Can department store cards be settled like other accounts?
I have been researching settlement companies to help me with my debt. Your company seems to be one of the better ones, but can you help with store cards? I have read where they can be hard to settle with. I do have credit cards to settle with Bank of America, American Express and Citibank. My store cards are with GAP, Sears and Lowes. Can you help with these?
Can store cards be settled like settlements with the big banks?
—Linda
Yes, we can assist you with resolving your department store credit cards. Store accounts being more difficult to settle with than larger credit card issuers is true in some instances, but not all.
Department store branded cards are often serviced by the larger banks. Settling this type of account is often done with the bank that services the credit card, and not directly with the department store.
Your GAP card is co branded for use at Old Navy and Banana Republic stores, but is serviced by Synchrony bank. Your Lowe’s account is either serviced by Citi or Synchrony (Citi sold their Lowes credit card portfolio to Synchrony. If your Lowe’s account fell behind in payments before the switch you may still be with Citi bank). Your sears account is serviced by Citibank.
Negotiating Settlements, Payments, and Interest Rates on Department Store Cards
Your options to negotiate less than full balance payoff’s on your department store accounts will be similar to settling with your general use credit cards, but not identical. There are servicing agreements for branded cards that can affect the percentage of savings targets during the different collection phases. Dealing with collection agencies and debt collectors to resolve department store credit cards is not going to be all that different from how you might deal with them to settle on general purpose credit cards.
If you are looking to negotiate a hardship repayment plan on your store charge cards you can expect mostly the same benefits and warnings I have outlined in other posts.
If your income and budget is consistent, and you want to payoff all of your credit cards (department store cards or otherwise) using debt consolidation, you could benefit from talking with a credit counselor about lowering your monthly payments.
You are doing research into your option, which is great! If you want you to talk with me more about the realities of the process you are welcome to call me at 800-939-8357, option 2 rings to me.
Readers with questions about settling retail and store cards are welcome to post questions and concerns in the comment box below for feedback.
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 Michael , I can definitely use your advice on a few things.
I opened a Victoria Secret Card about 2 years back , losing my job etc made it hard for me to keep up with my payments which raised interest very fast going from a $300 bill to $675 and lead me being thrown into collections with comentity bank in August 2020.
The address They have on file is my old address where my mother and gram live, My gram handles the mail but do to her illness her memory is far from good so she would forget about my mail or forget where it was placed. I received my mail from her months later to where it was too late to even act or call collections for the specific mail i received. At the time they sent me mail stating they would settle for $500 that week or it would reman at original $675, Now being it is months since all this mail has been sent to me and I am struggling financially right now. I would like to call Comentity Bank and ask if they would be willing to settle for about $300/$350 as a full payment. After the payment I wanted to see about a goodwill deletion do to being I am 21 and just starting out in life. This is having a Huge hold on my life and I cant even get approved for a apt because credit is everything. I want to focus on my score of 500 however because this was the only thing along with student loans on my credit. Its very hard to unless this is removed off my record. Any advice on how to go about getting a settled payment or a goodwill Deletion. Thank you for your time.
You can call Comenity to see if they still have the account, and negotiate a lower than balance settlement. I would not be optimistic about them deleting it, as banks are not known for agreeing to that. Comenity will update your credit to show a zero balance, or paid collection, and you can improve your credit from there.
You may learn that Comenity has sent your account out to a collection agency, or even sold your account to a debt buyer, and that can mean you have to resolve the account with someone other than Comenity.
Thank you Michael I got lots of good information on your video. I have few credits card I have been making payments. I received social security 852.00 plus I work at pride industry. I’m paying my bills minimum payment of few them I got behind because I lost my mom to Alzheimer’s disease. Woman with in with Comenity bank is horrible my goal to pay them off and close. They drive me crazy. I wrote them a letter to explain what happened she never wrote me back and I’m frustrated about it. I had credit card fraud happen to me in year 2000. So my goal is pay them off . I will tell you about my journey. Thank you
I opened a victoria secret credit card and have been unable to pay. I’ve gotten an intimadating automated voicemail saying to call a number.. so I called the number and they said victoria secret handed over the collections to them. The lady was very rude and threatend me with court if I didn’t pay 500 today or put a card on file so she could send me a statement. She said I could pay the balance of 500 or set up payments of 308 for 8 months or 616 for 4 months. I found it strange that she couldn’t send me a statement first. With court costs etc she said in court it would cost me over $2000. Is this legit and will they really take me to court over this?
It is comenity bank but the lady said victoria secrets handed it over.. she did not say comenity
When did you last make a payment on the card?
I had a Victoria Secret account from 2014. Received a call from a company claiming that the debt has moved to a legal matter. I suffered a brain injury in a car accident in July of 2015 which left me with some memory problems some of which included debts I owed. I’ve suffered in many other areas but am finding that I owe debts that I do not remember anything about. I spoke with a woman yesterday that when I asked her for a copy of the debts and the agreement with VS she said she could not provide that to me as it was past that point and she was the last option before they filed a lawsuit against me. I told her I would have to take her word on the debt and will pay what I need to pay and she said she had the attorney with her in the office and they agreed to knock off 50% of the debt because of my injury. I gave her my card number and authorized her to debt my account on 12/30 for $731. She said she would follow it up with an email and document for me to sign. Never got it. She was also supposed to call me back this morning and I haven’t heard from her. After processing the phone call in my head she never identified the company she works for or that she was attempting to collect a debt. Should I be worried?
Yes, you should be. What you shared reminds me of all the comments on this article about debt collector scams.
Never pay without something in writing first. I would talk to my bank if it were me. Your bank may encourage you to close the account.
Call the collector and find out their company name and post an update.
Hello,
I’m currently dealing with comenity bank for my gamestop card. Calls have been non stop for a month or two, I think my last payment was in August… A host of things contributed. I have 3 other credit cards that I’m trying to pay off in addition to rent, car note and car insurance. I took on more than I could chew and don’t make enough to pay everything faithfully every month. Need my car to get to work, need car insurance to drive my car, have to pay rent so I had to stop paying my card… I figured I’d wait until income tax time to make a nice payment if not all. Received a call today from a comenity rep saying for me or my “lawyer representative” to call him back today by 4pm.
That type of language from the Comenity debt collector is just designed to get you to act. It is a lot like debt collectors telling people their file is going to marked refusal to pay.
If it were me, I would stay the path and settle down the road when I have the money.
Hello my younger sister got a victoria secret credit card i want to say back in 2013 she lost her job so couldn’t pay them back right away . After a while comminty bank started calling her saying she needed to say them and she could do it in 3 payment plans of $220 so thats what she started to do , they would never take the money out of the day that they agreed on so it would over draft her bank account and had to close it so they couldn’t get anymore money from her . Now portfolio Recovery is saying she still owes $825 dollars she started paying them so why does she still owe so much can she offer then what she has and that debt it go away ? she also go a letter in the mail from a law firm about the debt as well
Does she have an agreement with Portfolio Recovery to make a payment by a certain day each month, and is she on time with those?
Balances often increase with late fees, over the limit fees, and default interest.
Could you request a debt settlement before it ever goes to collections? Like being pro active? And will that stay on your credit?
You have to be behind. And in order to get the most savings the more behind is sometimes better. The trade off is a hit to your credit reports.
Even if you did settle at 1 week or one month late, your settling still shows up and hurts your credit.
Or at least that it is showing as owed on their end.
If you did not finish the agreement the judgment cannot be updated int he court record as paid or satisfied.
If you are trying to settle this debt for less than what you owe I would focus on it first. If you are going to pay the remainder owed in full, I might leave it for last and use it as a hardship reference if you are negotiating any other debts.
The court said the case is closed but the debt is still owed to the creditor.
Why do you think it was removed from my report?
If you are off on the date of the judgment it could have been removed due to age. It could just be a snafu with the local data broker that sends court information to the credit bureaus.
Hi Mr. Bovee,
I have a question about an old judgement. In 2009, Blatt, Hasenmiller, Leibsker and Moore sued me on behalf of my original creditor (Capital One). This was when I lived in the state of IL. The amount was $1200.
I set up payment arrangements, and paid it down to about $900. In 2013, I guess the collection lawyers got frustrated with my small payments, because they tried to levy my bank account (they could not garnish because my income was too low). However, the account they tried to levy was actually CLOSED (and I was able to prove it), so the judge dismissed the case.
I continued to make small payments against the judgement owed. Then, in 2014, I moved to the state of TX for school/a prospective career change. I continued to make 4-5 more payments against the judgement in 2014, until I was no longer able to. However, I have not heard from BHLM again.
I recently checked my credit report, because I am finally established in Texas, and in the position to start clearing old debt (I have about $2700 of bad debt -mostly medical- that is in collections, but I will try and settle it for less). Anyway, I noticed that the BHLM judgement is NO LONGER on my reports. I checked Transunion and Equifax. What do you think that means?
Also, if I were to move back to IL in a year or two, could the debt possibly reappear?
Check the court where Blatt Hasenmiller sued you and pull up the lawsuit they filed. See if it was truly dismissed or not. Let me know what you find.
If the judgment shows dismissed in the court record this is pretty much over.
If the judgment is still there you are going to want to negotiate a settlement with Blatt Hasenmiller, or whoever Capital One may have the account with now.