options after youve agreed to a payment plan

Submitted by ren10977 on Tue, 02/16/2010 - 03:36
Forums

I have an outstanding balance from an old credit card bill. It is almost 7 yrs old and the original debt was $5,100. I had moved out of the country for 2 years and though I did try to pay it for the first year, it proved quite difficult because of the currency difference, unreliable family members, and to be frank , my own stupidity. Slowly the balance started getting higher and higher because of overdraft charges and late fees. I endured many frustrating phone calls trying to figure out an efficient and feasible way to pay it without having to rely on anyone else to do it for me but the credit card company was not helpful and eventually I just stopped paying. I got a letter last year saying the CA was going to sue me and that the balance was now $7,200. I was scared so I called the CA and set up a payment plan. It is the only bad credit I have but it is killing my credit score. I would like to clean up my credit but I don't know how to proceed. The payment plan is barely even touching the balance so I thought if I could swing paying a decent amount with my tax returns that I could offer the CA something in return for clearing the debt. However, after reading some forums, I'm finding I may have made a huge error by doing a payment plan and cannot use the pay for delete option. So, do I have any options? Will it make any difference to my credit if I don't pay the debt in full but only settle the account? How much do you think the CA would be willing to take for this debt? Thanks everyone for any input you may have.

Hi Ren,

You can first make a list of your income and expenditures. From that you can check out if you can pay more than what you pay every month for the debt. You can try and lessen any extra expenditures if possible, and save some money to pay the dues in full. If you pay the full balance and along with it, request the collection agency (CA) to agree to a "Pay for delete", they will report that to the credit bureaus, and the negative listing will get removed from your report.

If it will be possible for you to pay the amount in full, you can contact the CA and talk to them about your ability to pay the full amount. However not every CA may agree to a PFD.

Tue, 02/16/2010 - 05:10 Permalink

It will be challenging to switch from a payment plan to a PFD, but not impossible.

Tue, 02/16/2010 - 11:27 Permalink

Here is a question that may help out the original poster. If this debt is almost seven years old wouldn't it be falling off soon? I always thought negatives only stayed on your credit report for seven years or so before falling off.

Tue, 02/16/2010 - 15:07 Permalink

the OP left the country, so if the creditor can prove it that tolls the debt. Also they entered a payment plan since then.

Wed, 02/17/2010 - 11:38 Permalink