Collections

[punkinspoody]

What is the name of your state? IL

I took a loan and I had to make payments for 6 months to repay it. I ran into a little trouble and stopped making payments. It has now been turned over to collections. I am trying to make payment arrangements with the collection department but they are not allowing me to do so. They want me to pay half in three weeks and I can not afford that at this moment. My question is "Is this lega?" I should be able to pay what I can in a reasonable amount of time. And if I am making payments they should not be able to send me the money back because it is not what they are asking for. What should I do?

[Ladynred]

My question is "Is this lega?"

Absolutely. The terms of your loan have a clause in it concerning default and if you default they can accelerate the loan and demand payment in full immediately.

I should be able to pay what I can in a reasonable amount of time.

Yeah.. if only. It does not work that way and they don't care. You took the loan, you must pay it back and that is ALL they care about. They do NOT care about your situation and they surely aren't going to make anything 'convenient' for anyone.

And if I am making payments they should not be able to send me the money back because it is not what they are asking for.

Sure they can. They are under NO obligation to accept anything less than what you promised to pay in the loan agreement. And, as I stated above, the acceleration clause in case of default means they can demand it ALL right now and they CAN send back anything less.

Welcome to the REAL world of debt collection. You don't get to pay back on YOUR terms. You borrowed the money on THEiR terms.

What should I do?

Pay it. Put your offer IN WRITING and MAIL it to them, forget phone calls, they are meaningless. They probably won't accept your payment plan, but it's a start. Send them what you can anyway, chances are they WILL take the money. If the money is returned, the you'll need to find some way to come up with what they are demanding.