How to get Debt Settlement with Bank of America – FIA Card Services – Penncro Debt Collection Agency
I received a statement of account from Penncro Associates regarding our Bank of America credit card. It used to be MBNA and they were acquired by BOA. We have been unable to make a payment on our account since September (prior to then we had never been late on a payment ever in the 15+ years I had had the card and with them raising the interest rates so high I exhausted our savings account trying to keep up with the credit card payments). Anyway, the statement states that my account has been referred to them for collection but any payment should be sent to FIA Card Services which is BOA.
Am I correct in assuming then that BOA/FIA hasn't sold the debt to Penncro if any payments should be sent to FIA?
The statement also says that I can request a "Validation of Debt", should I?
When do I start the negotiation process to settle the debt?
Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated.
Am I correct in assuming then that BOA/FIA hasn't sold the debt to Penncro if any payments should be sent to FIA?
—STACY
Short answer
Yes. If the payment instructions still tell you to send money to FIA Card Services, the account has not been sold. Penncro is an assignment collection agency working your old MBNA, now Bank of America, credit card debt, so a settlement is available through them.
Key points on this page
- Payment instructions naming FIA Card Services mean Bank of America still owns the account. It has not gone to a debt buyer.
- Penncro is an assignment debt collection agency working the account for the bank. It is not the owner of the debt.
- You have the right to request validation of the debt, but it is not recommended when you recognize the debt as yours and want to resolve it by settling. The request may complicate your efforts.
- A settlement can be a lump sum, or a reduced balance paid in installments over several months if you cannot fund the lowest offer today.
- When and how to negotiate depends on the money you have available now, how long it would take to raise more, whether a better deal could be negotiated direct with Bank of America or FIA Card Services, and whether you are current on your other cards.
You are correct in your assumption that your Bank of America account has not been sold if payment instructions are to send money to FIA Card Services. Penncro is just an assignment debt collection agency working to collect your old MBNA, now BofA credit card debt.
Settling Your Bank of America or FIA Card Services Account with Penncro
You definitely have the right to to request validation of the debt, but should you? If you recognize the Bank of America credit card debt as yours, and want to resolve the account through settlement, I would not recommend sending in a validation request. Sending the request may actually complicate your efforts. Here is a brief article on the topic of debt validation when you are trying to settle a debt that you know you legitimately owe: Debt validation when you really just want to resolve an account.
When and how to approach your negotiations with Penncro, or even if you should, will depend on several things.
- What amount of money do you have available now to apply to a lump sum settlement?
- If not enough to settle in full for the lowest available offer, how long will it take to raise the funds? Can you reach a settlement and payment terms with time to pay? In other words, reduction of the balance owed with several months to pay the settlement in installments is an option.
- Could a better deal be negotiated direct with Bank of America or FIA Card Services?
- Are you current with other credit card payments?
I would recommend you read through the settling with debt collectors portion of the site. I cover most of what you want to know about settling credit card debt with collection agencies like Penncro and others. There are differences between settling with your bank directly, and each different debt collector BofA may send or sell your account to.
If you want to talk over your situation on the phone, call me 800-939-8357, and press option 2. I also offer one on one help if you need it.
If you have questions or concerns while you read through the articles and reports about settling debt, post them in the comment section you will find at the bottom of each page. Anyone with questions or concerns about settling your credit card with Bank of America, FIA Card Services, or Penncro, is welcome to post below for feedback and helpful tips.
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.
Hi Michael,
I defaulted on a Bank of America credit card in 2017 due to cumulative unemployment, surgery issues, etc., and just received a summons for a lawsuit a few days ago. The facts:
1. Plaintiff – Bank of America, NA
2. Attorneys for Plaintiff – Rubin & Rothman (“This communication is from a debt collector,” etc.)
3. Sum -$13K “and costs of this action”
4. NY State resident
5. No real assets – Don’t own home or car, no savings left, no retirement acct., furnishings in studio apt not likely worth
more than a few grand, already sold what jewelry I had year of default to pay rent and eat
6. Still don’t have full-time work, a position I had higher hopes for has turned out to be more of a 6-8 day a month gig,
thus far no pay stubs to furnish anyone, and basically just enough to cover rent and utilities and food.
7. $40K+ federal student loans, currently in deferrment
8. I have kept current on my only other card, a store card, because I have been able to swing the low $30 min payments
I live in a stabilized tenement walkup, located in a fancy NYC zipcode, for what that’s worth, wondering if zip code flagged me as more attractive to sue…
My intention is to get loans from loved ones to settle, and know not to negotiate until cash is in hand. Am I correct that I should file answer first before contacting the Plaintiff firm to negotiate? It seems unlikely to do better than 50% with BOA, is 30% a good place to start?
Do you have any idea what their court costs might be?
I have until July 1st to file an answer – I have poured through your pages, but am still unsure what I can/should say. Your quote, “often better to file an answer or general denial before negotiating,” are those separate procedures, or is a general denial just one way to file answer? I understand the concept of establishing controversy and the importance of showing that I will not just wither, but in terms of “defending the suit,” I am wondering what best to say in defense, and when to say it.
I did contact a firm that specialized in these suits and was quoted a fee of around $2,500 to do all the filing and negotiating (plus $250/hr court cost “which rarely happens”), but it wasn’t really a consultation, just a 3 minute call to request my contact info and a scan of the suit. The assistant’s response to the scan only mentioned seeing the case to a satisfactory conclusion, and buying me time. They also mentioned that I could file the answer pro se and attempt to work out “a manageable payment plan” on my own, then included links to other possible attorneys and free legal resources. No mention of possibility of settlement, not very encouraging – was this a brush off?
Committing to a payment plan is not really a viable option for me now without a solid, predictable income, and I would like to avoid default. I have seen your writings regarding BK, but fear that might make finding more gainful employment even more difficult. Any advice on strategy? I would probably be more comfortable with representation, but if the best they can do is arrange a payment plan I can’t afford, it seems like throwing money out the window. Any thoughts/ideas you can offer are GREATLY appreciated!
I would talk things over with an experienced debt collection consumer law attorney in your area.
A general denial or answer to the lawsuit accomplishes the same thing. And yes, it is still what I would do in a situation like this, before negotiating, if it were me.
Assume for a moment you could settle this for around 7k. How long would it take to pull that together?
Thank you for responding!
With respect to pulling 7k together, it could be two weeks, or two months. A relative has indicated a willingness to help and, I believe has the ability to do so. My issue is they are pressed for time, not always easy to contact, and may not appreciate my sense of urgency. I am finding it difficult to force the issue, considering I am the one with hat in hand, so to speak. I still feel this is something I can work out. I plan to contact a couple more attorneys for consultation, but I cannot pay a retainer without help from the relative.
I have gone to a legal clinic that offers advice to the public. They recorded basic information and filled out a Written Answer for me to submit to the court. In addition to selecting “General Denial” on the checklist, they also chose the following defenses:
– I do not owe this debt
– I have paid all or part of the alleged debt
– I dispute the amount of debt
– Unjust enrichment (the amount demanded is excessive compared with the original debt)
I did scramble to beat the charge off deadline on the last day possible, and understood I had successfully done so at the end of Nov. 2017. I made a few payments as discussed with the bank representative (totaling $800-1,000), but when trying to make the subsequent payment, was told by another department that the entire amount was due (can’t recall if that meant total amount overdue or entire debt), and that even though their notes indicated my previous understanding, that the person I had discussed it with was somehow wrong/mistaken. Obviously I couldn’t pay the entire amount.
So my question now is, if I go ahead and file the answer I have prepared now, can I still pursue this with an attorney down the road? Do the responses the clinic chose (staffed by volunteer attorneys) seem overdone?
I believe their rationale may be in part, because we don’t know how the payments I did make were credited, and they said something about interest and fees? Confused. I have another appointment in two days with volunteers from the local bar association, and am doing all the reading I can to be as informed as possible while I try to raise the funds. Thank you for all you do!
–
I would be okay with what they prepared if it were me.
Thank you, Michael, that’s comforting, whew!
The Bar clinic was a bust, the person I spoke with had no knowledge about this type of law whatsoever (even advised I call Plaintiff attorney to try and settle before filing answer, which I know is bad advice). I have held off on filing the answer because I wanted to look into finding representation before doing so. One told me that given the amount (13K), it was probably not cost effective to hire an attorney to try and settle – he also recommended speaking with the first legal clinic (one’s who filled out answer for me).
Second firm was polite and professional, but I can’t even get past their screening to a consultation without being able to definitively answer questions I cannot yet answer (ie how much $ help, when, how much per month, etc.). Also, above flat fee for court and negotiating, they charge 20% of amount of savings, and said that if I went ahead and filed the answer myself, that they could not represent me (I thought counsel can file amended answer if necessary?). I don’t question an attorney’s right to make a living, I just expected an actual consult (as advertised and referred to in online ratings), and some vague information and outline of what my expectations might be for the process, before making a decision to hire someone. additionally, I need to help my elderly dad who lives in a nearby state get rid of most of his stuff, and move…overwhelmed. I was hoping to be able to take care of this and settle, so I can deal with everything else on the plate.
As I am running out of time to file the answer, I guess I’ll just go ahead and do that tomorrow before my head explodes from the stress, and continue from there. Now off to medicate myself with some chocolate…
I just noticed on my credit report that i have a judgement against me from fia card sevices for $4700 I want to settle this as soon as possible. How do i contact them? Do they ever settle on a lower amount? I would pay the full amount if I had to. Any advice? Thanks
Call FIA Card Services and find out if they have the account internally, or if they still have it with the law firm they used to sued you, or with a different one.
If FIA still has it, you can negotiate right then and there. You will have to convey a hardship, and be convincing with what you are offering is all that you can raise to settle with them.
If it is with a collection attorneys office FIA will tell you who and how to contact them. You will need to call the collection attorney to negotiate a settlement on the judgment. Read that linked resource before calling the law firm. Tons of helpful information there.
Also, watch this video about what debt collectors can see about you.
I have a judgment against me from March 2016 by bank of America. I don’t ever remember being served or notified of court date but at the time i was going through some things so I may have. Basically they went to court and i didn’t. The judgment is for 14k….since then I’ve gotten a really good job and im sure they are soon to come after me to collect. More importantly I’m trying to get my credit back in order from a divorce. I’d rather not pay a dime but id really like to get this taken care of. I’m in a position to offer a settlement for 5k or under. I live in louisiana….best way to handle?
Fill in the talk to Michael form in the right column. I will email you and set up a time to go over your situation on the phone. It is rare to be able to settle judgment debts for less than half. But perhaps yours is one of those situations.
I have received a civil suit from Bank of American …how can I stop it — or can I make arrangements for monthly payments?
How much is the lawsuit for? What state are you in> When did you last make a payment?
I have had a Bank of America card well over 25+ years; always paid on time. In fact I have tried to pay well over the request and for the past 5 years have not used the card. I called them 6 weeks ago and told them my income has drasically has changed; I no longer can work my 2 part time jobs due to my husbands health issues. Also I will be retiring in the next 6 months which my income will change too. I have a $6500.00 balance and have offered to clean out my savings to pay $3000.00 of the $6500.00. They told me today I do not fit the criteria for a lump sum debt settlement. They could not give me any more reason then that. My credit score is 798 and I have good credit. What would you suggest. I don’t want to go with a credit counseling service; as they still want me to pay $200.00 a month.
You cannot settle with Bank of America while your payments are current. In order to settle for the best savings you will want to be 6 or so months late. There is not much to it, but to to determine you cannot continue to pay, and then actually stopping for that long.
I have a BOA judgement against me for $11,000. A month ago the bank attempted to collect money from my local bank account but there was no money there. Are my wages going to be garnished next?
What state do you live in?
Hi Michael,
After much fear of facing my bad debt, I would like your advice. I held a Bank of America checking account and I became more broke and could never catch up with all of the overdraft fees. Even if i canceled automatic debit transactions (ex. Monthly gym dues,) the overdraft fees for each attempted withdrawal from if II didn’t have the fees the first time, they would try again the next. Each time I incurred $35 withdrawal fee. After some time I could never keep my balance in the positive. I would like to rectify this. I pulled my Chex systems report and my BofA account is listed as “Account abuse”. Original charge off amount of $1117.24 and closure status is unpaid. I don’t know where to start. I would sincerely appreciate any advice you have.
You are going to want to contact BofA and talk to them about paying it off. How long ago was this?
Hi Michael,
What a helpful site you have created! I have read through many of your articles on debt settlement and I am hopeful you can provide some advice for my situation. I was laid off in early 2011 and exhausted my savings trying to keep all my bills current. I was successful in doing so for about a year, but ran out of funds. I ended up taking a job in early 2012 that paid about 35% less than my previous job, and I couldn’t get back on track. I had 4 credit cards that became delinquent – 3 with Chase, 1 with Citibank, and also 1 line of credit with BofA that I was unable to continue paying. I tried to negotiate lower payments with some of these creditors at the time, but was unsuccessful.. Last year (2015) I was able to settle 2 of the Chase cards on my own with my tax refund. This year I am hoping to settle the rest, if possible. The details of the debts are:
Citibank CC- balance $18,400, last paid 12/2012, appears to have been sold to Cavalry Portfolio Services in May 2016.
BofA LOC – balance $23,500, last paid 01/2013, Most recently referred by BofA to Northstar Location Services about 3 months ago.
Chase CC – balance $10,800. I don’t know who the debt collector is..
I have several mortgages and also a few smaller credit cards that I have been able to keep current, such as Lowe’s, Home Depot, Discover, Old Navy, etc. I tried to keep up with everything that I could, and the mortgages are for rental properties where the rents pay the majority of the mortgage & expenses. On my credit report the BofA and Chase accounts show they are charged off, but there is no record of the Citibank account whatsoever. Is that odd, and does that affect my strategy?
I’m sure it doesn’t look good that other creditors have been paid without delinquency, but that is how things unfolded in my case. At the time I thought I would get back on track and tried to pay the debts I was capable of paying, plus I didn’t want to become delinquent on the mortgages.
What is the best approach (timing and amount of settlement to shoot for) when trying to negotiate settlements with Cavalry (for Citibank) and Northstar (for BofA), as well as Chase (if I can find out who the debt collector is)?
I have approximately $8K that I can work with at the current time to try to settle these debts, and could accumulate around an additional $3K in the next few months.
Thank you for your guidance!
Your situation is complicated by all of the positive things that are showing on your credit. It can make getting the best settlement outcomes more difficult, and you need the best outcomes it you want to get these all knocked out with the funds available to you now, or in the near future.
Call me to talk over some ways to maximize your settlements at 800-939-8357, choose option 2 to ring my phone. You can reply to any comment notifications you get from the site and I will respond to those too.
Hi, I have settled my BOA Credit card for 2300/9400 USD on 23rd may. BOA sent me a settlement letter stating they will report this account as “Settled account. paid in less then full balance” to credit agencies.
But on June 9th 2016, I see below listing in experion report for my BOA account.
Account Status – Closed- paid and closed
Payment Status – Collection/Charge-Off
Remarks – Account Paid for less than full balance charged off.
Is that the way BOA reports a settled account or do i need to contact BOA to correct the reporting to “Settled”
Please advise
.
It will look a tad different on each report, but yes, that is what it will show up as, and with a zero balance owed (which is the most important part of settling).
Bank of America is one of the better banks at updating your credit reports after you reach a settlement.
Hi,
I just learned I have a lien on my home because I was trying to refi. The lender told me it was from FIA card services. I remember working out a payment plan that ended up falling through back in 2012. I did receive a letter from a sheriff that asked for my response within 30 days to be filed. I filed response with the court and Frederick J Hanna & Associates ( they were handling the debt collection). This also took place in 2012. After filing this response letter I never heard anything else until I went to refi and apparently there is a judgement against me. The original amount was $2400 and it has grown to almost $4000. I’m a single Mom and work as a waitress so it will be hard for me to come up with that kind of money. What should I do?
How long would it take you to raise half of that?
I could probably get it within a couple months or borrow it from family and repay them. I just wouldn’t have it immediately.
That can work in your favor. With the hard pull on your credit reports from a lender for a home loan, I would want to wait 90 days if I could before calling to negotiate a settlement (if you can wait that out and you appear to need to). This is because debt collectors have real time access to your credit reports and they can see that you are trying to get a home loan. You can tell them it was not able to go through after a little bit of time goes by.
You can still call to negotiate earlier than that, and the deal you get may be as good as if you never applied for a home loan, but I find that to be less common.
Read through my post about settling judgment debts.
Bank of America credit card charged off in 2010 with a balance of $30,000. Account was placed with Gatestone. I have been making payments to Gatestone since charge off in the amount of $200.00 each month. Current balance is about $18,000. I have $3,700 saved for a settlement. What target amount due you recommend for a settlement with Bank of America? I am not sure if I should reach out to Gatestone and discuss settlement amounts or if I have no amount near enough to settle the account.
Settling with Gatestone now, given the history and while your payments are current, is likely going to require some more money than what you have saved. There are exceptions to that, and you may be one, but call in for a phone consult and I can dig deeper into how a debt collector, whether from BofA, Gatestone, or even another agency, would view you as a collection target. You can reach me at 800-939-8357, choose option 2. I am not in much today, but will be the rest of the week. You can fill out the talk to Michael form in the right side bar too, and that way we can schedule a time to speak.
I had two credit card from BOA with a balance of 14K and 6K.. These account were charged off in May 2012. the last date of payment was Oct 2011. My legal state of residence is Alabama where the SOL is 3 years and which is already passed. Bank of America hasn’t sold this debt to third party outside collector. As far as I know there is no collection activity going on in this account.
Since it’s past SOL, do you think BOA will accept 3K as a settlement amount for both the card? I can afford to pay this amount but no more than that.
Settling both your BOA accounts combined for 3k would mean negotiating a 15% settlement. That is just not all that common. Can it be done? Yes, but you might want some help getting that done.
You can also look to hold off settling while you save up some more money.
Hello, your website has been a great help! However, I’m not finding a specific answer to my situation.
I was given a court summons last month to appear tomorrow for a BOA debt of $934.83. The card was originally opened in September of 2009 and it says I made a payment in 2013. I find that to be untrue. I would remember mailing a check out and I am almost positive I did not. I do not want to have to appear tomorrow. Is there anything I can do t avoid court? I am not able to put a lump down to try and settle. Maybe a smaller amount? Around $100.
I would want to raise the SOL being expired if that is applicable. What state are you in?
It is not realistic to expect to be able to settle with Bank of America for 10% of the balance, and especially if you are in court.
I would not try to avoid court at all. I would raise the arguments about the SOL being expired, and any other defenses I thought were relevant. Ideally you want to have consulted with an experience debt collection defense attorney, but unless you run into one at the court, that will be difficult on the day of court.
Post an update with how things go today.
Hi Michael, I have about $40k in CC debt with BOA and can settle with them for 50% or less of what is owed (the less the better). I am not late with any payments. I have been making the minimum payments and minimum only for a few years now. Would they go for that? Do I have to go late? Will they close the cards on me after we settle? How will this affect my credit? What is the best way to negotiate with them?
Your expertise is greatly appreciated!
You do have to stop payments to BofA if you want to be able to negotiate a settlement. Watch this video I just put up about not being able to settle with BofA without damaging your credit.
Your accounts will be closed by BofA after you miss a few payments.
The best way to negotiate with BofA is something I cover in a detailed articles series that starts with the basics of settling credit cards with your bank.
I recommend you call me for a consult to see if you are really a good fit to settle your debt. You may have things going on, and near term goals you do not want to mess up that would suggest doing something else with your BofA accounts. You can reach me at 800-939-8357, option 2.
What are your interest rates with BofA?
my interest rates with BOA are pretty good. One is at 10.49% and the other is around there as well.
Working with a credit counselor will not yield much of a benefit. I am available if you want the consult.
Hi Michael thank you for the chat earlier. I forgot to mention that one of the cards is a business card and the other is personal. does that change anything? please email me, for some reason I don’t get a notification when you reply
You will want to subscribe to the comments the next time you post. Some browsers appear to not show the feature that allows you to do that.
Nothing we spoke about on the phone will change with one of those accounts with Bank of America being in a business name.
This business is no longer open I assume?
The S-corp is kept active however no longer produces and income.
On another note, my husband was a casualty of the crash back in 2009 and lost his business. As a result he had a foreclosure and some other debt issues which were from that lost business but were in his personal name. Two of his creditors filed a judgment. One of them was AMEX which seems to have basically disappeared (hopefully) as per the clerk records all they ever did was file, they never went for ‘service’ or anything further. The other was a company called Portfolio Recovery Associates (original creditor MBNA), who I found out about because almost 2 years ago they had our bank account frozen and got over $28k (which was much more than the original debt) of our money through a writ of execution. After talking to an attorney it seemed there was nothing we could do about it, besides file BK which we didn’t want to, so we lost all of that money. We certainly don’t want to have that experience again so that brings me to my questions:
1. Do you think AMEX will pop back up at any point? Do they have a history of renewing their judgements close to term (10 years from original file date)? I was told by the attorney they can do this but since they never did anything else but file the judgement it seems like they plan to leave it alone. However any lender is going to request any outstanding judgements be satisfied once we go to purchase a home so I am not sure what to do with this thing. I don’t want to awaken a sleeping giant and get hit with a huge bill. We are only a year or two away from it being past the 10 years. What should we do – if anything- about this judgement…
2. there is another old creditor from back then that never did file judgement so they are past their statute of limitations, Van Ru Credit Corp collecting on behalf of Discover card for over $13k. This one seems like we should just completely ignore it because legally they have no recourse and it is so old that settling it now would then make it current on his credit and would seem to cause further damage at this point. What are your thoughts on this account? They just recently over the last 2 months ‘found him’ I guess and started sending these collection notices monthly to our home. on his credit report it shows this acct was charged off in 03/2010 AND submitted to collections in4/2010. what are your thoughts on this account?
3. There is also an old Meriwest HELOC that was originally tied to the property he lost in foreclosure back in 2010. On his credit the acct shows it was sent to collections and charged off in 06/2010. Then it shows up again under TK financial as submitted to collection in 04/2012. It would seem to me that neither of these creditors have recourse since we are passed the statute of limitations on the original debt. And also this home was lost in foreclosure so i don’t see how they could come after him anyways… Strangely we do not receive any communications from TK but we do get a ‘normal’ looking monthly bill from meriwest which is just weird. We have no intentions of ever paying these super old items and are hoping they just go away but I do want to make sure what our options are from a legit pro like yourself and what ‘could’ happen going forward. Especially considering that I am now looking at settling with one of my creditors and temporarily destroying my credit. How can we get these to go away?
thank you
Judgments are renewed in the matter of course. I do a lot of this work (I mean a bunch) over the last 2 plus decades, and I can only think of a couple instances a judgment was not renewed. You will want to make resolving the judgment with AMEX part of your over all strategy.
I am curious about what happened with PRA and am going to suggest you call me again to go over those details. I can offer better feedback to you based on that conversation.
You do not reage a collection account on your credit reports by settling or paying it. The account still has to come off at the 7 and one half year mark from when payments to Discover stopped. If Discover is showing the account charged off in 2010, you have a year or a bit more to go before it drops off. I would not do anything with this at this time if it were me.
The same thing applies with the HELOC and TK Financial, as the time lines are similar to the Discover/Van Ru scenario.
just left you a message. Please call me back when you get a chance. I just missed my fist payment on my BOA’s. I forgot to mention that I do have a 2nd mortgage with them. Does that affect anything?
Your second mortgage with BofA will typically have no impact on the negotiating process you will go through in order to settle your credit card debt with them.
I will be able to ring you back on Monday.
Quick question: at what point is BOA going to pull my credit now that I’m going late?
Between now and when you are talking to BofA about what you can pay in a settlement, they care little about what they may find on your credit reports. There are periodic reviews that are set by a bank when you are current with payments, and those may go through for a time, but they are meaningless when you already know your account will be closed for nonpayment.
BofA cares about your credit again come negotiation time.
OK. the reason I asked when they will pull my credit is because you had suggested I pay off my other CC before they pull my credit so I wanted to gauge how much time I have to do that
For other readers I want to be clear I suggested that based on the details we covered in our phone consult.
I would pay off the lower balance credit cards right away if it is possible.
I’m a bit unclear as to when they might pull it. Can you give me further clarification please? thanks 🙂
I typically encourage serious negotiations to be instigated after you are 150 days late, but not 180 days late. It is around that time that BofA could potentially view your credit reports with a more discerning eye.
Hi Michael, we are nearing the end with BOA and I had a few questions. I left a message as well so if you could call me that would be great.
BOA is claiming that as of August 15th they are no longer settling their business credit card accounts and only offering to settle on my personal card. As of Sept 1st I will technically be at the ‘charge-off’ phase based on how many payments past due I am. After September 1 I will officially be 6 payments past due based on how they calculate things. Anyhow… They are stating that my debt will be sent to a third party basically immediately after the 1st and are offering to settle my $17k personal credit card debt for $5k. So here are my questions:
1. is $5k on $17k a good deal?
2. is it true that they will send this to a third party immediately or is this there way of trying to settle for less?
2.a. If they do send it to a third party and charge it off I can still settle with BOA (per them) but at this point have I gone too far as far as my credit goes? and will that mean that even when I settle, vultures will still be coming after me now that its out there on the market?
3. is this statement about them no longer settling business credit cards true or some kind of BS? regardless of that answer- should I make a minimum payment on the business card after I initiate the settlement paperwork on the personal card to avoid going to charge-off on that account?
Good to talk with you on the phone. Post an update with anything new and lets go from there.
Hi Michael,
I am hoping you could give your opinion on my recent situation. I may have no options, but I am not leaving any stone unturned.
I started a campus account 2010 with BoF; it was required that an adult (my mother) be on my account because of my age. ( I was about 17 at the time.) Over the years I didn’t realize she was still on my acocunt. (Which my mistake, I know.)
On 12/9/15 over 400 dollars was withdrawn from my account. The bank stated my mothers account where in collections and since her name is on my account that is where the payment drafts from. I never received and notification about this amount being drafted. I was unaware her account was in collections.
I offered to set up a payment plan on her behalf on 12/9/15 when the amount was drafted from my account. It had been exactly 90 on 12/9/15 since the account was overdraft.
Do you think I have an options or arguments here?
Over 400 is a lot of money when you are a single mother and student living on a fixed income.
Thanks
Who is the named plaintiff that has the judgment against your mom?
Who is the debt collection attorney handling the collections?
Hi Michael, I have one for you. I’m a real estate broker in San Antonio and I also buy houses. I had a property under contract a while back and the title company found an Abstract of Judgement against the owner. I have a copy so I’ll put some details to it: FIA Card Services NA was the plaintiff and they filed a judgement through Wolpoff/Abramson. Any research into that company will return a slew of negative information. After doing some research, I found this thread – Wolpoff joined Mann Bracken and Axiant and both went under. All contact information for those companies is useless and the more you read about them, the worse it sounds. So, now I have a seller who can’t sell their house because there’s an 8 year old judgement against her that was invalid in the first place but she’s unable to get it removed because there is no one around to speak with about getting a release. I’ve read tons of stories about this same scenario when dealing with the W/A, Mann Bracken and Axiant issue. So, do you know of anyone she can call who may now be in charge of all the outstanding debt those companies were collecting on? If so, she can at least try to call them and get it removed, settled, released, or paid off. Any advice you have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
I would start by contacting FIA Card Services. They may have the account and you can work something out direct with them. If you need help call me at 800-939-8357, ext 2 rings to me.
All that Wolpoff and Abramson stuff that then went to Mann Bracken seems like only yesterday, but it really has been a while. Have you been able to ascertain that her file is one that was included in some consent, or other type of regulatory action, and should have had a release filed?
Hi,
I have just spent a good amount of time reading the question and answer portion of this. I am married and have three kids. We are a one income family. We have around $14,400 on two different credit cards through BOA. We have had these accounts for around 12 years. We have been late paying maybe twice the entire time. We are struggling to make ends meet because of credit card balance payments. I have called years past to negotiate a lower interest rate and have a very low one. We would like to settle with them for 25% of the balance. We want to pay it back, but with three boys and the cost of living going us and my husbands income that is not possible and are thinking of declaring bankruptcy. What do we need to or who do we need to call? Also, is there a problem where we will be charged on our taxes for the amount we did not pay? We can pay in cash the lump sum of 25%.
Settling credit card debts with Bank of America for 25% is not as common as it once was. I do still see deals like that though. What if BofA only goes to 40%? Can you raise that amount?
You do have to be behind with payments for many months. That could help you save up more money if you end up needing it.
You can end up owing taxes on forgiven debt. Learn more about whether this applies to you in this article: https://consumerrecoverynetwork.com/debt-forgiveness-taxes-settled-credit-card/
Hi Michael,
I have read a lot of the questions people have posed to you and you give very good advice. I am hoping you can assist me as well.
I had a BoA credit card that I got behind on and was unable to make the payments. I was trying to make some type of payment arrangements with BoA to try to get caught up on the account but was unable to because I was deployed overseas on short notice. BoA was trying to reach me to work out payment arrangements but I had already deployed. While I was overseas my account got further behind and BoA sent my account to legal. I was summoned to court but I was still overseas. I was a no show so the court ruled on BoA favor. This was in 2006. I now have a judgement on my credit report in the amount of $7,500 including court cost. Since then I have never heard anything else from BoA or any collection or legal firm.
I am out of the military and have gotten my finances under control. I want to buy a house but this judgement is still on my credit report.It is my debt and I want to pay resolve it. I don’t know what is the best way to resolve this to get it off my credit report. I don’t know where to start. Should I contact BoA? Where do I go to try to pay this off? I have $4,000 to use as a lump some but I don’t know if they will negotiate since there is a judgement against me. I can make monthly payments of $1,000 till it is paid off. Will they agree to that? Any help or advice you can provide is greatly appreciated. Thank you.
I have concerns about your being active duty military and being sued by Bank of America while over seas. Call me for a consult about the issues and options I see at 800-939-8357, option 2 rings me.
I owe bank of America about 600 dollars. i am a recent graduate and looking for employment. I do not want this to hurt me finding employment. can i settle with them for 300. i have couple thing laying around i can sell to come with the 300. but right now, i am short on money. i am scared of been sued for it. it has already been passed to collection agency. however, i do not recall even spending that money. but i do not want nor wish to contest it. it just too much of a problem,.
i had times warner asking for 150 and passed it to collection, i contested it through credit report and found i did not even owe the money because i never had time warner
Do you know how long ago any payment was made on your BofA account?
Who is the debt collector handling your account now?
Michael,
We have a judgment from MBNA that has been charged off by them and has resulted on a lien of our Austin home. We are trying to sell that home and settle the judgment, I have contacted FIA card services collections and have sent an offer letter to the legal dept. to settle that debt. We sent the fax on the 16th of last month, and as of this typing have not heard heard 1 word from the legal dept. When I call collections to discuss this they tell me they are still working on it and they are willing to work we me to settle the matter.
Is there any way to contact the legal dept directly or to find out where or what they may be doing to help us? Any information would be much appreciated.
Thanks, Mike
Give me a call for a consult on resolving this Michael. You can reach me at 800-939-8357, choose option 2.