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Resolving Debt with Velocity Investment LLC

May 5, 2020 by Michael Bovee 2 Comments

If you are hearing from Velocity Investment LLC it is likely because they have purchased an unpaid account from one of your creditors.

Like with many debt buyers, Velocity bids on accounts that have gone unpaid more than 4 months in the case of fixed loans, and more than 6 months late in the case of credit cards (though I do not see Velocity buying unpaid credit card debts at the time this is being published).

What debt buyers pay for the legal rights to collect debt gone bad can vary based on the creditor selling, the economic climate, how long ago payments ceased, whether the accounts have been sold in the past, and other details.

What a debt buyer pays for the legal rights to collect from you really does not come in to play when you want to resolve a debt with a company like Velocity Investment.

What types of debt does Velocity Investment buy?

As of right now, if you had a loan with Prosper, Lending Club, Upstart, and a few other market place lenders, you could be hearing from Velocity.

I have seen them buy up the accounts from Lending Club and Prosper right after your accounts charges off, so around 5 or 6 months after you stopped paying on your loan. I also see Lending Club send accounts out to an external debt collection agency for a round of phone calls and letters before they sell to Velocity (or other debt buyers too).

Upstart and a couple of other online lenders are pretty much the same timeline for when they sell unpaid accounts to Velocity and others.

You may get a letter from your lender where they clearly tell you they have now sold your account to Velocity Investment.

Using external collections and law firms to sue.

Like most debt buyers these days, there is an element of risk to not proactively trying to work things out with Velocity Investment LLC once you hear from them. They use a handful of collection agencies to write to you and call you in order to collect.

CKS Financial is one of a few collection agencies they use. CKS also bids on, and buys debt from, some of the same lenders that Velocity does.

It is not overly problematic to hear from collection agencies who do not sue, as they will have the account for a few months before Velocity pulls it back if the agency cannot get you to pay.

It can become a problem when you are hearing from collection law firms debt buyers like Velocity Investment sends your account to.

There is a massive network of collection law firms around the country that banks, lenders, and debt buyers can tap in to. When you hear from one, and they are licensed in your state, it typically means they are authorized to sue you in order to collect.

Settling and paying your debt

Any debt Velocity Investment has purchased is already going to be charged off. That means your credit already took a hit. You are not going to get anything extra out of the situation by paying them in full compared to settling for less. That being the case, settling proactively will save you money and prevent being sued.

If you have the resources and the inclination to negotiate and settle debts with Velocity, they are pretty easy to deal with. You can call them and negotiate using many of the tips I highlight through out this site, and in videos about how to talk to debt collectors.

If your Velocity account is with a collection agency, negotiating is much the same as dealing with any collector, but if the account is with a collection law firm, I typically suggest getting help.

Generally I have found the best results on settlements with Velocity Investment, no matter if negotiating directly with them, a collection agency, and certainly a collection attorney, to come from working with a professional negotiator. Not just from an amount saved on the settlement perspective, but with getting as much as a few years to pay the agreed upon amount, getting everything documented up front, and set up correctly.

Velocity Investment on your credit reports

It is common to find debt buyers on your credit reports. Velocity is no different. Some debt buyers have developed policies for removing their credit reporting when you resolve a debt with them (whether you pay in full or not). At the time I am writing this Velocity is not one of them, but more debt buyers are starting to do this, so stay tuned.

If Velocity is credit reporting, when you settle with them, like any other company furnishing information to the credit bureaus, they will need to update Equifax, Experian and TransUnion that you no longer owe the debt, and that it is a zero balance, paid collection.

Do not get hung up on whether they show on your credit as settled for less, or anything else like that, as the words on the credit report are not important, but the zero balance, debt no longer owed is.

If you would like help settling your account with Velocity Investment LLC, we do that! You can schedule a call to talk with me about it here:

https://calendly.com/debtbytes/15min

If you have questions or concerns about dealing with Velocity Investment you are welcome to post in the comments below.

Reduce Credit Card Interest Rates.

August 8, 2017 by Michael Bovee Leave a Comment

Readers regularly write to me asking what options they have for lowering credit card interest rates. Many people inquiring about consolidation are making monthly payments on time, but are only barely getting by, and some months end up taking money from one credit card to pay another, and are running out of balance transfer options.

If you are stuck in a similar situation, here are three common ways you can reduce your interest rates on unsecured loans and credit cards.

Consolidation loans

You take out a consolidation loan and use all of that money to pay off the credit cards and higher interest personal loans.

Your current debt to income ratio may prevent you from qualifying for a debt consolidation loan in the size that you would need to fully pay off all of your credit card bills.

In fact, I do not see unsecured consolidation loans as high as many of us would need these days.

If you are only able to secure half of what you would need to consolidate, it still could make sense to use a consolidation loan to lower monthly debt servicing costs, just less so.

Debt Consolidation Company

You can use a debt consolidation company for their established relationships with your banks in order to combine all of your balances into one smaller monthly payment, and pay that same fixed monthly amount of money until all of your credit card balances are eliminated.

I cover the benefits and drawbacks in this article series about debt consolidation counselors

You can call my hotline 800-939-8357 and choose option one to speak with a counselor and get an accurate quote for what your lower interest rates would be, and how much your monthly payments will be reduced.

Credit Card Hardship Plans

I cover how to get your credit card interest rates reduced by yourself. Much of that article series relates to recession era bank policies. But I am now seeing several credit card banks return to that era’s hardship plans due to COVID 19.

If you are unable to get your banks to work with you on long term hardship repayment plans (at seriously reduced interest rates) they may still give the debt consolidation companies the lower interest rates for the life of your balances.

The more credit cards you have to attempt to get lower interest rates from, the more of a juggling act it can be doing self administered hardship plans. Because calling a credit counselor is a fairly quick and free way to get a baseline monthly payment quote, I typically suggest starting with that call. You take the quote and sleep on it for a few days, or weeks, and compare that to the debt consolidation loan interest rates and amounts you qualified for.

If for any reason you determine your situation is now beyond debt consolidation being helpful, and you want to compare consolidating with settling debts for less, you are welcome to schedule a call with me, or requesting a debt settlement quote below.

Debt Help Hotline

October 27, 2014 by Michael Bovee

Having worked in the debt and credit relief industry for as long as I have has helped me to form relationships with other like minded professionals. There are some truly awesome people out there making the world a better place for consumers.

Some are dedicated to publishing educational tools and helpful debt guides. Others are simply some of the best and most affordable service providers in their respective niche.

If your awesome, I would like to meet you.

If you are involved in the debt relief services industry, and have an interest in the debt relief hotline I publish here fill out the contact box you see below. Be sure to include any pertinent details about your interest in the hotline.

Couple of things before you contact me:

I am critical of most things debt relief services.
I am beyond committed to, and probably commit-table, regarding my passion for providing detailed education and information to people with debt and credit problems.
I realized after some time, and even frustration, that most people want to hire someone, or buy a product, to resolve their problems. Not everyone’s a DIY debt relief-er.
People generally need, and benefit from, getting individually informed and educated about how to solve debt and credit issues.

All of the companies involved in the debt relief hotlines, where I play a part, are involved in helping people through debt and credit triage situations. Legitimate companies and professionals helping the debt trodden will generally be credit counseling agencies, bankruptcy attorneys, and debt negotiation experts. Why?

Callers are looking for help to manage bills they can no longer continue to pay, or have stopped paying, according to the original terms.

I have long preferred people use a process of elimination for what type of help they need, and the path they will choose, to deal with overwhelming debt. That process will often require people contact several service providers to talk about multiple different options that may apply to them.

That process of elimination is why many callers to the debt relief hotline will start at the top of this decision tree with learning if they can continue to make their minimum payments based on their monthly income and expenses.

Get Involved.

If you are interested in participating in any of the projects I work on to help consumers, or would like to receive live calls from people looking for assistance, be sure what you do kicks ass and is a fair deal.

I am committed to helping build a better financial future for consumers, and the companies who work with them. And I look forward to connecting with more like minded debt and credit professionals that think similarly.