It sounds like 'better' for you means lower settlement amount, so I would say in general the older the debt the less they will take. You'll need to wait until it is Charged Off for them to accept a settlement, that is when it is off their books. 5 months is getting very close to that, but it's likely too recent for them to accept a significant reduced payment for the debt.
If this is your only derogatory account I would advise trying to get into a payment plan BEFORE it gets charged off. That is a major derog and will drag your scores significantly for 7 years. Plus you'd avoid burning Citi for future account considerations.
@Johnny35 wrote:I was wondering.. Is it better to settle a delinquent account before collections or after? My citi card is 5 months delinquent. Is it better to deal with them offering them 25% or deal with it in collections? Thanks for your help.
Since CITI still owns the account the chances are slim to none they take 25% right now when they still have 2.5 years or as long as 10 years depending on your state to sue you for the debt. If this account were past the SOL for a debt collection lawsuit and a few years old your chances on them taking that amount would be decent. Settling is about leverage and right now you have none. With the current economic conditions consumers are about to see the same fall out from 2008 if things do not improve soon. That means debt collection lawsuits in a tidal wave due to the high number of defaults. Dealing with this now is way better in my opinion than waiting until something potentially worse happens like a lawsuit that gives you no leverage at all.
