Yet Another CC/Debt Collection Thread....

[porduc]

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? Michigan

I have CC accounts with:
Citibank ~ $1000
Capitol One ~$500
Bank One ~$1200
Chase ~$5000
Bank Of America ~$3000
(these totals are after the 6 months of late fees/overlimit fees)


Lost job, 6 months with no payment to all of them. Then I setup payment plans with all of them, I was able to make two payments to each. Last 2 monthly payments I coudn't meet. Got home today to a message from some Lawyer, "important to call me back blah blah blah..."

The outlook to pay these off doesn't look good. I am a junior in college, work and go to school, I really want to finish ASAP to get a better paying job, but my current job I'm not able to pay for my credit card debit (stupidity) + rent/living...So I don't want to drop out, work 2 jobs etc....

I have been reading a lot of threads here, and I'm looking for some suggestions on what to do...

(1.) Is there any chance in hell that these company's will reduce some of the debt by removing all those late fees/overlimits and I just owe the original debt before i lost job?

(2.) Should I just ignore all of this and wait for the SOL (6 years)?
(2A.) If I did this, is the next step more lawyers calling me?

(3.) Setup payments again, lower this time, and pay each $20 month for the rest of my life???

Give a stupid kid some helpful advice please!

 

[Ladynred]

(1.) Is there any chance in hell that these company's will reduce some of the debt by removing all those late fees/overlimits and I just owe the original debt before i lost job?

Possibly. Once you get to be 3-4 months behind on payments, they may let you go on a hardship program, but they only last 6-12 months and if you miss any payments, you're booted out of the 'program'. They rarely consider hardship until you're that far behind.

(2.) Should I just ignore all of this and wait for the SOL (6 years)?

Long time to wait, and they won't go away in the interim. About the only one's on your list that aggressively sue is Crap1 and Citibank, but the amounts you owe are relatively small so they may not sue at all.

(2A.) If I did this, is the next step more lawyers calling me?

The current 'lawyer' is no doubt just another collection agency, and yes, you could expect more such calls from 'law firms'.

(3.) Setup payments again, lower this time, and pay each $20 month for the rest of my life???

They probably won't take $20 a month, but you can certainly try it. Ask about the hardship program and see what the terms are. Chances are they'll want a large lump-sum payment up front though, so be prepared.