Debt Consolidation Payoff?

[Zigner]

Thanks Simon. There may be a slight misunderstanding. My brother is already paying this debt consolidation company and has been for one year. He has 3 years left to pay and I was simply trying to determine if they would take a lump sum payoff other than him having to pay for 3 more years. I would like to tell him to simply stop paying them entirely but I'm sure they would threaten him with legal action. He's also paying on a DWI including probation, breathalizer and TX Dept. of Public Safety fees. Realistically, he can barely afford to eat.

Do NOT listen to Simon. His advice is suspect and dangerous. Nobody with half a brain would advise somebody to just ignore legal process...or, worse, to attempt to evade it.

 

[TigerD]

OP the only good advice on this thread is from Zigner.

Here's the deal. A company may settle or they may not. Your brother needs to talk to them. Chances are they are not going to settle for less cash than they are out.

Everything else on this thread has been noise. You haven't provided enough information to get a better answer than possibly.

DC

 

[dlw99]

OP the only good advice on this thread is from Zigner.

Here's the deal. A company may settle or they may not. Your brother needs to talk to them. Chances are they are not going to settle for less cash than they are out.

Everything else on this thread has been noise. You haven't provided enough information to get a better answer than possibly.

DC

NONSENSE!!! DC is presumably in the BUSINESS of making money off of guys like your brother! Loans are bought and sold for pennies on the dollar. Debt collectors make a commission on what they collect. Of course a guy whose screenname is debt collector wants you to pay as much as possible. Remember that banks claim 30% corporation tax when they write bad debts off.

Zigner telling you to ask THEM what they would settle for is like asking a used car salesman how much you should pay for that pretty green sedan on his lot! Just plain STUPID!

I have negotiated deals for as little as 25% of the amount due on all kinds of debt. This is not ''noise'', it's a SKILL called NEGOTIATION.

Don't throw your money down a hole. Offer them nine hundred bucks, wait for them to laugh, hem, or haw, and start the negotiation. Remember the worst thing they can say is no!

 

[dlw99]

Have him contact the creditor and ask THEM what they'd accept.

This statement is hands down the dumbest advice I have ever heard about how to handle a creditor!

 

[dlw99]

Dear, Onthepipe:

I understand your brother's situation. If he stops paying, the company might threaten him with police and arrest. Though such scare tactics are illegal by Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, collectors still engage in them.

Debt collectors often make threats they cannot or will not follow through on, like - We will call all your neighbors and tell them you don't pay your bills. -

They will also tell you they absolutely cannot take less than XXXX dollars to settle the debt, and I have found that this is not true either.

Before the economy collapsed, things were different. Debtors have more negotiating leverage with creditors these days than they think, especially if the creditor is a bank.

 

[dlw99]

Thanks. There's a bunch of things they tell anxious debtors they can or will do, that they can't and won't do. There are millions of people who are deeply in debt now who were never in debt before, and have no clue how to handle nasty debt collectors.