Paying Bill -vs- Credit Collections

Recently I was having problems paying my bills; I was at least 3-months behind. I had talked to most of the creditors and explained the situation and asked them to work with me. For the most part they were willing.
When it started looking grim I started looking at Credit Consolidation (CC). I found one and thought that it would work and had only made one payment to them. Then one of my creditors called me and stated that they would not work with this CC because they [b]were not[b] a non-profit organization. So on the advice of the credit card company I stopped my contract with the CC.
I was under the impression that this credit card company was going to give me a little bit longer to find another CC or other means to pay the payments. The day before Christmas I received a letter from a collection agency (CA). So I called them after Christmas to find out what was going on and then they offered to settle the account by $2k less then what I owed, but unfortunately I still had no funds to do this, I was barely making ends meet otherwise and I was all already credit out of my league. So I told them that I would think about it and then another call came in and they were on the rude side that no matter what I was going to pay this and in full on one payment. At this time I told them that I could not do that and that I would be sending them a letter stating the intentions of my account and how to pay it off. They basically told me "so what." And at that time I told them the conversation wasn't going anywhere and that it was over and not to call again. Well they called again just last night and basically still wanted to know what I was going to do pay it off, I again told them that a letter was coming to explain and they then started to get a little on the snotty side of things and basically calling me a lair. I told them that my account with the credit card company was up-to-date and that there was no reason for them to continue to call me and that it was over and not to call again.

Now - My questions are: Do I not have the right to pay my creditor directly instead of the CC? Can the CC proceed with any legal actions against me for full payment?

[Ladynred]

You most certainly DO have the right to keep dealing with the original creditor (OC) rather than deal with the nasty CA's. If the account hasn't been charged-off (180 days of non-payment), then you're still dealing with the OC. If you've caught up with the OC, call THEM and ask them to call off their CA dogs.

I wouldn't talk at all to the CA's, their tactics are to be rude, nasty, and abusive to try to make you pay. Ignore them, don't waste your breath talking to them. As long as you can deal with the OC, do so.

The OC usually won't proceed with any legal remedies until after the account is charged-off, so you don't have much to worry about yet.

Thank you for your input and advice. I will keep a record of any calls if they priciest and call the creditor .