Barclay Sold Off My Credit Card Debt – How to Settle With the Debt Collector
I had a credit card with Barclay Bank for $2503.00 it is due to fall off my credit report in August of 2014 this account has been sold a few times to debt collectors. I just received a court date for a judgement unless I pay the debt. My question since it is due to fall off in 2 years how much should I settle for?
I have read that if the debt is less than 2 years not to bother paying since it will drop off. If it does drop off does the judgement also drop off or stays on for 7 years?
How can I deal with this Barclay credit card debt?
—Barbara
The original negative reporting from Barclay charging off the debt, and any subsequent negative items that may be reporting related to this debt (debt buyers and debt collectors reporting), have the credit reporting shelf life you refer to.
Settling a debt in order to improve credit report or score and avoid more credit damage.
I have a few questions about your debt. I will start there before offering some general feedback.
What state do you live in?
When did you last make a payment on the Barclay credit card?
I want to help you evaluate the statue of limitations (SOL) for legitimately suing you in order to collect.
If the deb is within the SOL, settling would make a whole lot of sense for the following reasons:
- Defending yourself against a debt buyer lawsuit is time consuming and stressful for the lay person in a way I cannot fully prepare you for.
- Defending against junk debt buyer claims has become increasingly successful for consumer law attorneys who specialize in this area. But hiring them costs money. With a smaller balance debt like yours, the cost to hire the attorney to defend you could be more than the cost to settle the Barclay debt with whatever debt buyer has it now.
- Your concern about allowing this to go to judgment and that hurting your credit for another 7 years is a real one. Wherever you read about considering not resolving accounts if within 2 years of if falling off of your credit report may be good for people in states with shorter statute of limitations to sue, but terrible advice for someone who still can be sued.
How much should you try to settle your Barclay credit card debt for?
Targeting the amount you can settle your Barclay credit card for is based on several pieces of information. One of them is the stage of collections you are in. The litigation stage you find yourself in is where debts typically get settled at the highest rates. But that is not always so. I can give you a better target to shoot for with your settlement offer (provided the debt is not past the SOL), if I knew:
Who is the debt buyer that now has the Barclay account and is suing you?
Who is the collection law firm they hired?
If you can answer all of my above questions in a comment reply I will be able to give some additional feedback.
Anyone dealing with unpaid Barclay credit cards, or a similar issue outlined above, is welcome to post questions and concerns below. You can also reach me for a phone consult at 800-939-8357, choose option 2 to ring me.
About Michael BoveeMichael started CRN in 2004 with a mission to provide people in need with detailed debt and credit help and education. Michael has participated as an expert panelist in federal consumer protection rule making, collaborated on state law changes governing debt consolidation, has worked as an expert witness in court matters related to the debt relief industry. He is available to speak with you about your financial struggle and helps people resolve their debt problems daily.
Hello, In 2013 my husband passed away unexpectedly and of course, changed my entire life. I had to make some tough decisions and one was to stop paying on my Barclays card. For a time I received letters and calls but have not received anything from them since at least 2015. Today I received a call from Legal Locator Solutions asking if I want to settle my $4000 debt for $980. I think they are legit but nothing from Barclays is on my credit reports. My credit score is 765 and I have no outstanding debt. Should I ignore these guys, or make the settlement payment?
It is highly likely that your eleven year old Barclays account is passed the SOL to legitimately be sued.
This could be a debt collection scam.
I am being sued by Barclays for $9900.
I live In Pennsylvania. Last payment was May 2022 due to job loss. Many other events happened since then but I am now employed.
Prior to receiving my summons via certified letter mail, I don’t recall seeing any collection letters from agencies or Barclays. The summons says Barclays v. me, assuming that they still own it and have a lawyer rep. (There is just a male name as the individual that filed, no address or esq) That said, at this stage, can I still negotiate w/ Barclays for settlement? If Barclays still owns it, what kind of offer should I start with? I have some money put away, would like to resolve this in the least amount of payments if lump sum is too high for me. As I have 3 other smaller charged-off accounts from around the same time I would like to resolve. If I don’t I imagine they will literally follow suit.
As one would imagine, my credit score isn’t great and I know that settling isn’t great for that either. Nor is settling multiple accounts. What I’ve been learning from all of the content I’ve been reading (which I GREATLY appreciate, thank you!) is if your credit score isn’t so great—the impact will be less. Would you recommend settling the others now as well if I can? Total is ~$8000
You typically have to deal with the law firm suing at this point.
Settlements on Barclays accounts are usually much better before attorneys get involved. Now that you are in the courts you could be looking at a settlement between 50 and 80 percent.
If you have delinquent debts and want to improve your credit, settling and showing paid collections is better than not.
I am a fan of getting all the debt resolved in the quickest way possible if you are already talking the credit hit, but some balances should be kept current when possible.
Hello, I have a credit card with Barclays-Last payment made in Oct 2022 due to job loss. Original amount was 8900 with with all the fees that were accumulated I am told it was $11500 at charge off. -I live in Alabama. 1st sold to Capital Management Services then picked up by ERC on July5,2023. Several attempts were made to settle with both Barclays and CMS with no avail. They would not go any lower than $5000. I still do not have a job so this is not possible. This ERC company has gone down to $4600 and said they would have this debt until Dec 2023. What are the chances that this settlement amount will go lower as I still cannot pay that? I did tell her that we were thinking about bankruptcy and she said she could no longer contact me as I would have to contact them. I expalned that nothing had been done yet and that it was just a thought. Hoping that they will lower the settlement amount (as the others have) where I can actually afford it. She said she would send to her supervisor but I would have to call back. What should I do about this debt? Am I saying or doing the right things? She did say that it was unlikely that Barclays would allow them to settle for any less that the %42 offered. If it has been sold why would she say anything about Barclays since they no longer own the debt..correct? SHould I wait until Dec and see what the next collector offers? Will I have to opportunity to settle if it goes to court since noone has given an amount or settlement plan I can afford. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thank you
Barclays does sell accounts, but they do not sell all accounts. Very few actually, at least the last couple years. None of the companies you mentioned buy debt from Barclays, so they still own it.
You are going about this a little bit wrong, but still effectively. You have them three percent lower than they normally allow.
I do not see the settlement improving much for you in December, and certainly not if you are sued (could double, or close to it, from where you are at now).
I could help you settle and get a good amount of time to pay, and that could help.
So I owe Barclay $4100. It went to a collection agency years ago. This has been an ongoing issue for close to 6 years. Once it hits the collection agency, can I still try to negotiate with with Barclay? Or do I need to go through the collection agency? Also, do collection agencies typically negotiate? Or is the full amount due once it hits their law firm?
I have settled a Barclays account at every stage of the collection, including what you have going on.
Once Barclays has contracted with a collection agency, or law firm, you typically have to negotiate with that third party.
Has the account gone unpaid for this whole 6 years? What state are you in?
Yup, unpaid for 6 years. We actually completely forgot about it with life, jobs, kids, etc. It only came to light because we’re refinancing our home, and this came up with the underwriter. We had no idea, as it was so long ago, and completely forgotten about – not to mention, no one even harassed us to get this paid. We’re in FL. Didn’t realize we can negotiate in this phase. Is 50% an unheard of negotiation with a law firm representing Barclays? Or even more?
Had they sued in the past? If so, what was the date you stopped paying and what is the date the suit was filed? There is a 5 year limit for them to file, from when you went delinquent, in Florida.
Who is the law firm involved in the collection? And are they collecting for Barclays, or a debt buyer like Portfolio Recovery or Midland Credit?
How important is it to refinance the home in the next 12 months?
We got a letter to appear in court many many years ago when Barclay pushed this on to the law firm. The law firm is Hayt, Hayt & Landau out of Miami. This was around 6 years ago. We asked for a change of date for the court date, because we were going to be traveling for a conference. I don’t remember the specifics of that timeline being it was 6-7 years ago, but it got forgotten about. So now it’s all rehashed being we’re refinancing. We’re refinancing to get my ex-wife off the loan, so we need to it within the next few months. Ironically, my credit report says that this issue will fall off my credit report this summer.
Thanks. You are in a sticky situation. They have a court judgment and a lien against the home. That makes for a tough negotiation hill to climb all by itself. On top of that, your credit reports likely now show a recent mortgage credit pull, which adds to the difficulty when negotiating a lower lump sum payoff.
It may be hard to get any reduction from the collection law firm. You should still try, of course, but be real about what you may be able to get approved.
Is it uncommon that no one has ever reached out to me about this? I find it so odd that over the course of 6 or so years, that no one from the law office, court, etc has ever reached out. I’d assume that they would have been bombarding me with calls and letters to get their money. Which is why we completely forget about this. Over the course of 6-7 years, we’ve had outstanding credit, bought multiple new cars, etc – and this was never brought up, nor does my credit report even show anything in collections. Is that normal?
I agree that a judgment creditor hitting the snooze button on their collection efforts defies a bit of logic, but it can happen, and is more common with judgment creditors in my experience.
Collection law firms with judgments, that have liens on homes, are going to get paid eventually (when you sell or refi). And home lenders that are going to lend will often do a public records search as well as the credit check, and surface an unpaid judgment that an auto lender or credit card issuer might miss.
Judgments are often granted interest. When that happens, the balance is growing daily by a little. That is a bit of an incentive to sit back and wait for someone to become more collectible. Not saying that happened here, but it could be part of the logic to hit the snooze button overly much.
State court judgments like yours were removed from all of our credit reports back in July of 2017. Nobody would see it unless they went looking for it in the records, or unless they subscribe to public record aggregators like Lexisnexis.
you have been so helpful. I truly appreciate your advice to me. I also watched the video link you poster. Hopefully they’ll negotiate. I’ll let them think that I don’t NEED to refinance, so hopefully they’ll see that there is no urgency on my end.
I had a Barclay’s credit card that I stopped paying Aug 2017 due to unforeseen circumstances. They had sued me and a default judgment was awarded to Oliphant Financial on 3/29/22. I live in Texas. Two questions……#1 If they are able to levy my bank account, would that show up in the court records online that I can view? Would it show additional line items in my court information online, stating that the court has granted them a bank levy? #2, I have been married since that time and have a different last name than on the credit card. They are still using my old last name. Would they be able to levy my bank account if it is now a different last name?
Collection law firms with judgments typically try to match name and social with the bank sweeps they do. Their job may be harder with the name change and a bank levy.
I would talk to an experienced debt collection consumer law attorney in your state about what you should expect with your local court rules and levy filings.
I opened a Barclays card back in 2013 and it was closed and sent to collections in 2015. Now it is just showing as delinquent and not under collections. A job I am trying to get says I need to settle this. Can you guide me on the best steps to do this? I live in Nevada
Does your credit report show the date it is set to be deleted? The 7 year mark has to be close.
Do you recall what month you stopped sending in your payments?
What is the balance owed?
Is a debt buyer, like Midland Credit, or Portfolio Recovery showing for the debt?
Just received a renewed judgement served by sheriff on a 5k debt to Barclay’s Bank from 2011. I didn’t respond to the first judgement. Are they going to try to levy my bank account now after all this time? I’m in NC. I don’t even know how to “respond” to the judgement. It’s been bought by a law firm here in NC.
They can still levy your bank account with a renewed judgment.
do you have any updated info on barclay or choice credit cards, the info here appears to be 3 years old? 2 of mine have been turned over to a levy law firm co lpa and I can find nothing about them or know how to deal with them.
We often do Barclay credit card settlements between 25 and 40 percent.
Once a law firm is involved in the collection, settlements tend to be between 50 and 80 percent.
Good evening,
I have a Barclays account that was opened in 10/16. It had 0% interest at the time and I planned to transfer and pay off bal at 5.2k. Then life happened, had a baby and went through an extreme financial hardship (I know I should have contacted them but wasn’t in the mental state for anything). The account closed 9/17, with last pymt being 7/17. It is in c/o status still. I was contacted by a law firm with last notice 6/18 to collect, however at the time I was unemployed. Last year I received a court summons, and then judgment ( judgement doesn’t show on credit report). Also, when I check my credit report it shows only the original creditor as a trade line and that I currently have nothing in collections. I am trying to clean up my credit because before my initial hardship I had excellent credit. My question is there still a possibility to settle even after judgement and if so what would your starting base be, and also does this mean I still have an option to reach out to the original creditor as no collection agency trade line is listed?
It sounds like it was Barclays that sued and got the judgment. You can start off by calling Barclays to try to settle, but if they still have it out with the collection law firm, which is common, they will direct you to negotiate with them.
Settlements on judgments are typically best with a lump sum, and tend to land between 50 and 80 percent, as long as there is no garnishment or bank levy at the time.
Thank you so much! There are no garnishments or levies! I checked and debt is still with law firm…today I will be reaching out to try to settle. Thank you again so much!
Hi Micheal,
I have a debt with Barclays for $2700 that I haven’t paid on since last October. It is currently with a contingent debt collector. Is offering them $875 a reasonable offer?
That is on the lower side of what I see Barclays settle for right now.
Nice work!
I owe $8600 (1/3 of total is interest) to Barclays and have not made a payment since the first week of March. I have the cash to settle if they will take less. Do I need to offer an amount to settle, or simply ask them to settle? They have not sent me to collections due to covid.
I mostly see the need to make a proactive offer to settle when you call in to Barclays.
There is something to letting them bring it up, but they may not until you are more late on the account.
So I open a barclays account in March 2014 for $1300 and never made a payment… it’s been 6 years and 2 months and the account is closed the balance is at 1650, and I called the other day because I’m working with a debt consultant team and originally had barclays on the payment plan but then I thought I paid them in full and ask them on the phone and found out I never made a payment so maybe I got the account confused …. they called me today asking if I could set up a payment plan for like 20$ and at this point I feel like it’s better to just let it go it’s almost been 7 years… I told the representative from Barclays I was out of a job and called in because I thought I paid the account in full … the account says close … can they take me to court ? At this point If I start to pay won’t it hurt my CC more? Thanks for the help
What state are you in? Your Barclays credit card is likely passed the SOL to sue, and will soon age off your credit reports organically. If that is the case, monthly payments, or any payment, is not something I would do if it were me.
Hello! I’m currently saving money to settle for a charged off Barclay account with a balance of approx $4400.00. It is currently with Capital Management Services. They have said $1949 (45%) is the lowest settlement they have permission to accept and cannot present Barclay with a lower offer. I am currently making $20/month payments to buy time to save enough to settle. Is a 45% settlement typical with Barclay, or should I hold out for a better offer when it is passed to another collector?
I tend to see Barclays settlements between 30 and 50 percent. Getting the best outcomes can be situational. You may look more collectable than someone else, or the colelctor may just be holding out.
Barclays still sues just enough to keep people on their toes, and they also sell to one of the largest debt buyers in the country, who sues a ton, and whose settlements may not be this good.
I too would try to work this down some from here, but would weigh those risks as well.
Barclay by legal order, took money due to a defaulted credit card out of my joint account. The credit card was in my husbands name and we have the same last name. Will they take funds from a bank account that is just in my name and not a joint account? Thank you.
Probably not.
I received a settlement offer from barclay for 30% account is currently about 125 days past due. last payment was june 18th. first missed payment was july 18th. is it worth waiting another month to see if i can get lower?
I have an old Barclays debt that is a little less than $7,000. During 2015-2017 I apparently received a summons from Harris & Zide Law firm (collections agency). I didn’t find out about it until I returned to the U.S. in 2017, but I never saw what the result of that summons was. Fast forward to 2019 and I have a bank levy that is holding almost all of the money I had in my bank accounts which is about $2,600. I have filed a claim of exemption. But would you know what are my other options and if I would be able to negotiate a payment plan without taking a $2,600 hit out of the gate? Thanks, much appreciated.
Hi Michael,
Hoping maybe you can help me. I’ve been contacted by a group called the Dawson Webber Group I have searched for the names and numbers thru google and nothing comes up. They indicated that they were trying to collect on debt from Barclay’s Bank US Airways Master Card that i opened back in 2007. They indicated it was a line of credit from usairways, but then later said it was a mastercard that i defaulted on . August 22, 2013. I find this highly unlikely I stopped baying my Credit cards in 2011 because of Financial hardships. I admit i defaulted on my account all before 2012. . I don’t even know where to find the original information. I don’t have the money to pay an attorney to help me with this. I am wondering if you can direct me to somewhere that can help me figure this all out. I see so many things about CC trying to collect old debts wrong debts. I just want to figure this out. I tried to ask for some sort of documentation indicating that i owe the debt as i didn’t recall the Credit card but anything is possible. it’s been a rough few years. .They even insinuated that my ex husband could have opened the account added my name and then filed for bankruptcy and continued to tell me that i am responsible for the debt that they will take a settlement of 4000.today. They were bullies using scare tactics by threatening me with they were going serve me at my job and home.
Ignore them. Scammers. Tell them to stop calling you and any number associated with you. If it was legit, they would not be calling you. They would have sent you a certified letter or had it hand delivered by a law enforcement agent.
I took out a barclay credit card in 2012 credit limit was 1700, but my balance was 647 which i stopped paying. (was very young)
How can I settle? My balance is now $2532. from all the interest that was build up.
What do you recommend?
If you stopped paying your Barclays card in 2012, it should be off, or close to coming off your credit reports. What is the main motivation you have to settle now?
A while ago a took a loan but now find myself having to move country and can not pay back the loan. Is there anything the bank or a debt recovery agency can do?
If you leave the country, I would tell them that. Barclays typically will not follow you out of the US over debt you took out here. If you have plans to return to the US you may want to think about resolving the debt in advance to improve your credit, rent and lease options.
A company called In House Services called me trying to collect on a Barclays credit card I owe, I’m willing to make monthly payments and they agreed. I only asked if I could have a day to see if they were legit and they hung up on me. Are they? Peter
I would call Barclays direct and ask who they have your account out with for collection, or if they sold your account, who to.
I have not been able to pay my Barclay credit card for about 7 months. I have received a collection notice from a third party collection agency. I cannot afford to settle for a percentage of the $1830 I owe, but would it be acceptable or possible to offer a small monthly payment but negotiate zero interest and penalties over the remainder of the loan? Do you think they would be open to updating my credit report to something like, “settled or payments current”? Finally, would I do this negotiation with the third party collection company or through Barclays direct?
You typically have to work through the collection agency your creditor is contracted with to collect. Now that your credit card is charged off, a settlement with payment terms is possible. What collection agency did Barclays send your account to?
I recently contacted Barclays and I owe them 2073.00. This is almost half of what I bought the computer for. I haven’t made payments with them for two years and my debt has been sent to TrackAmerica debt agency. I would like to settle, how much could I settle for?
I would target 50% or less at this point.
My parents are elderly and struggle to make monthly payments and are now 3 months behind with an oustanding bill of 390.00 can I negotiate a smaller amount for them and smaller monthly payments to avoid any further damages???
After 3 months of non payment Barclay will be showing them as 90 days late on their credit reports. That damage is going to stick. I would look to settle for less at this point if it were me. You may not be able to settle with them now, but can more readily in another 2 to 3 months.
The problem is the balance is going up with late fees, and also much of what I point out in this article about accounts to avoid settling.
Barclay Card US closed account after spouse (separated) filed for bankruptcy. Not a joint account and was current, I have no idea why it was closed other than a joint mortgage account that reflected the bankruptcy but has since been corrected on my credit file as current.
After Chpt 7 was approved for spouse a collection letter was received from Barclay for $10,900 balance. At this point my credit is tanked as It was a zero interest card before, I would like to settle.
The account is 100 days late apx, what is the target settlement amount with Barclays. Also, if it goes to suit without being able to be settled do they typically wage garnish or place a lien on the house?
I would typically target a 35% settlement with Barclay, and at around the 6 to 7 month late mark. Is it possible for you to pull the money needed together by then?
If you were sued for the Barclay account, and a judgment entered, it is your state laws that will govern collection from there. Most states allow wage garnishment to some degree, but a few prevent that. Property liens are common.
What state are you in?
I do have the money, I intended to pay all along. Should I then just wait until I start receiving letters to start offering a settlement? I live in CA
I would wait until you are 6 months of missed payments and then negotiate your settlement with Barclay. If you get a collection notice from an outside third party debt collector, you can settle then too.
If you need help fill in the talk to Michael form in the right column and I will email you to set up a phone consult.
I just discovered they have sold this account to Cohen collection per the Barclay customer service rep. Is this a internal Barclay collector or one that has purchased the debt. Now what should I target for settlement amount?
I would still be targeting 35% settlement.
My boyfriend had a card that has been charged off. It is still with the bank. We called to inquire about a settlement. The rep told us that if we settle they don’t take less then 85% and the same applies if he goes through a debt consolidation firm. She also said that if we settle we have 10 days to pay off the card. His balance is about $3,465 I believe. How can we get a lesser settlement amount as well as installment payments?
Is the account with Barclay, or a different bank?
I opened a Barclays account a few years back to purchase a laptop. My wife and I hit hard times and could not pay the balance, which I think at the time of default was around 1500.00. And if memory serves, I last payed them over a year and a half ago. I just received a letter from Eaton Group Attorneys (out of Baton Rouge, LA) about the debt. The total they have is 2,428.78. Certainly a lot higher than what it should be. Since this is a firm in my home state, I am assuming they are getting ready to sue.
I don’t know whether to be preemptive about it or wait for them to respond a second time. I would certainly be willing to settle but I need monthly payments.
Setting up monthly payments is often better to do before sued. If you wait until you are sued, and still need a monthly agreement, you will most likely have to sign a consent or stipulation to judgment. Avoid that if possible.
If sued, watch this video about how to use the lawsuit to buy time to settle.
I have Barclay credit card account that has been purchased by Midland Funding LLC. I am in court over this. But the 3 year Limitation has passed as of 1-12-16 per Barclay claiming Delaware for it SOL, but I live in Missouri and the Law office of Gamache and Myers, PC states that Missouri 5 yr SOL applies and are trying to use it when it should be time barred.
You have to defend the lawsuit and get the court to agree on the SOL of Delaware. It is not automatic.
, I received the notice of intent to incur court cost by filing suit from Suttell Hammer & White APC. They are intended to file suit in 5 days from the date on the letter, if I won’t pay full amount I owe, on my credit card, which they stating is $6318.24 to Barclays Bank Delaware.
The date on the letter October 12, and I got it yesterday.
I never have been offered any settlement amount, and I’m most certainly don’t have money to pay full amount, I’m unemployed.
Please I need your advise in this situation.
Thank you very much.
Sincerely
Once sued, it can often make sense to defend the lawsuit in order to settle later. Be sure to review the tips and advice in that article.
I was on a barclay 12 month reduced payment plan for a hardship. That just got over this month. I called to see if they could extend it as my situation hasn’t changed. As I coveted they said they couldn’t help me until my payments were late. I will be stopping payments on this account . They also suggested I. CAll a non profit agency to help me negotiate with them a 5 year plan at 5.99%.
I still won’t be able to afford the $250 min payment per month for 5 years. I was going to stop paying and wait 4-6 months and ask for a lump sum payment before it’s charged off. What are the chances they will settle a d what % is the trend for barclay currently?
Thank you in advance.
I am seeing 35% consistently with Barclay settlements. Can you pull that together in the next 6 months?
Yes I can. I have a few thousand saved now. On a $11,400 balance at 35% that’s about $4100?
Close to it.
You will have to fall behind, like you mentioned, and for nearly 6 months (which can look more like 210 days from now). Be sure to read through my article series about settling with your original creditor.
Thank you. Last question. Will they eve tuLly send me a letter with the terms or do I need to be answering their calls each month. I listened to your podcast where it said I should keep in contact with them to let them know my status and that I’m trying to come up with the money eh to pay something. Other articles I read have said to ignore them for a few months. I’m assuming they will send offers to me the closer it gets to 150-180 days.
Calling to let a bank like Barclay know you are in a hardship is fine. If you do call, you can do it before you stop paying, or in the first few months after you stopped. It is not as necessary to make those early calls anymore.
Thank you. And eventually they will send me a settlement letter?
When they call do I request a settlement payoff?
Read through the debt settlement article series I linked you to in our above comment exchange. You will know what is going to happen before it does, and what you need to do along the way. You will understand why I am answering with:
No, they will not likely just send you a settlement letter that you simply act on (though that is possible).
No, you do not request a settlement offer from them when they call. But if you were to do that, it would be after you are 150 days late, but not yet 180.
Thank you I will review. How likely am I to get a settlement offer if I am current in y other credit card payments? They are much lower limits and monthly payments.