Credit Card Collection Agencies and Negotiating Settlements

By Mark Newman

Due to the difficult financial climate we live in, collection agencies which collect credit card debt have become busier. This is due mainly because it has become harder and harder for people to make their payments.

One missed payment can result in an additional penalty which might just be what hurls you over your credit limit. Know what happens if you exceed your credit limit? That's right. You get an over-limit fee assessed against your credit card. At this point you might be $100 over your credit limit and you still owe the initial monthly payment as well.

If you contact your credit card provider, it may be willing to work with you to arrange a payment plan to get your account back on track. Credit card providers are normally willing to work with you if you show that you are being responsible by calling them and explaining your situation. It is always best to hammer things out at this point than to wind up dealing with a collection agency.

If the credit card provider decides to sell your debt to a collection agency, normally at cents on the dollar, the credit card collection agency will want to collect from you as much as possible since this is how they make their living. Because of this, credit card collection agencies may be nasty with you and threaten court action.

In reality, most credit card collection agencies would prefer to work with you to obtain payment of the debt than to launch a legal action which will be time-consuming and costly. If at all possible, this would be a good time to offer to pay the debt in full at a reduced amount. Make sure that the resulting agreement is in writing, that you retain copies of all the negotiation documentation, and mail all correspondence to the credit card collection agency by certified mail, return receipt requested.

Negotiating a settlement with the credit card collection agency should begin with an offer to reduce the original amount owed to about 25% of the original debt. This still means that the credit card collection agency will make a profit on their investment. The credit card collection agency may very well reject this offer and suggest a counteroffer. You may then counter this counteroffer and the process continues until either an agreement is reached or the negotiations fail.

As time goes by, the credit card collection agency may well pay less attention to the debt and stop calling you. It may decide to accept a smaller amount than it was initially willing to accept or, alternately, it may decide to sell the debt to yet another collection agency, for yet again a reduced amount, and the process will begin all over again.

At any point in this drawn out process, a court action could be filed against you. From beginning to end, your credit score will suffer tremendously; however, a court judgment will send your credit score into a downward spiral. - 31377

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