Prepping to Come Out of Hiding. How Should I Handle OLD CC Debt??

[Anonymous]

Hello, My story is the story of many. During my college years I opened multiply cc's beginning in the year of 2001 from 2003. I had four accounts and began having trouble with keeping up with my payments. So I stopped paying them. I didn't contact any of the ccc's and in due time all of my accounts went into collections. When I stopped paying on the cards I had about $10K racked up. Now with years and years of interesting accruing, I now have close to $20K in cc debt over a span of about 5 years. Including my cc debt I have about $27k in student loans which I have been current on all of my payments. I also opened a MasterCard acct last summer and have been current on those payments as well. I'm not sure what to do! I rather not get into a debt management program, as I have heard mixed stories about them. I want to tackle the collection agencies on my own, but I want to know what rights I have. Do I have the power to negotiate a lower amount w/out having the ability to pay a one time lump sum? Do I HAVE to give them my checking acct info to start a repayment plan? I rather them no having access to my acct has I have read stories of companies taking money with authorization. I just want to start making inroads on this icky situation. Although I don't forsee a home or car purchase anytime soon, I really need to patch up my credit when I begin the job search again. Please Help! JAN08 EX-635 Trans?? EQ??

[fused]

Hi and Welcome! Please begin by reading the credit scoring 101 thread in my sig line. I will be moving your post to the general credit issues forum.

[athensguy]

Read the Newbie Guide

There are a few things that can affect how you should proceed. First, you should look up your State's SOL. Here is a list.

Statute of limitation determines whether someone can sue you over a particular debt. It varies from state to state. It will determine what you can say and how much bargaining power you have. Your SOL will generally be measured from the DOLA. If you make a payment, you may reset SOL. SOL is not to be confused with CRTP. The CRTP is set by DOFD, so your CAs and COs should start falling off of your report about 7-7.5 years after the first time you were late and never caught up.

If you already have a judgment against you, you have to pay that, and it can be reaged to never drop from your reports.

If a debt is past SOL, or you can afford to pay a debt, you can send a DV letter. Search here to find one. Remember to never sign correspondence with a CA. Send that letter CMRRR. They have 30 days from receipt to respond. Give them 35 days from the day they signed for it to receive a response. If they do not respond, or send an invalid response that does not meet the requirements, you can dispute with the CRAs. If the debt is validated at the CRAs, you then may have standing to sue the CA.

If they respond correctly to your DV, then you can offer a PFD. Offer what you can, preferably the whole amount, but you can offer whatever you like.

It is good that you have managed to get some positive TLs. They will help you significantly once the baddies start to go away.

TWO IMPORTANT NOTES:
1) get it in writing
2) don't talk to a CA on the phone (it's ok to talk to an OC on the phone)

Good Luck. You should post here each step along the way.

*Edit: Statues of Limitation tend to have no arms

Message Edited by erchambers on 03-25-2008 09:10 PM

[Anonymous]

Hi Fused, Thanks for the links, but my question revolves around how to negotiate/work with collection agencies. Could you shed any light??

[Anonymous]

Thanks erchambers! I first need to decode all the abbr. :-)

[athensguy]

If you are past SOL, or can afford to pay, you should get a credit report to get addresses and send a DV to each CA. If you can't afford to pay and are within SOL, then you should lay low. The DV will show if the CA can prove that you owe the debt, and whether they have the right to collect on it.

[Anonymous]

Hi erchambers, What is CRTP, I didn't see that in the list of abbr. Also, how do I know if I have a judgement against me?

[Anonymous]

One of the CA's (Unifund) sent a letter saying that I owed and I wrote back asking for proof of the debt. They sent it, but I never contacted them after that. A CA even called my cousin asking my whereabouts. SMH

[athensguy]

CRTP is credit reporting time period, or how long something stays on your credit reports.

If you have a particular reply from a CA, you can post it on these boards to see what people think about it.