Receiving an inheritance and I want to settle my debt we

[Anonymous]

My father passed away a year ago. I am listed as a beneficiary on his 401k. My portion will be approximately  $38,000 to work with. I owe about $25,000 in unsecured debt, not counting my car. I owe about $15,000 on that and its worth about $10,000. 

I have two judgments against me at present, one with Best Egg and one with Capital One. I know I should start with these. What do I need to do to negotiate? How do I pay for deletions? Please be as specific as you can because I don't know alot about rebuilding. Or if you have any helpful links you could direct t mr to that'd be great. Thank you so much! 

[DebtStinks]

From what I understand Cap1 does not do PFD. I've had a loan with Best Egg in the past, but I'm not sure about them since it was paid in full without any delinquencies.

As far as both, age since charge off will help your negotiations, ESPECIALLY if you're outside the SOL for lawsuit and judgments.

My following advice is ALWAYS based on initial delinquent balance at charge off, etc...

I'd say as a general guess I would offer a settlement in the...

40-60% range if the charge off is 1 year old or less

35-50% range if 1-2 years since charge off

30-45% range if 2-3 years since charge off

25-40% range if 3-4 years since charge off

20-30% range if 4+ years since charge off

Your offers can vary from this but it's a good starting range. 

Keep in mind it's VERY important to factor in the SOL for judgments in your state and for the type of debt incurred. Revolving debts SOL can be very different from installment loan/promissory note SOL for each state...do your research and have as much info as possible when calling/writing to make settlement offers. If something (whatever it is) is on your side like you're outside the SOL and can't be sued, let them know when you're making your offer and make your offer a "take it or leave it" scenario.

You can also request (often need to mail it) a cease and desist which legally stops all communication from a debt collector unless it's to notify you of lawsuit and this only applies if you're within the SOL for the particular type of debt.

I hope this helps, but ask away with any other questions you may have and tag me in the post if you wan't a quick repsonse.

Best of luck!

[Anonymous]

Thank you so much! This was extremely helpful and informative and I appreciate your time and effort in responding! 

Can you please advise maybe on how I need to deal with these two judgments I have against me? They both were served to me recently, one this past Saturday and the other in July. I don't understand what I'm required to do. Its stated that I have 30 days to respond, but I don't know how to respond. I have not received the 401k payout yet. Its been a year and I'm not sure when I can expect it but I am definitely going to negotiate with the judgment creditors. Can you tell me what my next step should be? Thank you again so much! @DebtStinks 

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[DebtStinks]

You can do several different things.

if you respond and/or show up to court, you can prevent a default judgment

but preferably

You'll get in touch with each of the creditors/law firms to set up some type of future (when inheritance received) settlement in exchange for them dismissing without prejudice.

best of luck!