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7thBatallion posted:IS it worth it for only $500? That's all I'll get. Do you have no room on your existing cards to transfer the balance? If you really think that you're going to end up in chargeoff anyway, probably not. It depends on how hard you want to fight to get back ahead of this. If you want to try and stick it out as TWiNKiE suggests, then I'd do whatever I could to keep it out of chargeoff. If you're really stuck, I'd probably stop paying on ALL your credit cards and start stockpiling cash - you'll need it for all the reasons that were outlined before, not to mention that once your credit score starts falling further it wouldn't surprise me if your rates got jacked up/credit limits got reduced on your other cards as well. You'll be going credit cardless for awhile coming out of this, so might as well warchest it on the front end.
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Apr 8, 2011 02:41
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T0MSERV0 posted:Do you have no room on your existing cards to transfer the balance? No room on existing cards whatsoever. I'd have to get a 4th card for this, transfer over 500 or whatever my limit would be, pay it off, then transfer again, pay, and repeat over and over. I'm not sure how much of an impact that would be. Edit: I'm talking to an agent with Discover, getting technical details. Edit 2: Denied. REVOLVING ACCOUNTS WITH HIGH BALANCE TO LIMIT RATIOS NO SAVINGS ACCOUNTS INSUFFICIENT NUMBER OF SATISFACTORY OPEN BANK REVOLVING ACCOUNTS Why would I stop paying on all my cards? My other two are in good standing, and I'm still on good terms with them. Kilo147 fucked around with this message at 03:37 on Apr 8, 2011 |
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Apr 8, 2011 02:49
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7thBatallion posted:Not rich, no rich relatives, noone to help me out. I have two other cards that have a decently low APR and low totals in dues and whatnot. I've never missed a payment, and Citi and Chase generally like me, at least on the credit card side. As someone who had a Citibank card for over two decades with almost flawless payment history, but who got hit twice in one calendar year with interest hikes that raised the interest 10% (to the point where I had to choose between food and paying on the card), I'd recommend you tread carefully here. T0MSERV0 posted:Also, as far as the hit on your credit score is concerned (and quoting Suze Orman), are you kidding me? You're going to have an account at best delinquent for awhile, if not charged off outright. You think that hurts your score less? I'm guessing that if someone has three credit cards, and stops paying on one, the other two eventually are going to raise their own interest rates. In other words, 7thBatallion, I know your pain far too well, because Citibank literally bankrupted me. But if all you owe is a couple thousand bucks, while that may seem like a fortune to you, it probably isn't worth tanking your entire credit over. Get a card with a balance transfer, get a bank loan, do some part-time work on the side... yeah, it might suck, but do something to get that debt under control before it bites you on the rear end for a long time and makes everything worse.
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Apr 8, 2011 04:03
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cocteau posted:As someone who had a Citibank card for over two decades with almost flawless payment history, but who got hit twice in one calendar year with interest hikes that raised the interest 10% (to the point where I had to choose between food and paying on the card), I'd recommend you tread carefully here. Can't get a card. Tried again, DECLINED, for the same reasons above.
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Apr 8, 2011 04:13
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7thBatallion posted:Why would I stop paying on all my cards? My other two are in good standing, and I'm still on good terms with them. Like cocteau said, it's only a matter of time before your other CCs start playing hardball. You will be dropping a bomb on your credit report if you can't pay your Macy's card, and your other creditors will be following Macy's suit in terms of jacking up your interest rates and decreasing your limit such that you basically have 0 credit. If you seriously have no room in your balances on your other cards, you're kidding yourself that the one card is really your problem. You need to get rid of them all one way or another. That said, you need to make the decision now as to which way you want to go, because you need to pay amounts due in full or not at all - halfstepping won't help you. I still recommend trying to tough it out (2nd/3rd/10th job, sell stuff on ebay, whatever) to make your payments happen. I'm just trying to warn you that your typical minimum payments are likely going to increase on your other cards and to be prepared accordingly. If you're going to end up letting all the cards to go delinquent at the end of the day, there's little point in trying to pay on them only to end up being short on utilities/rent/food. At the end of the day, credit card debt is unsecured and can be dropped, but you'll want to keep the lights on and keep eating no matter what.
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Apr 8, 2011 04:19
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T0MSERV0 posted:Like cocteau said, it's only a matter of time before your other CCs start playing hardball. You will be dropping a bomb on your credit report if you can't pay your Macy's card, and your other creditors will be following Macy's suit in terms of jacking up your interest rates and decreasing your limit such that you basically have 0 credit. If you seriously have no room in your balances on your other cards, you're kidding yourself that the one card is really your problem. You need to get rid of them all one way or another. That said, you need to make the decision now as to which way you want to go, because you need to pay amounts due in full or not at all - halfstepping won't help you. I'll come back to the thread in a few days and give an update. I'm still trying to get a job, it's pretty depressing being met with this many "sorry, we're looking for someone with proper qualifications" which is code for "right out of high school so we can pay them nothing despite your minimum wage starting rate." Even a poo poo job for minimum wage stocking shelves has met me with a "sorry..." response. I'll also keep a close eye on my other credit cards during this. They have been good in the past, and without the Macy's card I can make larger payments on the two remaining cards. I'm sure they'll like that. I'll let you know any updates on that as it comes, and keep in regular contact with my two remaining not-hosed credit cards. Can they legally lower my limit below it's current level? Kilo147 fucked around with this message at 04:38 on Apr 8, 2011 |
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Apr 8, 2011 04:35
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7thBatallion posted:I'm still trying to get a job... I don't mean to pry, but how are you making these payments now if you don't have a job? And how is one card - a department store one, of all things - killing you but the other two - being Chase and Citibank - are okay?
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Apr 8, 2011 05:58
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7thBatallion posted:This all sounds good, but getting there scares the hell out of me. If you're totally resigned to not paying it, you might as well declare bankruptcy. Your chances of obtaining credit in the next few years will actually be better than having a chargeoff on your report like some sort of albatross. quote:I don't need auto insurance, I don't drive. Everwhere I go to is within walking or bus distance, I have carpools, and I get by pretty good without the hassle of owning a car. I don't have a cell either. I used to, it was a prepaid thing, and I barely used the plan for what it was worth. Cell phones just aren't a major part of my life. And I really don't see myself having a mortgage in the next seven years. I rent, and I rent from people that don't do credit checks and poo poo like that. they aren't the best places to live, but I generally keep to myself and lay low. quote:Getting through to them is hard. I've tried in the past, they just read off a card and ignore everything I say. Even the supervisors. It's always the same " i understand what you're going through, but" line 20 times in a row. I said come in! posted:Okay one last question Twinkie, this debt isn't actually on my credit report, still go through with the letter tomorrow though right? 7thBatallion posted:Even if I could, I'd still have a non-negotiable $580 minimum payment due next month, and $1160 the next, as well as additional debt on a current, not-hosed card.  Send 'em  , then call.7thBatallion posted:Can they legally lower my limit below it's current level? AmEx and Citi are famous for lowering limits. Hell, I had Citi lower my limit by $3,000 just 30 days after getting the loving card. Their rationale: Discover increased my limit by $2,000 that month. In the course of a year, I had AmEx chop my $10,000 limit to $900, then $500, then back up to $2,500, then $12,000. My score was stable the whole time, and my utilization never went higher than 17%. Just this month, Citi closed my Home Depot card that I used once in October. I had a six month 0% promo, and had just made the last payment. GEMB increased my Lowe's limit by more than the total limit of the Home Depot card. Again, same scores, lower utilization now. 
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Apr 8, 2011 07:02
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cocteau posted:I don't mean to pry, but how are you making these payments now if you don't have a job? And how is one card - a department store one, of all things - killing you but the other two - being Chase and Citibank - are okay? I have a job, it's just a per diem thing, so hours vary and are never set. The other two cards have very low payments and a low APR, they don't really affect me at all. The Macy's card has payments almost 3 times higher than the other two combined. I gotta go to work, i'll catch up later. So I just got home, I got my lawyer's card in case things go to poo poo, still no primary job, applications in, though. Still not enough cash to pay off the card, and even if I did miraculously get it, next month would have the same problem, and the month after that, and the month after that. It's really quite depressing. Assuming I can't make the payment, or otherwise strike a deal, what's my next step? What's the difference between ignoring the card and declaring bankruptcy? what other options do I have? Kilo147 fucked around with this message at 04:18 on Apr 9, 2011 |
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Apr 8, 2011 14:23
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I received my first letter from NCO today about an American Express credit card that is 4 months delinquent and has a $6300 balance. I haven't paid due to job loss and the birth of a child all at the same time, but I suppose that doesn't matter much. From the wording on the letter, I don't believe it has actually been sold off and they are just trying to collect for AmEx. the exact quote on the letter is. "Please be advised that we have been requested by American Express to assist them in collection of the amount set forth above" and then goes on to say I have 30 days to dispute. My question is, should I even bother with the DV since they no doubt have access to everything, or do I just try to move on right away with a settlement? Either way I don't have the money to make it just go away unless I were to get a real good settlement offer. What is my best course of action?
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Apr 9, 2011 22:19
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7thBatallion posted:Assuming I can't make the payment, or otherwise strike a deal, what's my next step? What's the difference between ignoring the card and declaring bankruptcy? what other options do I have? If you have the money to declare bankruptcy then you should just pay off the card, because the amounts will be similar (bankruptcy could cost you $2-3K in lawyer and filing fees depending on location), and at least if you pay off the card you won't have the card or a bankruptcy filing. I did have my attorney tell me that a credit card company is unlikely to negotiate a lower interest rate/lower payment as long as you're making payments (because what's their motivation to do so?). If you're a couple months behind they might start talking. When's the last time you tried to work something out with them? How delinquent are you now?
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Apr 9, 2011 23:10
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cocteau posted:If you're totally resigned to not paying it, you might as well declare bankruptcy. Your chances of obtaining credit in the next few years will actually be better than having a chargeoff on your report like some sort of albatross. I am absolutely not saying that a chargeoff is not serious business, just saying that you might as well declare bankruptcy is nuts. Bankruptcy may get you a few lovely credit offers in the short run, but it is a bad deal in the long run. I would go further to say that someone declaring bankruptcy over a $2.5K balance on a Macy's card is pure lunacy. I definitely agree that for many reasons this ain't "the good old days" (my father walked away from $50K of credit card debt in the mid-1990s, waited out the SOL and is now debt-free with a great credit history, lol). While having lovely credit is definitely an albatross to some degree, bankruptcy is a much worse albatross. Every application form for any loan or job I've seen asks you if you've ever declared bankruptcy, even if it falls off your reports after ten years. No application I've seen (although I'm sure some are out there) asks you if you're ever had lovely credit, a chargeoff, a collections account, etc in your lifetime. Also, I offer the following anecdotal evidence: so many people in the US have lovely credit due to the recession that it (and even bankruptcy) does not carry the social stigma that it used to in the boom times. Yes, almost every serious employer checks credit history. Yes, every property company will check your credit before they lease to you. Yet, while the former might be a problem for people applying to financial positions, I have yet to know anyone who's been turned down for a job because of their credit score (I know it happens, just saying it's not often). And most places are far more concerned about your income than your credit score because any sensible person would pay their rent before anything else. Case in point: I have mostly good accounts, but a few chargeoffs and collections accounts, and an insane amount of student loan debt, yet landed a decent job (10 months ago when my credit was about at its worst) and was approved to rent a decent (not extravagant, but well within my means) house just last month. I have a friend who declared medical bankruptcy twice, yet was approved to rent an even bigger home and got a very good ($70K/yr) job. Loans are a different issue - you will absolutely not get a loan for anything - car, mortgage, etc if you have lovely credit, no doubt about this, unless you willingly take a bad deal, and you may have to deal with higher rates on car insurance and have problems renting cars as well. However, as a general case, necessities like housing are more focused on your income more than your credit, although credit is absolutely considered. But if you are in the position where you have to borrow money in order to survive, you have a bigger problem than just a lovely credit score.
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Apr 10, 2011 04:54
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Yeah. It's getting pretty hosed. I was going to skate on rent to get the Macys card out of the way. Nope, If I do that, I'll be homeless in 30 days. So the card will be ignored unless I somehow get a job or the cash in less than two weeks. Also, what the hell, bankruptcy costs money? that's lame as gently caress. Oh, and I can't even get a job as the guy that runs blood and poo poo stained sheets out of the ER and OR. Yeah, it's that god damned bad up here.
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Apr 10, 2011 08:33
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7thBatallion posted:Yeah. It's getting pretty hosed. Can you paint the whole picture in one post? Cards, balances, limits, minimum payments & dates, and then income, savings & expenses Some people here are trying to help if it's possible to do so, but need the entire story all together. lapse fucked around with this message at 15:01 on Apr 10, 2011 |
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Apr 10, 2011 14:54
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lapse posted:Can you paint the whole picture in one post? He should make a new thread.
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Apr 10, 2011 22:09
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I've written up a letter to the last agency I have to deal with on my credit report. Please tell me if this is sufficient, overly wordy, or if i have unnecessary items or forgot anything? Thanks so much. Awesome thread and voted 5 Shithole Agency Agency Address Account # (I don't have one.... Dunno what to tell them) April 11, 2011 Dear Sir or Madam, This letter is in response to an adverse account listed on my credit report. According to your company, this debt was listed on 10/2009 with an original balance of $329 and a past due balance of $569. Please note that I do not acknowledge or accept that I owe this debt. Furthermore, I was not aware that this debt existed until I received my credit report on 3/24/2011. I respectfully request that you properly verify your right to collect on this debt. Frankly, however, I would like to save us both a lot of time and hassle. If you agree to the following terms, I would be willing to pay the original balance of $329 within 30 business days of the postmark on the envelope of your signed and dated response: 1 – You recognize that any payment from myself or my legal representative does not in any way acknowledge my acceptance of this debt; 2 – You respond with a signed, dated validation of this debt within 30 days of the date of this letter in accordance with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and provide an account number to which I may refer in the future; 3 – You provide a full accounting of the amount owed; 4 – You agree in writing with a signed letter that you will delete this item entirely from all credit reporting agencies with whom you do business within 15 business days of receipt of payment; 5 – You will not acknowledge the existence of this account if you receive any correspondence in reference to this debt from anyone other than myself or my assigned legal representative. If I do not receive your correspondence within 30 days of the postmark of this letter I shall withdraw my offer and request another debt validation; however, I prefer to work this out amicably and I look forward to your cooperation. ///Signed/// Drewski My only concern with this is that I have no account number to reference. Should I call them and request my account number?
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Apr 10, 2011 23:44
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Drewski posted:Debt letter Maybe it's just how I'm reading it, but aren't there some conflicting statements in that letter? At first it seemed like you wanted to just pay them to make it go away even if it's not yours, but then you made said payment contingent on their ability to prove that it is in fact yours. You then go on to say that if you don't get the debt validation you're asking for, you're going to ask for it again. I guess there's nothing wrong with that, but what are you trying to accomplish?
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Apr 11, 2011 01:01
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I have a CapOne card that was charged off years ago and it was sold to a junk debt buyer. I'm getting nervous because they actually sued me a few years ago, they served me at an address I hadn't lived at in years. I fought the judgement with some info I found in this thread and everything else I found online and won, I proved where I lived at the time with tons of documentation. My question is should I just pay this off? I'm just freaked out because it's a charge off, I want to deal with it, but the interest keeps accumulating. I can afford to pay it off but the creditor isn't responding to my PFD letters, so I'm not really sure what to do. Also, is there any way of finding out who owns a debt other than checking your credit report? I've used all my free ones this year and I wasn't aware of any other way. I have about 3000 in collections, I think all the original accounts were charge offs. I'm pretty ashamed, but at the time I wasn't really aware of what kind of poo poo I was getting into, this was about 3 years ago. I had lost my job and I had no way to pay off credit cards, no relatives to help, didn't know what my options were, just went into a stupid panic and stopped paying everything. Now I realize how stupid it was, but is there really anything I can do? I've posted a few times in this thread hoping for some kind of resolution but I failed to realize that they were all charged off accounts. Should I even bother paying the CAs? BusinessWallet fucked around with this message at 03:32 on Apr 11, 2011 |
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Apr 11, 2011 03:27
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Tom, I suppose there are conflicts. Basically I just want to say that I don't recognize this as a valid debt but I'm willing to pay to make it go away. Maybe I should change it to request a debt validation, something like "if these terms are not agreeable, please provide a validation". Or something to that extent.
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Apr 11, 2011 03:31
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seacat posted:I must respectfully point out this isn't good advice. For what it's worth, I'm advocating against bankruptcy (the quote in your post was from TWiNKiE, not me). I don't think bankruptcy is at all a good idea over a $2k debt. Although I do want to say that while there may be some long-term fallout from declaring bankruptcy, it's a whole lot better than drowning in debt that will never get paid off in your lifetime. cocteau fucked around with this message at 04:55 on Apr 11, 2011 |
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Apr 11, 2011 04:26
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Drewski posted:Tom, I suppose there are conflicts. Basically I just want to say that I don't recognize this as a valid debt but I'm willing to pay to make it go away. Maybe I should change it to request a debt validation, something like "if these terms are not agreeable, please provide a validation". Or something to that extent. Why combine the two? Make them verify it first, then offer to pay in a followup letter.
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Apr 11, 2011 04:52
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Long story short, I'm working Per Diem. Monthly paychecks vary from 350-700 dollars depending on the time of year and broadway schedules. When a show is in town for a while like Lion King or Wicked things are good. This is one of those bad times. It's been a 4-month stretch of jack and poo poo. Rent is 375 a month, utilities vary, I'm pretty much never home so and I never use heat, water is free, and that's that. I have been living off pasta, with the occasional Mac and Cheese, and when ground beef is on sale, Sweedish Meatballs. I got several months worth of pasta on hand. So much pasta. Anyways, I have two other cards, one Citi, the monthly payments run about 20 bucks a month, and a Chase card that runs about 15. they are easily manageable and if I'm in a rut I can always call them and they help out. During the Winter it was a bitch getting work, so I called them and they put my accounts on hold for over a month with no interest just to help me out. I've never missed a payment on those two. Never. The Macy's card on the other hand usually runs about 130 for a monthly payment. I've noticed that despite the account balance generally being the same, the payments have been increasing and increasing, and it would appear that my APR is a smidge higher, by about 6%. My maximum amount of credit has also dropped, by almost $200, completely out of nowhere. I missed a payment the a few months ago, only because in-store they put it on my non-existent revolving store account. I called them up and they corrected it and reversed the late fees, but never reversed the hike of APR and the lowering of the credit limit. I also have medical bills. I have Addison's Disease, long story short I need pills to stay alive. I stopped taking one of the two simply due to a lack of cash. There's been no serious side effects save for weight loss, but that's not affecting me that much. The Prednisone is the cheap one, I can get that for $10 a month. the Florinef, the one I quit taking runs about $60 a month. I don't have medical insurance, I lack the cash for that, plus I have to give them money for 6 months before I can use it, and gently caress them. It's pretty drat hard making ends meet, I was having to use credit for some everyday purchases, but I've pretty much quit smoking, quit coffee, and quit soda, that's saved me quite a bit. It's amazing how much the little things add up. In the meantime I've dropped off countless applications, yet I can't find poo poo for a job. Not even the local McDonald's is hiring. I'm still trying, but finding jobs that are entry level these days isn't easy. Everything's prior experience this, and required skills that. That's wasn't that short really. But last month's pay was as low as it gets, and I couldn't even pay the full rent amount. I've been in tough spots, but this is really getting bad. No matter, I am still in decent health, and making it by, despite the hard times. all I can say is thank God that I didn't get picked in the recent layoffs at work. If I lost that job, i would be really hosed. Kilo147 fucked around with this message at 06:02 on Apr 11, 2011 |
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Apr 11, 2011 05:25
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skipdogg posted:A BK attorney is going to cost you at between 800 to 1000 dollars for their services, if your total debt is 2,000 dollars it doesn't make much sense to use your 1 every 7 years magic reset button on 2K. Well, there's no way I'd be able to pay for a bankruptcy attorney. There's legal aid in my city that I would qualify for, but I'm considering doing it pro-se because my city also offers free bankruptcy clinics. I'd never consider pro-se if I had any assets, more than my two creditors, and didn't have access to local bankruptcy resources. While they can't garnish my wages right now, they've tried. The money was taken out of my account and it was on me to fill out a form and attach proof of exemption to get it back. It's nerve-wracking when I have to pay bills because I'm scared they'll snatch the money out before it's sent to a utility company. I feel like a fugitive or a paranoid old person who lived through the Great Depression. Because of the garnishment, I don't know how I could work out of this. As soon as I get money that isn't exempt, they will take it. A couple days ago, I learned that a relative was selling some land and that they'd give me enough money to pay off my creditors when/if it sold. I was going to pursue bankruptcy options within the next month, but I'm holding back for now.
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Apr 11, 2011 07:05
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How can they garnish wages? Do they get it from my boss, take it from my bank account? How do they get at it and is there any way to prevent it?
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Apr 11, 2011 07:44
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Diplomaticus posted:Why combine the two? Make them verify it first, then offer to pay in a followup letter. Well, I know this is a valid debt already, I'd personally feel bad if I didn't take responsibility, I can afford it right now, I need to raise my credit score a little bit to qualify for the best home loan possible, and I'd like to refinance my auto loan at a lower interest rate so I'm not paying so much for my car. So I do have reasons to move quickly, and I'd prefer to just jump straight to the chase.
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Apr 11, 2011 13:21
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Drewski posted:Well, I know this is a valid debt already, I'd personally feel bad if I didn't take responsibility Remember, the people you actually owe money to sold off your debt to someone else. You shouldn't have to feel bad at this point about not paying it. Your moral obligation is to the original company who you owe money to, who after selling off your debt to someone else, is saying you are basically free of your obligation to pay them off. So why not try to fight it? Only pay if you legally have to.
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Apr 11, 2011 13:30
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7thBatallion posted:How can they garnish wages? Do they get it from my boss, take it from my bank account? How do they get at it and is there any way to prevent it? Judgement --> Court order garnishment --> served to your company's HR department --> HR shoots a part of your paycheck to the court --> court disburses monies to judgement winner. This can actually happen without them telling you, and you won't know it until you see your paychec is shorted. I've had this happen alot. Same thing with a bank garnishment, except some money is protected from garnishment. To stop them, don't get a default judgment. Fight everthing and make sure you always go to court. I've seen people get very lienant payment schedules by just showing up and giving a sob story...it's the people that don't show that up get hosed hard. You can always fight and pick apart inaccuracies, dispute the amount they sued you for, etc. It's actually somewhat easy to delay payment through the courts, but it almost never happens because people don't show the gently caress up.
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Apr 11, 2011 13:38
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seacat posted:I must respectfully point out this isn't good advice. While it is true that recent-bankrupcyees get swamped with credit offers (creditors know they can't declare bankruptcy again for 10 years!) these offers are poo poo approximately 100% of the time. E.g., a card with a credit limit of $500, an annual fee of $125, a monthly fee of $25, and a deposit of $500 because it's a secured card 'cuz you declared bankruptcy and no sane bank will give you unsecured credit. quote:Bankruptcy may get you a few lovely credit offers in the short run, but it is a bad deal in the long run. I would go further to say that someone declaring bankruptcy over a $2.5K balance on a Macy's card is pure lunacy. I definitely agree that for many reasons this ain't "the good old days" (my father walked away from $50K of credit card debt in the mid-1990s, waited out the SOL and is now debt-free with a great credit history, lol). While having lovely credit is definitely an albatross to some degree, bankruptcy is a much worse albatross. Every application form for any loan or job I've seen asks you if you've ever declared bankruptcy, even if it falls off your reports after ten years. No application I've seen (although I'm sure some are out there) asks you if you're ever had lovely credit, a chargeoff, a collections account, etc in your lifetime. Personally, I would not declare bankruptcy over such a small amount. Even when I was in to five figures of past-due debt, I didn't pull that trigger. Others did, and ended up getting mortgages and credit cards before me. Did they get lovely deals? Oh, gently caress yes. Mortgages at 15.99% and beyond (when 7% was common) and credit cards with fees and interest through the roof. Me? I couldn't finance a box of corn flakes if I had stapled a $20 bill to my application. To some people, having access to that lovely deal is better than having access to nothing. I know two people who took the lovely mortgages when values were going nowhere but up, flipped houses, and in the grand scheme of things, did pretty well. I know another person who declared on $12k, signed up for every scumbag offer that came her way, and now claims to have about $10 left after every pay check after her rent / utilities / food and garnishments are paid. quote:I have yet to know anyone who's been turned down for a job because of their credit score (I know it happens, just saying it's not often). And most places are far more concerned about your income than your credit score because any sensible person would pay their rent before anything else. The resounding point really, is that there isn't one financial scenario brush that everyone can be painted with. What you or I might think are terrible ideas, could actually work out better for someone than what's right for our personal finances. Drewski posted:I've written up a letter to the last agency I have to deal with on my credit report. "I don't know anything about this debt. I explicitly deny that this debt is mine. Please prove that this debt is mine. I would like to pay you for this debt that is not mine." First, make them prove it: "I don't know anything about this. Prove it." Then see how they respond. If they proved it, send the PFD. If they didn't, make them prove it, or delete.
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Apr 11, 2011 16:36
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I hope you guys can provide some insight for me, I don't think I saw this covered in the thread. My father died and left behind a mess of unpaid credit cards. There are 6 cards with a debt totaling about 50K and I've been led to believe that my family and I are responsible for this debt. I am in Canada. Are we responsible for this debt? He also had a 20K line of credit with a bank, are we responsible for this? He also has unpaid property taxes of 20K to the City of Toronto, is there any way out of this? Amex sent us a letter last week saying they will cut the debt on the card by half if we pay it, is this standard? If I can get the other card companies to do this, things will be easier to manage. I personally have zero credit card problems, mostly because I learned from my father how not to manage credit. My VISA bill is usually under $100 as I pay for everything with cash or debit. I don't want my father's mess to affect me but it seems like it might. Thanks for any help goons!
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Apr 11, 2011 17:42
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jet sanchEz posted:I hope you guys can provide some insight for me, I don't think I saw this covered in the thread. In the US, your father's assets would go in to an estate. If the estate has enough money to pay for the debts, great. The executor or probate court pays the bills. If there's a will, whatever's left over is typically distributed the way the will says. Otherwise, it goes to your mother / father's new wife, or your family can fight over who gets what in court. If there's not enough money in the estate, underlying assets (the property that the taxes were levied on, for example) are liquidated, usually in an auction. At no point though, are surviving family members on the hook for outstanding debts -- except in cases where there was a joint account with a surviving person, or when a survivor wants to assume an asset (e.g., if you want to live in his house, you're responsible for taxes / liens).
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Apr 11, 2011 17:56
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Looking for some advice here.. So there are 3 credit cards involved: Wells Fargo, BoA, and AmEx. Wells Fargo balance was about 7,000 BOA was about 5,600 I have been unemployed or partially employed for quite some time now, so I stopped paying on these two around January of 2010. AmEx balance right now is about 2,300. I have been able to scrape together enough cash to continue making barely over the minimum monthly payments on this to keep it in good standing, but it seems like half the goddamn payments are eaten up in interest and it's really pinching me. My original plan for the first two was to just say gently caress it, forget them, and wait out the 7 years for them to fall off my credit - sometime in 2017 - unless I somehow come into a ton of money before then and can pay them off. I've been paying AmEx basically just in case I need a card for some emergency. My question is, do I keep making minimum payments on the Amex, knowing I'm not really making a dent in the balance, or should I just stop paying that one too considering my credit is already thoroughly hosed anyhow? I feel like if I manage to pay it off, they're just going to close the account anyway due to my other bad credit. One other consideration is I am currently trying to enlist in the military and waiting out a divorce to be finalized before they will process me any further. I have heard that bad debt can affect your eligibility to either be promoted or gain security clearances.. Neil Patrick Harris fucked around with this message at 19:28 on Apr 11, 2011 |
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Apr 11, 2011 19:26
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Neil Patrick Harris posted:One other consideration is I am currently trying to enlist in the military and waiting out a divorce to be finalized before they will process me any further. I have heard that bad debt can affect your eligibility to either be promoted or gain security clearances.. I can actually speak to this, as I served in the air force for 6 years and know some about it... Bad debt *can* affect your ability to promote but it really depends. Essentially, as long as you can handle your finances it shouldn't affect you. But if you stop payment on your cards, based on your scenario, I'd say that your balances are high enough to warrant wage garnishment. That is a violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice and of various other military laws specific to each branch. Off the top of my head, I know that you can be prosecuted under Article 134 of the UCMJ for failure to manage your finances responsibly. Best case, you probably get a wage garnishment and reduction in rank. Which, btw, makes sense in a twisted way: "You're reprimanded for not being able to pay your bills so we're going to give you less money!" Worst-case scenario, you're looking at dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and 6 months in federal prison. But beyond that, being in debt affects your job performance. Poor job performance = bad Enlisted Performance Reports = good luck getting promoted = you get the boot when you're forced out. Additionally, bad debt absolutely can affect your ability to gain a security clearance. The important thing is that you honestly and thoroughly document this debt to the government in your application. They perform a THOROUGH background check. When I left for basic training, I applied for a security clearance and the investigators went to my high school, reviewed my school records, interviewed teachers and staff, the whole works. You can expect that they will pull your credit report. The worst thing you could possibly do is lie about this debt or neglect to report it. That indicates right away that you are dishonest or at best absent-minded.
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Apr 11, 2011 20:01
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A friend of mine who used to work for Asset Acceptance mentioned to me a while back that collecting debt from someone in the military was one of the easiest things to do. Apparently, he'd find out who the person's CO was, and then call him or her with just enough info to not completely poo poo all over protections against third-party disclosure. Then the CO would order the person to pay. Dunno how true it is.
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Apr 11, 2011 20:20
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I just sent off a DVL to a CA today via express mail, and it should arrive tomorrow. About how long after they receive my dispute would the tradeline show up as "in dispute" if my credit report was pulled? Background: I'm supposed to close on a house at the end of the month and the underwriter insists that this one collection on my credit be paid off before they can close, or it needs to be in dispute. I already sent out a DVL a month ago but it came back as address unknown while I was on vacation, and I had to go digging for an updated address and sent it off again today. I'm holding off on telling them to pull another credit report until I'm reasonably certain the tradeline will show up as being disputed. fake edit: The CA is everyone's best friend, NCO Financial. It shows up as a "medical payment data" and I have no idea wtf it is, and it was sent to collections a year ago and I never heard a peep about it. Anti-Hero fucked around with this message at 22:00 on Apr 11, 2011 |
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Apr 11, 2011 21:56
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Anti-Hero posted:I just sent off a DVL to a CA today via express mail, and it should arrive tomorrow. About how long after they receive my dispute would the tradeline show up as "in dispute" if my credit report was pulled? Never, you need to dispute with the CRA as soon as they get the letter.
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Apr 11, 2011 22:08
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LorneReams posted:Never, you need to dispute with the CRA as soon as they get the letter. Ok, so as soon as I have proof the CA signed for receipt of the letter I'll send a dispute to the CRA's.
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Apr 11, 2011 22:20
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BusinessWallet posted:I have a CapOne card that was charged off years ago and it was sold to a junk debt buyer. I'm getting nervous because they actually sued me a few years ago, they served me at an address I hadn't lived at in years. I fought the judgement with some info I found in this thread and everything else I found online and won, I proved where I lived at the time with tons of documentation. My question is should I just pay this off? I'm just freaked out because it's a charge off, I want to deal with it, but the interest keeps accumulating. I can afford to pay it off but the creditor isn't responding to my PFD letters, so I'm not really sure what to do. I hate to do this, but does anyone have any advice at all? I'm completely at a loss here, not sure what to do. I've read this thread several times and I just want to know what anyone thinks. Thanks  TWiNKiE posted:A friend of mine who used to work for Asset Acceptance mentioned to me a while back that collecting debt from someone in the military was one of the easiest things to do. One of my debts is $300 to AA, how bad are they actually? They never really respond when I send them letters, just automated responses. I sent them a DV and they just sent me back a thing that said you owe this much money back, nothing the original creditor ever signed, nothing I ever signed.
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Apr 11, 2011 23:35
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7thBatallion posted:That's wasn't that short really. But last month's pay was as low as it gets, and I couldn't even pay the full rent amount. I've been in tough spots, but this is really getting bad. No matter, I am still in decent health, and making it by, despite the hard times. all I can say is thank God that I didn't get picked in the recent layoffs at work. If I lost that job, i would be really hosed. There are only so many options when the numbers just don't add up. It's pretty clear that you just don't make enough money. There won't be a solution until that calculus changes. As far as I see it, you have three options. - Find cheaper housing (good luck) - Stop paying the cards - Find a steady job Paying the monthly minimums is going to be a losing game as long as you don't bring in enough money to pay your rent, let alone other essentials. I hate to say it, but if I were in your situation I would just stop paying all three, and re-assess everything once you find a more stable source of income. Maybe they'll be charged off by then, in which case, oh well you'll have lovely credit for several years, but at least you didn't stop taking your meds and gently caress up your health. If you haven't already, I would take a look at this thread: Legitimate Online Moneymaking Round 2. Normally I wouldn't recommend that poo poo to someone, but when you are making 350 a month, a modest check could make a pretty big difference. People seem to get legitimate paychecks from these, it's just not a very good hourly rate. But I don't think that really matters to someone in your position. And whatever you do, don't half rear end it. Like, don't think to yourself "well, I'll just make a payment whenever I can, and hope they'll understand". They won't for long, they'll just jack up the rate and start giving you penalties and fees. Card companies love honest customers who try to do their best, but just barely can't stay above water. If you want to try to keep one of the cards in good standing, fine, but I would start paying way more than the minimum on that card and try to bring it down to nothing. Also, you almost certainly qualify for assistance, so look into that. Good luck... lapse fucked around with this message at 01:19 on Apr 12, 2011 |
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Apr 12, 2011 01:07
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lapse posted:Also, you almost certainly qualify for assistance, so look into that. I just thought about this. 7thBatallion, you might qualify for food stamps, unemployment or etc. Welfare is no fun, but if you other option is to stop taking your meds...
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Apr 12, 2011 02:16
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kaishek posted:I just thought about this. 7thBatallion, you might qualify for food stamps, unemployment or etc. Welfare is no fun, but if you other option is to stop taking your meds... That still takes time upwards of a month, so the credit card problem will still be there. Regardless, going to check those ideas out.
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Apr 12, 2011 02:37
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