I settled a debt now they want more

[slkious]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Missouri.

I had a credit card that I had not paid on since Oct 2001. In May 2008 I offered a 10% of the balance settlement, after a few days the collection company called me back and accepted my offer. With lots of hesitation on my part that they would come back after me the man assured me several times that I would never hear from them again. I asked a number of times if the conversation was being recorded and was told yes it is. I paid $796.49 by check over the phone. I was told in 6 months I would receive a letter stating that the account was closed. (6months because it was a check not a credit card I offerd to use Discover but they did not accept Discover) On July 13, 2008 they called me again, they told me it was time to start making monthly payments of $568.00. I told them they were out of there minds this account was closed May 2, 2008 go back and listen to the phone conversation that was recorded. This past Sunday July 20, 2008 they called again said the conversation was not recorded, the man that I gave the payment to no longer worked there, and they were going to refund my money I paid them in May. I said do what you want but Im done and not giving you anymore money.

This credit was orginally issued to me and a guy friend when we split up he called the company and had his name removed, that easy.

What should I do at this point to get this off my credit? As far as I'm concerned its over.

[Debt Guy]

Well, it is not over until both sides agree it is over -- or a judge says it is over.

This is a lesson that I lecture repeatedly -- never give a collector money until you have a written agreement in hand that documents your deal. The situation you describe is why such a practice is important. Any legitimate collection agency will fax or mail you something in writing before you pay money (they'll gripe and drag feet -- but they will do it to get the funds).

Anyway, at this point, you and the CA are at a statemate. It is a question of who blinks first. If 10% of the debt was $800 then the total balance is certainly large enough for a lawsuit.

How old is this debt? When was the last time you made a payment on the debt? MO has a very long statute of limitations for a credit card debt -- 10 years.

If you are sued, you can try to fight the lawsuit by claiming that it was settled. You have nothing in writing to support your side of the story. All you could do is try to convince the judge that you would have never authorized an $800 draft on your account unless you were assured that it was a done deal. Will it work? I don't know.

There is another side to this story. If the CA employee did something for which they had no authority -- which sounds like the case -- the CA has a good argument that they should not be bound by that deal. I think that is especially so if they are offering to refund the money that you earlier paid.

Like it or not, that seems to me to be a good-faith effort to put things back the way they were.

You may wish to go to [url]www.naca.net[/url] and see if there is a local attorney on the list that you can tell this story to and see what they say. If the attorney thinks you have a defendable case, they may take your case.

Good luck.

[debtcollector`]

No collection agency agreed to 10 percent of the balance as a settlement. They might have agreed to 10 percent of the balance as a payment - but not as a settlement.

You may have miscommunicated, misunderstood or simply been mistaken.

This is a discover card -- if you don't make arrangements, you will be sued and you will lose.

Good luck.

DC