and date of payments so stick to your guns. I will update as more accounts are settled.

Re: My settlement journey...

Slowlyrebuilding — Mon, 28 Jun 2021 21:57:12 GMT

Wow, you are a great negotiator. I have a debt that was originally $1500, now the debt buyer wants $2310 but has offered a settlement of $2325. I apparently am not a great negotiator. :-(

Re: My settlement journey...

Anonymous — Fri, 16 Jul 2021 18:28:47 GMT

Update:

So I just settled 2 more.

-Citibank CC - $10100 bal. -> settled @ 41.5% = $4200 in 6 payments of $700

-Bank of Amer. CC - $8900 bal. -> settled @ 33+ % = $3000 in 1 payment

Re: My settlement journey...

Slowlyrebuilding — Fri, 16 Jul 2021 20:01:34 GMT

In all seriousness what are you saying that they are accepting these offers? I have 3 collections I want to settle for payment in full and here's the offers I got

1) balance 1554. They offered $1380

2) balance 2200. They offered $2000

3) balance 2250. This is the one I mentioned in my last post. I was able to get them down to $1600.

I have $4000 to pay these off but o can't get them to budge! The last one is from a debt buyer who isn't even licensed in my state and can't file suit so I'm shocked they won't negotiate lower.

if you have any tips to share I would greatly appreciate it!!!

Re: My settlement journey...

Anonymous — Fri, 16 Jul 2021 21:12:58 GMT

I did the same in 2020 - be prepared for the 1099's next year.

how have they impacted your score?

Re: My settlement journey...

Anonymous — Fri, 16 Jul 2021 21:25:08 GMT

Yes, those are the negotiated settlements that I agreed to and paid/or are paying. Your settlement numbers seems a little high.

Re: My settlement journey...

Anonymous — Fri, 16 Jul 2021 21:29:23 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I did the same in 2020 - be prepared for the 1099's next year.

how have they impacted your score?

Not really paying attention to my scores yet because the settlement payments are progressing. Once it's all done and over with then I will start to rebuild. Definitely not looking forward to the 1099's with over $40k added to income. Yikes. One problem at a time, I guess.

Re: My settlement journey...

Anonymous — Mon, 26 Jul 2021 14:48:11 GMT

Your post inspired me to work harder at settling. Sued by Glasser and Glasser for 12k Discover card debt. Tried to offer them a settlement over phone but they wouldn't even listen to me unless I admitted it was my debt. Did you have a similar experience when offering settlements? Having to admit the debt was yours first that doesn't seem right.

Re: My settlement journey...

7774x — Mon, 26 Jul 2021 15:51:15 GMT

Chase good for settling ..20% of chargeoff good... under 20% ,very good..JPM makes circa $30B a year helps

Re: My settlement journey...

shalimarcat — Tue, 27 Jul 2021 05:41:31 GMT

Wow, good for you. You have done wonderfully! In my case, I chose to enter a debt settlement program where a lawyer negotiates for me. I have been in it for two years, and they have saved me over 10k, which I am thrilled with. I did not have the confidence you have to settle it on my own. Good luck with your rebuilding.

Re: My settlement journey...

Anonymous — Tue, 27 Jul 2021 18:39:30 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Your post inspired me to work harder at settling. Sued by Glasser and Glasser for 12k Discover card debt. Tried to offer them a settlement over phone but they wouldn't even listen to me unless I admitted it was my debt. Did you have a similar experience when offering settlements? Having to admit the debt was yours first that doesn't seem right.

It is my understanding that once it reaches law firm and you are in litigation, it is very difficult to negotiate. All my settlements were negotiated before it reached any law firm, the majority of my debts were still with original creditor. Good luck to you.

Re: My settlement journey...

Anonymous — Tue, 27 Jul 2021 18:55:31 GMT

For those that want to try to settle and to get the lowest amount of settlement on all your accounts, you have to do it as fast as possible. You don't want your creditors to see you are paying again on some accounts via your credit report. Once they know you are settling on some accounts, their offers will increase. I settled all 8 accounts in a 2 months span, tough, but for me it was the best scenario.

Re: My settlement journey...

BrooklynDrip — Tue, 27 Jul 2021 19:53:35 GMT

Inspiring. I'm not in this phase but this is great info to know and possibly pass on to fam & friends who are.

Re: My settlement journey...

Anonymous — Tue, 21 Dec 2021 17:25:31 GMT

Finally sent out my last payment of my final settlement account. All 9 credit card accounts totaled over $64K settled in 6 months, and it was a rough six months. At times I didn't think I'd make it. With 8 accounts already settled, my credit went from 466 to 657. Hopefully after this last one, it goes up a little higher to get me started on rebuilding without going the secured card path. Now the tax man cometh. Not insolvent with property so I will be paying IRS for a little while, but the rough patch is over. Yay.

Re: My settlement journey...

Anonymous — Tue, 21 Dec 2021 17:53:19 GMT

Wow, amazing job! Keep up the great work.

Re: My settlement journey...

OmarGB9 — Wed, 22 Dec 2021 19:16:15 GMT

Congrats!

Re: My settlement journey...

Credit_Sleuth — Wed, 29 Dec 2021 01:22:56 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I did the same in 2020 - be prepared for the 1099's next year.

how have they impacted your score?
Not really paying attention to my scores yet because the settlement payments are progressing. Once it's all done and over with then I will start to rebuild. Definitely not looking forward to the 1099's with over $40k added to income. Yikes. One problem at a time, I guess.

I suggest looking into form 982, I was able to make myself insolvent so the 1099-C's did not mess up my taxes. Of course, this depends on your income.