Settle/No Settle? - Opinions please

[paradiddle]

yada yada

well, I waited and waited for the e-mail from BOA after I gave them (2) e-mail addresses. nothing. I called back today and was ready to blast them for putting me through the wringer yesterday. The guy I got wasn't one of the people from yesterday so I held back. He said they don't do e-mails! he could fax but I don't have fax. at this point what do I care. He didn't seem concerned that 2/26 is 180 days. (I was thinking that at 180 days it would charge off and go to 3rd party and I'd have to start all over again). I guess I lost my cool and my game plan. I'm still in the drivers seat. I think at this point they will still deal with me. I'll wait for the mail. Whats the rush.......


oh concerning the 1099c - I'm insolvent so NO tax......

BK will take my 250K insurance settlement that is pending..... not an option for me

[GoingDown]

well, I waited and waited for the e-mail from BOA after I gave them (2) e-mail addresses. nothing. I called back today and was ready to blast them for putting me through the wringer yesterday. The guy I got wasn't one of the people from yesterday so I held back. He said they don't do e-mails! he could fax but I don't have fax. at this point what do I care. He didn't seem concerned that 2/26 is 180 days. (I was thinking that at 180 days it would charge off and go to 3rd party and I'd have to start all over again). I guess I lost my cool and my game plan. I'm still in the drivers seat. I think at this point they will still deal with me. I'll wait for the mail. Whats the rush.......


oh concerning the 1099c - I'm insolvent so NO tax......

BK will take my 250K insurance settlement that is pending..... not an option for me

You can get a free fax to email phone number at http://www.k7.net/

They can fax it to that number and then it will be emailed directly to your email address.

This way you will know whether they are really willing to put it in writing or not.

My guess is they have no intention of puting it in writing, or at least not at that steep of a reduction in the balance.

They must charge off the debt at 180 days, that's an accounting rule. But that does not necessarily mean that they will sell the debt at that point. Nor does it mean they will necessarily send it to a different collection agency at that point. One of my creditors kept the debt 3 years after the date of charge off, and then sent a 1099-C for it (because it is beyond the statute of limitations at that point in Arizona).

And always keep in mind, until they sell the debt to a junk debt buyer, you can and should deal directly with the original creditor, rather than a collection agency. You want the written settlement agreement to come directly from the creditor not a collection agency anyways.

[paradiddle]

Hey thats cool - i signed up already.....

Stupid me I forgot I could also use my fax option in my computer if I hook up to my fax modem. anyway, I'm in no hurry now. thanks for the info

[paradiddle]

woe and behold I got an e-mail this morning with .pdf attached from BOA with settlement arrangements and conditions. maybe this will happen?

[brokenymom]

boa

be careful i do collections for a living at a 3rd party company for boa. every month we get customers/debtors screaming about how they were on setlement arrangement and boa voided it out for stupid reason like the payment posting after 5pm. once it hits 3rd party they will settle for prety much same amount bank did email me if u have any questions

[paradiddle]

be careful i do collections for a living at a 3rd party company for boa. every month we get customers/debtors screaming about how they were on setlement arrangement and boa voided it out for stupid reason like the payment posting after 5pm. once it hits 3rd party they will settle for prety much same amount bank did email me if u have any questions

I hear what you are saying.....

[paradiddle]

be careful i do collections for a living at a 3rd party company for boa. every month we get customers/debtors screaming about how they were on setlement arrangement and boa voided it out for stupid reason like the payment posting after 5pm. once it hits 3rd party they will settle for prety much same amount bank did email me if u have any questions

I'm ready to pull the trigger on this thing tonight - I'll PM you if you can get back to me asap..... thanks

[MarieT]

paradiddle ...I will be intently watching to see what happens with you here as I am exploring the settlement route too. A few posts back you said that settling would be on your credit report for 7 years, I believe that a Ch 13 will be too so it is the same there. Is there anything else that is perceived to be worse about settling? I only have three cc's to settle and one has already agreed in writing to settle a $20,000 debt for $4,000. All three of mine are now with secondary collectors so that is probably even worse for my credit if I do settle but probaly better for getting a lower amount. The best offer I got on the $20,000 before it was written off was $8,200.

I am really struggling with the idea of being on the hook with a trustee overseeing our lives for the next five years and think I might actually have to pay less if we can just settle. We also have far more debt than assets so I have to research to see if we would have to pay income tax on a 1099. I just went through a year of being under the microscope while getting a mortgage modification and just want to get this financial mess behind us and on with our lives.

[paradiddle]

paradiddle ...I will be intently watching to see what happens with you here as I am exploring the settlement route too. A few posts back you said that settling would be on your credit report for 7 years, I believe that a Ch 13 will be too so it is the same there. Is there anything else that is perceived to be worse about settling? I only have three cc's to settle and one has already agreed in writing to settle a $20,000 debt for $4,000. All three of mine are now with secondary collectors so that is probably even worse for my credit if I do settle but probaly better for getting a lower amount. The best offer I got on the $20,000 before it was written off was $8,200.

I am really struggling with the idea of being on the hook with a trustee overseeing our lives for the next five years and think I might actually have to pay less if we can just settle. We also have far more debt than assets so I have to research to see if we would have to pay income tax on a 1099. I just went through a year of being under the microscope while getting a mortgage modification and just want to get this financial mess behind us and on with our lives.

I can only speak for myself and my story make be unique. I had all the debt with one lender and only in my name. I made the deal with the original lender and not a JDB ( a bird in the hand? ). I ran the numbers on insolvency/1099C income and I will be insolvent - no added tax. ( read the IRS pub ). I have an insurance settlement looming that would have been taken in a CH 13 ( this was a big push for me to settle ). If not I would have probably entertained BK for me only. I did get another credit card with another bank before my downfall so I do have another to work with and I do pay it every month.

My wife still has good credit and no issues. We are also pursuing a loan mod. Our budget is in order and we pay all biils as they come in. MY CC debt was a combination of old business debt (signed by me) and 1 year out of work due to surgery ( hence the insurance settlement).

As far as Fico score - I have no idea where I will stand. I am assuming that a paid as settled should be as good as a current CH13 and with good history should start coming up. Also remember no negative credit can be reported after 7 years.

You may be in a good position to do a settlement if you are ok with other debt. but remember if you have a large 2nd and 1st is under water the Ch 13 will be the only way of stripping the 2nd ( a really good thing ) Our 1st is very close to value so even if we went down the CH 13 road we risk not getting the 2nd stripped. we have friends that are very good candidates for ch 13.

To add to my story - I set up a separate chk acct. for the (4) EFT's that we setup in the written agreements. The first payment was taken tonight - so far so good. I guess I got a little paranoid.

[MarieT]

I can only speak for myself and my story make be unique. I had all the debt with one lender and only in my name. I made the deal with the original lender and not a JDB ( a bird in the hand? ). I ran the numbers on insolvency/1099C income and I will be insolvent - no added tax. ( read the IRS pub ). I have an insurance settlement looming that would have been taken in a CH 13 ( this was a big push for me to settle ). If not I would have probably entertained BK for me only. I did get another credit card with another bank before my downfall so I do have another to work with and I do pay it every month.

My wife still has good credit and no issues. We are also pursuing a loan mod. Our budget is in order and we pay all biils as they come in. MY CC debt was a combination of old business debt (signed by me) and 1 year out of work due to surgery ( hence the insurance settlement).

As far as Fico score - I have no idea where I will stand. I am assuming that a paid as settled should be as good as a current CH13 and with good history should start coming up. Also remember no negative credit can be reported after 7 years.

You may be in a good position to do a settlement if you are ok with other debt. but remember if you have a large 2nd and 1st is under water the Ch 13 will be the only way of stripping the 2nd ( a really good thing ) Our 1st is very close to value so even if we went down the CH 13 road we risk not getting the 2nd stripped. we have friends that are very good candidates for ch 13.

To add to my story - I set up a separate chk acct. for the (4) EFT's that we setup in the written agreements. The first payment was taken tonight - so far so good. I guess I got a little paranoid.

I think we will be okay with other debt. We do not have a second on the house. We got so far behind due initially to my job loss and then I was out of commission due to illness for much of 2009 then got hit with a huge IRS tax debt. Last year was a horrible year and I just want to put it behind us . We knew the IRS deal was coming down the pike, still think it is unfair and there is a good chance we may be able to get rid of it as it seems to hit all the markers for getting it forgiven in a Ch 7 or maybe Ch 13. I am not sure if it at all would work that if you can present to the IRS that you can get it dismissed in BK that they will work a settlement deal with you. I am meeting with an attorney next week who also is a tax attorney and much of whether we will do the BK route depends on whether we can get rid of the IRS debt. I will look up the IRS rules on insolvency as that is a big part of this decision.

Great idea on setting up a separate account for the settlement payments. I have been wondering about that since all three of these credit cards had all my info from calling in payments on my debit card but I would imagine it would be very illegal for them to just pull money out of my checking account. We do have a big line of credit debt at he bank where we have our checking accounts and I guess since we have never been late with those payments we would have no bargaining power there but my thinking is if we can just get the credit card debt reduced and paid off and the IRS debt, we will pay off the other debt and start building our credit. We will be fine with no credit cards in the future. I never want to be in this position again!

[paradiddle]

We had also closed our accounts at the bank who had all of the CC debt. No need for them to know what we have when it comes down to negotiations.

My opinion is not to settle anything ( or even talk to them) unless you can settle all. If not, then that what BK is for , to protect you from your creditors. We are in a Perfect Storm of bad debt and many deals can be had now that were not available before. Time is on your side. No need to rush or guess.

just to comment about "building credit" . I saw the thread about the uselessness of FICO and how funny that was. I don't need to "build" credit at this point except if I needed to buy a house. We like our house and not looking to buy. I don't need more credit, what for? I need to learn to live on cash. I did it before and I will do it again.

[paradiddle]

Looks good...........

Well I have finished my payments to BOA on 3 cards will $82k total balance.
I paid a total of $16k over 4 payments. I got 3 letters from BOA indicating that the accounts are now paid off.

I have to take my hat off to BOA. They were willing to deal and they did what they said they would do.

Now if I can do the same with my Heloc......

[jacko]

Congrats..

Now your going to be rewarded with a nice 1099 at tax time and your credit is still trashed. Your HELOC lender will now see that you paid your BOA debt, which will show up on your credit report. They will now see you have funds and play hardball with you.

BK would of been cheaper if you qualified.

Well I have finished my payments to BOA on 3 cards will $82k total balance.
I paid a total of $16k over 4 payments. I got 3 letters from BOA indicating that the accounts are now paid off.

I have to take my hat off to BOA. They were willing to deal and they did what they said they would do.

Now if I can do the same with my Heloc......

[bugasbaby]

Great news! I am looking to settle with BofA in the near future on 4 accounts I have with them...I am with you...insolvent...so the 1099 will not be an issue..Thanks for keeping is posted

[jacko]

If your insolvent, why would you settle? You're credit report is shot and will continue to be even if you settled.

Great news! I am looking to settle with BofA in the near future on 4 accounts I have with them...I am with you...insolvent...so the 1099 will not be an issue..Thanks for keeping is posted