Offer to Settle at 40% Today

[ApresMoi]

Wow. I got an offer from one of the major card companies today to reduce my card balance by 60%. I have never asked them to reduce the principle. That's their first offer. It is not a 'cash upfront' dealie either, they are saying I can pay the remaining 40% off over time.

They should have been far more willing to 'deal' early on, when I was asking about lowering the APR and/or the monthly payments. It's too late now.

[Dannmcg357]

lol
Yeah I will never understand their hardass policies when you can negotiate and the willingness to do so when you can't or its too late.

[AngelinaCatHub]

The laws have changed and come into effect. So they cannot charge for overages as they did before.

Of course, if you have filed, and make a deal with ANY creditor, your bk is toast and all the rest will be on your back.

I am sure you know this but said for others who may not. Also, if they did forgive 60% a 1099 would follow. 'Hub

[andysmom]

Hi, Apresmoi
That's great about getting a settlement offer- too bad it's too late
We're in the position of trying to decide to file or not; we were supposed to have a meeting with a lawyer last Sat but he didn't show up or return or calls. He's calling now saying he was sick & now wants to reschedule- obviously we're not going with him. I have another appointment scheduled this Friday at noon w/ a diferent lawyer & one on the 18th.
I'm extremely nervous & anxious & don't know how to make the right decision- whether to file bk or try & fight our way out.
We're boderline in income with my husband's income- so I think we'll probably end up being a chapter 13. I'm a stay at home mom & I was selling on ebay. I just dropped off my taxes at my CPA, so I don't have a profit/loss yet- but it looks like I'll either break even or have a loss again this year of around $1000.00. Over the past 6 months, my net has only been about $500.00 total w/out taxes accounted for.
We have about 108,000 in credit card debt and can no longer make the minimums- this is the 1st month we'll be late. (unfortunately we were living off them trying to hang on as long as possible).
No student loans, Irs problems, child support, etc.
401k loan of about 419,00 being pd through payroll at $87/ wk.
We have a mortgage - around $780/mo with taxes & ins included and never been late or missed pymt.
No car payments- 2 older cars. KBB about $2300 & $2800.
Nothing of any real value in home.
There's 3 of us- me, my husband & toddler.
How do you decide to wheter to try & fight this out yourself or to file, if you are going to be a chapter 13?

I'm a nervous wreck & this is a huge decision to make & we're struggling to do things right and have taken all the info & advice you all have so kindly given so far. (we openened a new chking account this week)
Any insight or advice would greatly appreciated. We have no one hear to talk to this with & this site has been a godsend. I'm on here reading every post I possibly can.
Thanks so much!

[LittleB72]

I received the same offer from NCO on behalf of AMEX. A little too late for me as well.

[momofthree]

The DAY before i filed, I was offered 24% by Amex.

[ApresMoi]

The laws have changed and come into effect. So they cannot charge for overages as they did before.

Of course, if you have filed, and make a deal with ANY creditor, your bk is toast and all the rest will be on your back.

I am sure you know this but said for others who may not. Also, if they did forgive 60% a 1099 would follow. 'Hub

*********************

Actually, no I did not know that, so thanks. It's too late as my attorneys are on the brink of filing. I expect to hear any day. Also, I was suspicious that the offer might have come after they ran an asset check and saw there was nothing for them to get. No real estate, checking account balances, etc.. Pretty sure they can run asset checks for next to nothing.

The last conversation I had with, BofA I think it was, and I asked what the minimum they would take on a 'hardship' case as a monthly payment, and the figure she quoted me was not that much less than what I was already paying -- maybe $30 per month less. They were willing to reduce the APR, I forget by what amount. This was a 'one year' deal, after which the regular payments and APR would resume. Re the reduction in monthly payment, her exact words were: "I just can't go lower".

If I am not mistaken, and I find this curious, they never did raise my rate to 27% as they said they would. Maybe they realized it was an act of futility, or that they would look less predatory in the event there were ever an AP? I checked the last statement and it still shows the old APR. They did, however, charge a ton of late and over limit fees, close to a grand's worth. I stopped looking at the amounts some time ago. It was ridiculous.

[ApresMoi]

To AndysMom: You might do a google search to see if you can find a website to help you make that decision. I found a few (some attorney websites) that offered 'rules of thumb' to tell whether it was worth it to try to pay things off over the longer-term. It wasn't in my case. I'd do that, and also consult with at least three different attorneys. Once you get feedback from them, you'll have a better idea of what makes sense for you. This forum is a great resource, so you are in the right place. Read, read, read. The NOLO books on bankrutpcy are also very useful, and probably available in your local library. Good luck! Btw, I stopped paying in November, so had missed five payments by the time the creditor made that 60% off offer -- if that helps.

[Depressed]

They'll go a lot lower than that. Unless you're going to be a CH13 that has a high percentage payback, it isn't a good deal.

[outofdebt201]

[ApresMoi]

Really? How much lower? Just curious.

**********

They'll go a lot lower than that. Unless you're going to be a CH13 that has a high percentage payback, it isn't a good deal.

[logansdad]

just before I filed I contacted chase who bought WAMU after they played hard ball and raised my interest rate to 29.9. It was a small balance of 3k I offered them 1200 to settle. They sent me a letter 2 weeks later stating sorry but I didn't qualify for a settlement at this time, lol. Well the settlement I did qualify for resulted 3 months later and got them $0.

[blockhead]

Had some offers but filed anyway

I found that even though I had an attorney representing me, the CC companies were totally disorganized - one hand busy negotiating with the attorney while another group busy filing a lawsuit. And even if you deal some at 30-40-50% whatever, question is what do you do about the others, the guys that hold out for 75%, or who want a judgement before doing installment terms. If I had 50% lump sum and couild prove insolvency to the IRS to avoid tax on the debt forgiven, and if I had low balances (I didn't) I'd have carried on with trying to settle. I HATED filing, mostly because it is a public record, but in the end, you have to be realistic.