Credit Card Help needed.

[whatrset]

I am posting this because I am looking for options dealing with a credit card company and I have little experience in the getting rid of them department. I will give you as much information as I can and will welcome any factual information. Please try to hold this thread to your experiences dealing with companies and not let it go to what THEY should have done. We all know they are snakes, so there is little good to come from expecting them to play fair.

1. My finances:
a) I am on a fixed income and my wife lost her at home income last year due to a loss of customers for our miniature dachshund business. 2 hurricanes hit our primary sales locations and we were unable to recover.
b) I currently owe over 44k in CC debt, to 4 different cards: Citibank: $5,300; Am Ex: $3,800,: Capital One: $16,850; and Chase: $18,387.25
c)After the loss of the dachund business, we had to negociate a lower payment with Chase and Cap one, and those lower payments lasted for 1 year, but now they are expecting me to be able to bleed money and pay 3x the $100 rate that i was paying to put the account on hold. NOW: Capital one is threatening legal action if we do not pay more. But, THere is little more that I can pay (Altho I have been pigeon holing a bit to try to pay them off and be done with them, while they were on reduced pay status.
d) I have about $2500 in a Credit union account saved up toward paying CC bills, and about 7500 in a 403B that would translate into about 5K after taxes and penalties.

2. Questions:
a) Has anyone had any luck with setting for less than owed with any of these companies?
b) Does anyone have experience with Capital One specifically?
C) any ideas based on what I have told you and your experiences will be greatfully appreciated.

**NOTE: I do not trust credit counseling services or any of those kind of places to be honest with me, and I expect to do this on my own!

[whatrset]

No one has any help to offer?

[thaiblue12]

You posted in Work at home, you would do better to post in homesteading or countryside families. More populated and your question is better suited there.

I am going to court with Capital One tomorrow. My card was lost/stolen, they refused to cancel it let them keep charging. Cap One illegally took payments from my account. I paid them $60 and within days they would withdraw another $100 to $800 without permission. So we'll see what happens.
I think they are an awful company, poor customer service and I would never do business with them again.

[whatrset]

Ty THai,
Good luck on your suit.

Can a mod move a thread on this site, I wasnt sure where to post it.

[beewench]

Your $2500 is notgoing to be very appealing for the cc with the 16k and 18k balances. You may be able to settle the others for it but it would probably be many months of them harassing you before they agree to it. You could call and offer to settle, if they don't agree then move on to the next card.

On a side note, please go check out Dave Ramsey ornpick up his Total Money Makeover book at the library. Dave is not a gimmick or a CCC service. His principles are lifechanging and realistic. You can also search on this forum for Dave Ramsey as there have been a couple of discussions about him.

Regardless, good luck with all this and I will add you to my prayers to help you.

-=Sarah
www.beewench.blogspot.com

[Wylie Kyote]

Hi whatrset. I would be looking at consolidating all my debts into one with a lower repayment plan. If you have obtained that much credit in the past without problems you should have no problem in obtaining a consolidation loan. Try your bank or one of the "reputable" CC companies. Good luck, Wylie.

[Beaners]

Be careful consolidating things. Normal credit cards are unsecured, meaning that they aren't linked to any assets. If you are unable to pay they can threaten you with legal action but they can't actually take anything from you. They might be able to get a court judgment saying that you owe them a certain amount but I've yet to hear of any of those that have any teeth to them. They just say that you owe them the money, which you already know. With your current income situation most banks or credit unions might require you to put something up against the debt, which they could take if you are unable to pay. Also make sure that you don't get behind on any other accounts you may have associated with a bank or credit union you have money in. They can empty your account in their attempt to settle the debt.

I know that my husband was offered a lower payment to close an AmEx account that he had abandoned before we got married. They offered that though, we didn't approach them. That was also a few years ago. I'm not sure what they do currently.

If they are harassing you on the phone it is possible to send them something that only permits them to contact you in writing. I don't have any great advice if you can't even afford the minimums on the total debt. About the only option I can see is to focus on whichever you consider the highest priority and hope that by the time you have taken care of that your finances are either in a better position or the other companies are willing to settle for something lower. A consolidated loan might lower your minimum due slightly but if it's still more than your income that doesn't help. Also keep in mind that you may need to pay a "service fee" of some sort if you are considering the consolidation or "zero APR introductory rate" juggling credit card routes. I hope you can find a workable solution.

Kayleigh

[whatrset]

I want to than you guys fgor your ideas.
Beaners, I think you are on to something. I have already settled all my outstanding debt with the credit union and the bank with my last years tax return. I was actually hoping that I would be in a better position before they started harrassing me too much.
If it wasnt for my wife being in school and being trapped all day here at home, I would definitly rock the boat a lil more. THe idea about forcing them to corresponding in writing is a good one too.

[Riverdale]

Originally Posted by Beaners

Normal credit cards are unsecured, meaning that they aren't linked to any assets. If you are unable to pay they can threaten you with legal action but they can't actually take anything from you. They might be able to get a court judgment saying that you owe them a certain amount but I've yet to hear of any of those that have any teeth to them.


Kayleigh

They 'USUALLY' sell those to bottom-feeding law firms for 10 cents on the dollar.

The those bottom-feeders sue.

They CAN attach state income tax refunds (but not federal).

I learned, the hard way.

[Beaners]

Riverdale, I'd never heard of that before so I looked into a little bit. Michigan is one of the few states where they can do that. In most states they can only do that for things like student loans or child support that are affiliated with the government. I've gone over Louisiana's Dept of Revenue site a few times now and see nothing about allowing state tax refunds to be claimed in a judgment. I'd ask a lawyer or someone who does taxes to be sure, but I don't believe that they can do that in Louisiana.

Kayleigh

[Terri]

I was able to get 2 CC companies to settle for less than what my MIL owed. The deal was the lower (renegotiated) amount would be paid in full within a few days. This was arranged through the collections department. This might be a usefull thing to do with your $2500: it MIGHT pay off one of the smaller debts.

At the end of the year she had to count the amount the CC wrote off as income on her taxes, but it was still a pretty good thing to do.

I was also able to negotiate lower interest rates for her.

If you were able to squirrel away 2500 in 12 months, then that means you were able to set aside $150 a month over your living expenses. You might TRY to see if one of the smaller debts can be settled for $2500, though I think that that might be too big a write-off for them to accept. But you can ask.

You can ALWAYS ask.

While you are at it, ask if the interest rates might be dropped.

I am sorry to hear that your wife's puppies are no longer selling. You might think about re-homing some of the breeding stock, if you haven't already. A dollar saved is $1.25 earned. I am not saying you should not keep one or two as a pet: I am saying that perhaps you should not keep them all? Then that might free up a run or two so that you can board dogs while their owners are on vacation.

You implied that the new minimum payment would be $300? Is that for each of the big CCs? Theny you will need $400 a month MORE than what you have been paying.

You have perhaps $150 a month you can use, as that is what you have been putting away, AND if you do well on boarding dogs that MIGHT bring in another $160 profit, but that is not yet enough.

That is all I can think of now. We WERE able to get 2 of MIL's CC companies to take the reduced amount, though they wanted the money within a couple of weeks, and we did it through the collections department.

With one of the little debts gone, that would add perhaps another $25? per month to the kitty, and give you one less company to be dealing with besides.

Terri

[whatrset]

We found homes for all the dogs and I declared a total loss on last years Fed Income tax. I actually built up the 2500 in 5 months, so the more I think about it the $300 is doable but #$%#$ me off because it was not the arrangement that we agreed upon 3 months ago. It was supposed to be $100 for year, to service the interest (while unbeknownst to them I snowballed the lower cards). THey are just trying to throw me off of my game, and I paniced.

I am seeing the right tunnel ahead and I than everyone on this forum, and another for tossing ideas to me because they are lifelines. It is nice to have options and not feel trapped.

[Terri]

Originally Posted by whatrset

I actually built up the 2500 in 5 months, so the more I think about it the $300 is doable but #$%#$ me off because it was not the arrangement that we agreed upon 3 months ago. It was supposed to be $100 for year, to service the interest .

Oh, OK.

NOW you call them and ask for a supervisor. You had an arrangement and now the CC company is trying to change it.

If you do not get satisfaction then ask to speak to HIS supervisor. They expect you to abide by the deal but then they MUST also.

[whatrset]

I plan to do that, but I want to shake the $$$ loose just in case it was one of those never recorded never happened type deals. I do not recall getting a written confirmation after my wife set it up.

[Terri]

Originally Posted by whatrset

I plan to do that, but I want to shake the $$$ loose just in case it was one of those never recorded never happened type deals. I do not recall getting a written confirmation after my wife set it up.

Was your wife given either a name or a confirmation number?

[countrygurl]

sent you a pm, sorry for any typo's i was typing in the dark only using the light from my lap top.

[farmergirl]

I have found that credit card companies in general become FAR easier to deal with when you simply stop paying them. Sure, they'll call and bug you, but if you wait long enough (like 2 or 3 missed payments) they will offer to work with you. The thing is, no cc company will offer any sort of help to someone who is making their payments on time, even if you are scraping by without food to do so.
CC companies are operating on the belief that you keeping a "good credit score" matters to you. If you don't care about your credit score, their threats become quite hollow.

I had a very hard time financially after being diagnosed with a chronic and debilitating illness. I finally was able to work with the two cc's I have to set up affordable payments. Both are closed accounts, as I have no intention of ever using a credit card again.

Best of luck to you. Don't let them intimidate you. Scare tactics are just that. Be smart, be educated about your rights, but don't you ever be scared when dealing with a cc company.

[whatrset]

Originally Posted by Terri

Was your wife given either a name or a confirmation number?

Not that I know of now that you mention it. IT will be something I push for in the future.

[sunflower-n-ks]

This is where a dedicated note book and writing down EVERYTHING they say in it as well as dates and confirmation numbers, etc. Also any payments made, and to whom. Make sure to get names of the people that you speak to and maybe even the position they hold in the company.

[thaiblue12]

I won in court! Just with the evidence they had provided. I proved my card was stolen, they allowed them to keep charging over my limit and credit me on one day and allowed them to KEEP charging days later! I also proved they illegally withdrew funds within days of me making a payment. But my situation was different than yours.

Tell them when they call to only contact you in writing, via letter and/or email, they in most states have to follow that. If they harass you in writing you have proof. If they call you anyway tell them you are recording the conversation, they will behave better and remind them again contact is through writing then hang up.

Since you have 3 high balances, debt consolidation is probably the way to go. While they will settle for less in court they will not eat 75% of the debt. I had to wait for a letter from the court so I can give it to the collection agencies to remove the false negatives applied to me, so I heard a few cases and while they will settle it was not for that much lower. If you can pay that day it is closed with predjudice, meaning they can never come after you for the money again.
If they do sue you, provide the evidence and answer during the allotted time. One couple did not and their outcome was not great. Another man did not show up at all and they of course ruled against him, with interest of 19%.

A friend of mine did debt consolidation. It was a 3 year process, she paid monthly and was not harassed during that time. It was a lower amount with a lower interest rate. She liked the outcome and had less stress. Yes it dinged her credit but not more so than racking up late after late.

Good Luck.