Approach on paying full credit card debt for 50% off

Submitted by lostboyca on Mon, 12/29/2008 - 09:31

I live in California and need to get out of debt like all of us on this forum. I would like to put this out there and see if this is a good way of paying getting rid of my debt for cheap. Please give me your thoughts on this idea. I have 4 credit cards which I can pay in lump sum for example.

Card #1 Closed owe $1911 30%
Card #2 Limit $1880 owe $1687 30%
Card #3 Limit $1200 owe $1150 30%
Card #4 Limit $1600 owe $1500 interest 10%

I’ve been paying the high interest rate for over a year now and can’t seem to control it. I will come up with some lump sum of money which I was thinking of negotiating with the banks to pay for less my idea of payment is as follow

Card #1 $1000
Card#2 $800
Card#3 $600
Card #4 800

At this point I don’t really care if they close my account because I’ve had it with the debt. Now the question is that how do I approach this to make sure I am covered and they don’t mess up my credit report and no other loop holes that creditors can hit me up on. At the moment I’ve just recently got laid off from work and for sure if I don’t go this route the credit cards will rob me blind.

Your thoughts are appreciated

Lostboyca

Hi lostboyca
You can go for balance transfer credit cards to repay off the debts once you settle the amount with the credit card companies for a discount on the outstanding debt amount. These balance transfer credit cards have low annual percentage rate and you can also have a 0 APR for a period of 12 months. Now since you will be making the payments towards the credit cards, the company may not close the account. However, if you have cash in hand, you can pay it off without going for balance transfer cards.

Mon, 12/29/2008 - 12:19 Permalink

I'm planning to just pay it off and trying to pay it off for less than amount I owe. Has anyone tried this approach? If so I would like to know the steps to take and what to request the CC company to put in writing so they dont' screw me some more

Mon, 12/29/2008 - 19:53 Permalink

When you do not pay the debt for over 6 months, most of the creditors consider the debt as a bad debt. Now when you contact them for paying off the debt, they generally agree to 60 to 80% of the outstanding debt and agrees to a repayment plan so that you can afford to pay off the debt. But if it is a current debt, the creditors will not consider a reduction in the outstanding amount.

Tue, 12/30/2008 - 12:01 Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

wow that is a bummer by the time you want to go this route you will have to ruin your credit already?

Tue, 12/30/2008 - 17:06 Permalink

I do not think he is sayong he is late or even six months past due on the accounts. He just wants to be rid of them. You could try Mary's approach and see if it will get you anywhere. If the companies see you are paying on time and are not delinquent on the debt they may not want to settle the debt out. You could save your credit all together if you went for a consolidation loan. By putiing all your debt together through a bank you will see your payments go into one and be paying a lot less. You will also get a much better interest rate. Sometimes the easy way out (not that I am implying you are taking this route) can really hurt you later on. Things like this stay on your credit for 7 years before falling off. You never know if you will hit a hard time and need credit again so think hard before going this route..Believe me I know..Been there and done that.

Tue, 12/30/2008 - 19:53 Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

thanks for the advice I don't want my credit score to take a hit, maybe someone who tried this route can give me an insite. The worst would be that I call them and they say no

Tue, 12/30/2008 - 20:09 Permalink

Your credit score will improve only if the creditor or the collection agency agrees to pay for deletion agreement so that the negative listing no longer remains in your report after you pay off the debt. But if you make the full payment towards the debt without PFD agreement, then the negative listing will stay in your report for seven years and lower your score. The only change in your credit report will be that the status of the listing will change to "paid in full" in your report.

Wed, 12/31/2008 - 12:29 Permalink

Guest I think you are on the right track when you say the worst you could hear is "no". They may be able to even work with you to help keep you from defaulting on your payments. They may not be able to knock off money but maybe they could redo your interest rate for a period of time so that you can get them paid down. I have heard of this type of arrangement. Some will do it for like 6 months and then go back to the regular interest rarte after that. Contact them and see. If you get a chance stop back here and let us know how it went in case anyone could use this type of info. Good Luck.

Fri, 01/02/2009 - 00:31 Permalink

No luck :( had to pay for them no bites are reply from creditor

Wed, 06/24/2009 - 08:31 Permalink
Geri (not verified)

I jst want to borrow the money to pay off Dears. I am not disputing the owed amount- it is accurate-but the 29.99% is killing me. Does anyone know where I can get an unsecured loan, with lower interest(not PAYDAY) over about 12-18 months?

Wed, 10/21/2009 - 13:40 Permalink