they won't negotiate!

What is the name of your state? NY

my credit card company, bankone, is about to charge off my account. i want to negotiate with them. 3 years ago they offered me 25% settlement of my balance. i could not afford it then, but now i could but they will not honor their past offer. they are offering me 50% of the balance instead. can't they grandfather their original offer? also, can they garnish a federal government employees salary if this goes to collection?

i haven't charged anything on this account in over 5 years. my balance is $17,500, all of which is finance, interest and penalty fees. since 9/11, i've had to make a career change and now i earn less than half prior to 9/11.

thanks in advance.....

[Ladynred]

They don't have to 'honor' anything, let alone a prior settlement offer. They are not obligated to accept anything except the full amount due per your cc agreement.

Whatever you do, stop trying to negotiate on the phone. Do everything in writing and use certified mail or other method that gets you a delivery confirmation receipt. There's nothing stopping you from offering THEM a settlement amount.

I don't know about garnishing a Federal employee's salary, though I don't know why they couldn't. I'm sure one of the other memebers can answer for sure.

Thanks for your quick reply.

I did offer them $5,742.00, ( a home refinace cashout amount I am holding onto) an amount I thought was fair based on the records I requested from them on my past transactions. This amount is also greater than the 25% they originally offered. I'ts approximately 32% of my account balance. My offer was rejected.

For the past several years I've been trying to settle this account with them. Thy did extend to me an assist program, which expired. I continue to pay them $82.00 a month, but they say this is not good enough. Are there usury laws to protect me? My account goes back over 7 years. Does a SOL apply here since I do make an effort to pay them something?

Thanks

[Ladynred]

There are usury laws in almost every state, unfortunately they don't usually apply to credit cards that base themselves in a state with little or no usuary limits - like Delaware (where most large banks are incorporated).

If they offered a settlement before, how long ago ? Are you certain the account isn't already charged-off ?? If they're not happy with what you send, they're going to charge it off anyway. You may just want to wait a couple of months and try your offer again.

The SOL won't apply here because you have been paying them.