What should I do Now?

What is the name of your state? Oregon


I read on a repair your credit site (creditinfo.com) that an offer can be made to a Creditor in hopes to settle a debt in a settlement offer.

A little history:
My son had a credit card which he misused and abused and never paid until about a year ago he began making payments. He went over his credit limit of $500 and the late fees and over the limit fees piled up until the account was into the thousands. He made $50 to 100 monthly payments but the amount owed of course continued to go up with the reoccuring late fees and over the limit fees. The card hold never did turn it over to a CA and he tried to get them to stop charging the fees so he could get some of the principle paid, but they refused.

I had read a sample letter on the creditinfo site that was a settlement offer. We drafted a letter using the sample and sent the card hols (Washington Mutual) the letter saying it was a settlement offer and the had 30 days to respond. He offered $650 as a payment in full offer. He waited 45 days and no word from the Card hold to reject or accept his offer. I loaned my son the $650 and made the check out to the card holder and on the front of the check I wrote PAYMENT IN FULL as to the 5/25/03 settlement agreement letter. This was written twice on the front of the check and in large red letters on the back of the check I wrote. By CASHING this check Washington Mutual agreees that this is payment in full for account #*&^%$# an is now paid in full with NO other money oweing and the account has been satisfied.
also a letter was sent with the check saying about the same thing. If the check was cashed they agree to the settlement agreement and by cashing the check the debt is satisfied and paid in full according to the settlement agreement.

The next week they cashed the check and it cleared my bank.

Yesterday my son received his monthly billing from them. It showed the $650 payment but says there is still an outstanding balance of $789 and again charged the late fee and over the limit fee.

I have read somewhere that Oregon is one of the many states that even if creditor crossed out the paid in full memo and cashed the check it is still considered paid in full.

What should we do next? and can you please tell us if this was legal to do in the first place. As, not everything you read on the internet is true and legal. But we figured it was worth a try any way.

Thank you very kindly for any advice you can give. He really wants to get this taken care of now, and relizes that his stupidity of ignoring the debt in the first place got him in to trouble in the first place. However, he has paid them well over the amount he charged on the card plus hundreds more in the late and over the limit fees. But doesn't seem to get a head of the outrageous 24.99% they are charging him and the $39 over the limit fee and $39 late fee.

Help if you can, again thanks for any advice.
MOM

[Ladynred]

They have ignored the accord and satisfaction, which Oregon law says is legal. Ok.. Washington Mutual is on the hit list of nasties by a lawfirm out of Chicago. I'm sure they'd be interested if you contact them, can't hurt at least.

[url]www.edcombs.com[/url] - go to the 'special' page and you'll see their 'hit list' - WM is among them !

Thank you
I guess we will just send them a copy of the letters as well as a copy of the cashed check. And tell them Too Bad-So Sad it is paid in full.

I emailed the law firm, their reply will be interesting!

As we might of expected, 12 days after they cashed the check that says this is payment in full and all amounts owing will be settled upon cashing this check. And 65 days after sending the settlement letter asking for a response within 30 days.

My son got a nasty letter saying they reject the settlement offer but will use the money sent as a payment towards the outstanding balance.

They stated that the agreement governing his account specifically states that we accept paymemt that reflect "paid in full" or other restrictive endorsements without losing any of our rights under the agreement.

Need some kind of advise what to do now. Oregon law does say that if the check is cashed then it is a done deal but do not have revised stutes or law that says this as I have only went on what is written on the creditinfo site.

Could the agreement that he signed go against state law or did he sign these rights away. I asked them for a copy of this and they refused saying they are under no obligation to finish anything . And that the letter they received did not request or constitute a vaildation. They ended their letter saying if we are trying to manufacture some sort of dispute in an attempt to meet the requirements of the Uniform Commercial Code regarding accord and satisfactions, be advised that this attempt will not work. As you have received our documents of record each month to your address and no other disputes have been received.

Which is NOT true as we have been asking them to settle or reduce the late fee amounts for months.

Any how any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Mom of in Debt kid

[Ladynred]

I don't *think* they can supercede state law with that agreement, but w/o a copy of it its almost impossible to say.

I'll have to dig around in the OR statutes, there may be something there BESIDES the UCC that makes accord and satisfaction binding.

Did you ever contact that law firm I gave you the link to ? They really are after this low-down company and they may be able to help you out at this point.

You might want to read this:

[url]http://www.carreonandassociates.com/accord-satisfaction-restrictive-endorsement.htm[/url]

I would also consult with an atty in your area, if the RE IS enforceable and IF you did everything required to make it valid, you may have some hope.

I also found this, which does confirm that they cannot weasel out if you followed all the steps:

"Some collection agencies will agree to settle with you for far less than you owe and then turn around and hire another collection agency to collect the difference. However, in many states this is illegal. Once a creditor deposits or cashes a full payment check, even if she strikes out the words payment in full or writes "I don't agree" on the check, she can't come after you for the balance. The states in which this law is enforced:

Arkansas
Colorado
Kansas
Connecticut
Louisiana
Georgia
Maine
Michigan
Nebraska
New Jersey
North Carolina
*****Oregon
Pennsylvania
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
Wyoming"

Doing eveything necessary to make this stick is the key.