How to Settle Credit Card Debt with a Judgment
One of my credit cards I fell behind with sued me and has a judgment.
Can you settle credit card judgements like other debts
—Stressed
Short answer
Yes, a judgment can still be settled. Settlements can be negotiated at every stage of the collection cycle, but settling before a lawsuit is filed is easier and usually saves more.
Key points on this page
- Settlement is possible at any stage, including after a judgment has been entered.
- The largest savings usually come from settling with the original bank after a few missed payments.
- A judgment is enforced through bank levies, wage garnishment and liens on real property.
- Judgment balances keep growing at the interest rate set by the court, and most states allow a judgment to be renewed, often ten years plus another ten.
- Wage garnishment removes most of a creditor’s reason to negotiate, so act before it starts.
- If you cannot fund a settlement, bankruptcy can stop a levy, a garnishment or a lien.
The short answer to your question is – YES! CRN does assist in settling debts like credit cards where there was a lawsuit and then a judgment entered against you. Settlements can be negotiated at all stages of the collection cycle.
There are challenges to settling credit card debts that have reached the lawsuit and judgment stage. Before I address the challenges, I want to point out that the best time to settle credit card debts is before a lawsuit is filed, and even before the account is placed with a debt collection attorney.
Watch my brief video about some of the differences between settling credit card debts with your bank and debt collectors compared to negotiating with collection attorneys whether they have a judgment or not.
While this may not be instructive to your judgment debt, you may have additional credit card debts that have gone unpaid and I want you to be aware of the following:
- Settling a debt with your original creditor (the bank you had the credit card with) after having missed a few payments is not only possible, but in your best interest. In fact, reaching settlement early will often achieve the best savings result when negotiating is done correctly.
- You may end up with credit cards that are charged off and placed with outside collection companies. This is the next best (sometimes the best) opportunity to settle a credit card account you could no longer afford to keep payments current.
- If your overdue credit card account lands in a collection attorney’s office, you can still settle the debt before any court action is filed, or at a minimum, negotiate favorable payment terms.
There is a science to navigating the collection stages I briefly outlined above. Timing, balances, who your credit card debts are owed to, and your ability to come up with the money needed to settle the debts – all will affect the strategic design of which account to settle with first, second, third etc…. It is important to have a plan to follow if you want to systematically and successfully settle debts and save the most money in the process. CRN is excellent in assisting people in this regard.
If you want to learn about how to settle your debts no matter what stage of collection you are in, we have a ton of resource pages to help you. I recommend starting at the beginning of my debt settlement section.
If you are floating out there with several unpaid credit card accounts with no real financial resources to handle the situation, or a plan for doing so, you owe it to yourself to learn if you would be better off filing for chapter 7 or chapter 13 bankruptcy before a lawsuit is filed, or now that a judgment exists. You can consult with a bankruptcy attorney for free. I recommend talking with more than one.
Collecting on credit card judgments can be challenging too.
The primary ingredient found in any debt settlement recipe, whether there is a judgment or not is… money. If you have enough of this ingredient you need to be aware of a few things.
A judgment is just a piece of paper. It’s the court sponsored enforcement of that piece of paper that is the problem. You could end up with liens placed against your real property, your bank account levied and wages garnished directly from your employer. There are even instances where a sheriff can show up to take a look around at your “stuff” and inventory personal items that can be taken to satisfy a judgment (this happens, but relatively rarely).
Judgment debt, whether past due credit card bills, personal loans, medical bills and other debts, are easier to negotiate and settle while maximizing your percentage of savings results if:
- A bank account to levy cannot be found because one in your name does not exist, or does exist but is maintained with little money in it;
- If a W-2 wage source cannot be located to garnish and;
- Where there is no real property lien, or where the lien is filed, but has been in place for some time and remains unpaid.
The one thing you can control is whether you have a bank account with your name attached. If you do keep a bank account open, realize most bank levies are attempted at the beginning, middle and end of the month – when you are most likely to have deposited a pay check, or other money to cover bills.
If you have sources of funds electronically deposited, you may want to elect to have paper checks issued to you until the credit card judgment debt is resolved.
The lien on property will generally not involve forcing the sale of the property in order to satisfy the judgment. You should look to resolve the judgment prior to selling the home (negotiate a settlement before listing if possible), or refinancing (settling before a lender does a hard credit pull is often best).
Wage garnishment is a major concern. Once your wages are attached the creditor has little reason to work with you at resolving the debt for less because they will continue to get paid unless:
- You prove you meet garnishment exemptions in your state
- You leave that job
- You satisfy the judgment
Warning: Your credit card judgment debt grows from interest and can often be renewed!
Interest is accumulated at the rate set by the court, or the maximum allowed by law in your state for judgment debt. While you may be able to be creative in how you avoid paying the judgment you must realize that the balance of the judgment is likely increasing.
If you are struggling with overdue bills and other expenses and are unable to come up with a plan to get rid of the judgment or lawsuit through a negotiated settlement or payment terms you can afford, the fact that the debt is increasing should concern you. Stop and consider what your options to resolve the credit card judgment will look like next year. The year after that.
Judgments do have a “best collected by” date, but can be renewed. Judgments have a shelf life with a time frame specific to your state. Most states allow for a judgment to be renewed prior to expiration. For many, this is a ten year time line and renewal allows for an additional 10 years. That’s a 20 year shelf life!
Identify all resources you can tap to fund a settlement offer or payment plan successfully. If you cannot reasonably come up with the money to settle the debt, or make payments after reaching agreeable terms, look to bankruptcy to stop a bank levy, wage garnishment or lien on property.
Those are the unfortunate realities.
I highly recommend anyone with a judgment, that needs to be resolved in order to buy or refinance your home, to watch this video interview I had with a former debt collector: https://youtube/QpdDks73QUw
It is always best to put a plan together to address delinquent debts before a judgment becomes the concern and you are forced into crisis mode. If you have other debts, you can still put a plan together that includes resolving the judgment too, but it is important to not waste any time in doing so.
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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.
I enjoyed your video of information. I am 77.5 years old, lost my supplemental income and survive on Social Security and once in a while if I can sell a little something on the internet. Discover Card, thru Winn Law Group, recently obtained a money judgment against me. I had two checking accounts with my credit union that requires me to have $5 in savings on each to have the account. Winn emptied the second account, including the $5 savings and obtained close to $300. The other account is SS so they only obtained the $5 since it is protected, and also obtained a lien on my property. Read below someone didn’t have a homestead but mine is (so can they put one on a homestead house?).
With the writ fee and interest to date of $1.53/day, I calculate I owe them approx $5597.27. If I could get a personal loan from my credit union, what amount would you recommend I try to get to offer to the collection legal firm to settle this? When I get ready to sell my home in approx a year, it will have to be a Short Sale as value to debt is not yet there where I live. It will be difficult to come up with this money so I definitely don’t have money for an attorney as I’ve read that is recommended to do this.
I am in California btw
I would want to have 50% in hand before I start trying to negotiate with Winn Law Group on the Discover judgment. Check out that link as it is highly relevant to both entities and your goal.
Thank you so much Michael. When you negotiate with them, do you request a breakdown of charges? Do you get some written agreement from them as to the agreed to amount? How do you get them to notify court if it gets satisfied?
When I am negotiating a debt I am typically looking for a steep discount. Unless there is something seriously amiss with charges and payments, I am not looking for an accounting.
You will want to get your settlement agreement in writing. It is normal for them to provide to you, but read that article for what to look for.
Most collection attorneys are going to update the court that yours is a paid or satisfied judgment within 60 to 90 days of payment being processed. It can happen quicker. It is just part of their work flow. But be sure to ask about that when you lock in all the details. I do see some instances of the motion being send to the consumer to file after the settlement is all done, but I do not think that has ever happened with Winn Law Group.
Hi Michael,
I stumbled on this page and thought I’d run my situation by you. I had a default judgment entered against me in Chicago (I live in TN now) just over six years ago for $7300. AmEx is the creditor. My credit score has mostly recovered and likely will even more so when this falls off at the 7 year mark, but I would still like to settle this. About two years ago, they tried to collect and failed because I had no assets or income to garnish. That is still the case today. I’m making about 30k, but the income is freelance and hence not garnishable, and my combined assets including the money in my bank account do not surpass the exempted amount (as far as I can tell, this is $4000 in IL and $10,000 in TN–I’m not sure which applies).
So my question: how do you think I should go about settling? Given that they have tried and failed to collect once two years ago and that they would fail if they tried again (I will respectfully make this point clear), it would seem that I have some leverage. Do you think it would be possible to settle for under 50%? Reading some message boards like the one on myfico.com, many have claimed to accomplish this. With another month of saving, I could do 50%, but naturally I’d like to settle for as little as possible. Should I call AmEx or write them? Or do I need to find out who the lawyer was when the judgment was entered and contact them? Thank you so much in advance for your advice.
You generally have to negotiate with the attorney of record, unless AMEX has sent it to a different law firm, or sometimes to a collection agency.
It is not common at all to settle judgment debt for less than 50%. That goes for American Express and other creditors too. But when it does happen, it is in no asset situations like you may be able to qualify for.
If you are ready to pay half you are ready to negotiate. You will certainly want to start low and hold your ground every inch of the way. If you are not in a hurry you will be even better off.
Post who you learn you are going to have to deal with once you talk to AMEX. I can offer more feedback then.
Hi Micheal,
My husband has a court for a judgment coming in two days.
I am going to try to help him call the company to try to settle it.
But my concern is that can they come after my bank account or my wages if my husband doesn’t have any? and if it is his card
Fill in the talk to Michael form in the right column to set up a phone consult if you see this in time before court today. I will see that and reach out to you.
I recently agreed to a settlement to pay around $300/mo for the next 3 years to settle an old credit card debt that was purchased by a collection agency. I’ve already made a payment and setup automatic drafts from a bank account I setup just for this purpose (I only deposit the amount that’s being drafted each month so extra money cannot be taken by ‘mistake’).
I sent a signed copy of the debt settlement agreement back to the law firm representing the company that owns the debt last week however they have not received it yet.
In the past week and a half, I received a notice for a ‘Civil Case Questionnaire’ that said specifically this on the one page questionnaire:
“This form must be completed and filed by the Plaintiff after conferring with all counsel and pro se parties. The completed questionnaire must be filed with the court within fourteen (14) days of the above date or the case will be DISMISSED FOR WANT OF PROSECUTION. If you do have any questions, contact the Court Administrator/Coordinator of the Court. This form does not constitute a discovery request, response or supplementation, and is not admissible at trial.’
It had about 15+ questions on it asking about various things such as if it will be a jury trial, largest monetary damages, counterclaims, estimated time needed for discovery, total time needed for trial, etc. As far as I understand what the first sentence says, it’s the Plaintiff’s responsibility to fill this form out after conferring with all counsel and pro se parties and I was under the impression I was receiving this so I had a copy for my files so I didn’t fill out the form. I was served a summons almost two months ago and provided a written answer to the judge within the allocated time period. I didn’t know how I should answer it and I cannot afford to hire a lawyer to review/fill it out for me. I called the courthouse asking to confirm my understanding of the questionnaire and they were not helpful at all. I called the lawfirm that filed the suit on behalf of the company that purchased the debt from the original creditor and they could not confirm for me either (although they have been more helpful and courteous than the courthouse has ever been). The lawfirm did indicate that they would honor the agreement regardless but couldn’t say what the court would do. I hand delivered a signed typed letter to the courthouse for the judge explaining all of this and why I did not complete the form as I was under the impression it was just a copy for my records as I’m not the Plaintiff in the case however it was on the last day that it would be accepted. I also included a copy of the signed debt settlement agreement I have with the lawfirm that filed the suit and let him know that it was in the mail but they haven’t received it yet so they could file it with the court and forgo a trial if I ensured to meet the conditions of the agreement which I have every intention of doing.
I would like to know if I’m correct in my understanding that the Plaintiff (the lawfirm that filed the suit) should be the one completing this form and conferring with me as it doesn’t say that the Plaintiff and the pro se parties need to complete the form, they should be ‘conferring’ with me. If my understanding is incorrect, what kind of impact is this going to have on my case.
I really don’t want this to have huge implications and I’m worried now as I couldn’t get a straight answer. The lady that ‘helped’ me at the courthouse was one of the rudest people I’ve ever encountered in my life right off the bat and I was extremely respectful to her, it’s a shame our tax dollars pay her salary for her to act that way. It’s as if she expects every person that walks through the door to be a lawyer…
Any insight would be appreciated!
Is the agreement you signed with the debt collection law firm a stipulation or consent to judgment? If it is, and I were in your situation, I would simply follow through with my payment commitments.
Hi Michael,
Thanks for the reply. The agreement is a consent to judgement outlining what the judgement is (full amount and per monthly payments) and that is absolves me of all responsibility of the debt once I fulfill all payments in the payment plan.
If I was good with what I set up, like you have done, I would simply follow through on the arrangement.
Hi Michael- my husband and I have two judgements with portfolio recovery associates in Texas. Admittedly we have not been the best at paying on these and now they have requested a receivership? What is this and what is my best course of action.
When were the judgments entered into the court record?
What are the balances?
Do you have assets that you are concerned about them being able to take?
Your wages are exempt from garnishment in Texas, and your home is protected in most situations. Your car is often exempt given the high household goods exemption in Texas. You have to be careful with money in your bank account in Texas.
My Discover & Capital One debt were discharged through a Chapter 13 bankruptcy that was converted to a Chapter 7 for the purpose of having them permanently discharged. Problem is that at the time I had no homestead exemption in place, so they were able to attach a lien to my home, which I now cannot sell because of these liens. What would you suggest? For lack of a better idea, I have a local bankruptcy attorney on retainer and attempting to negotiate a settlement for less.
If the debts were discharged in the bankruptcy, why did any judgment not go with them? The judgment is why a lien can exist. Was the judgment not discharged?
I live in South Carolina and I have received an Execution of Judgement letter for consumer debt. What happens next? Can they garnish my wages. Can a lien be place on our property?
How do I contact the party that sued me to negotiate a settlement?
What is the name of the plaintiff in the lawsuit?
Who is the collection law firm handling the case?
Wages are protected in South Carolina, but a property lien is a given.
What is your goal for resolving the debt?
Thank you for your help and for your quick response.
I haven’t yet found out who the law firm is but the credit card company is Discover.
How can I find out who the law firm is?
In a property lien, can the plaintiff force a sale?
We owe around $6500, so I would like to save up to half and negotiate. Is that a probable solution?
The law firm is likely the same one that is listed in the court documents. That can change over time, so call Discover and they will tell you who the account is with.
I do not see forced sales on the property liens.
Settling judgment debts for half is optimistic, but still realistic. You may need to be prepared with a little more cash than that in the end, but I would start negotiating at the point I have 50% of the amount owed. Remember that interest is likely accumulating on the judgment.
Thank you Michael.
Today i got served papers saying i have been sued by bank of America for $22.111.57. I don’t have the money to pay it back at all. I was told that I have 20 days to go and write a answer to the court. What should i do? I am on ssi, and I live in Texas. I don’t have a house, but do have a car. Can they take my car? I don’t know what to do please help!
Check out this post about debt collection and exemptions. Your SSI is protected, and your car likely would be too.
Do you expect to be working and making better money again in the future?
hello yes i want to go back to work. i fell bad about my debt. i did talk to a bankruptcy lawyer,and i want to file for bankruptcy. i just fell bad about doing it. i want to pay back the debt, i just cant do it at this time. and at this time i dont have the money for the lawyer.
If you file bankruptcy now, and get a legal solution to the debt so that you do not have to stress, or worry about bank account levies or wage garnishments, you can always circle back and donate money to a BofA charity, or one of your choosing, when you are better off.
Is there a court judgment against you already? Did you defend the lawsuit with your signature and sovereign arguments?
I got a phone call today and was told that I had a judgement against me for about $5500. This was for a default on a credit card in the mid 1990’s. I was never served a summons or notified about this by mail. I was not there to point out the statute of limitations. I’m assuming that 20 years would qualify. I have lived in Oregon since 2002. This all took place when I was living in Colorado and Nevada in the early 1990s. I acquired the cards while living in California if that matters. What to do?
What is the date of the judgment entry in the court record? What court was the lawsuit filed in? Who is the named plaintiff? Who is the collection law firm that handled the case. What is the name of the collection company contacting you now?
Hi
My husband and I got sued for a $1900.00 by Machol and Johannes and Barclays bank. They got a judgment against us and now we have to go to a supplemental hearing. My husband is a retired disabled veteran and the debt occurred when he had retired. The judgement was made only a week ago when we could not go to the hearing due to illness. My question is can we settle for a lower amount with these people and will they let us do a payment plan? Only one of us currently works and we cannot borrow the full amount. I am afraid of wage garnishment as we live paycheck to paycheck. Do you have any experience with them settling wise. We are prepared to pay 60% of the debt on a payment plan? Help! We live in WA state.
My experience with Machol and Johannes is not good. I mean really bad. So bad, that yours will probably be better.
They cannot get back with people. Do not give a rip about injured vets on disability raising children on state assistance.
Generally speaking, and this is not just with Machol and Johannes, but most collection attorneys, the more months you need to pay, the less likely you are settling for a savings.
It turns out the previous hearing had been cancelled by M&J as they also failed to turn up. We went to the hearing and put ourselves at the mercy of the judge without whining etc, and the judge basically told the lawyer to have a discussion with us before while he took care of a few other cases before he ruled. After verbally discussing the possibility of a payment plan the lawyer asked for the hearing to be stricken. Will they have to file another lawsui if we refuse their payment plan?. We have not recieved a settlement plan from them yet?
I am not sure I understand what you mean about the hearing being stricken. Can you elaborate?
Hello. My husband is being sued by an attorney for portfolio recovery for an old credit debt sold to them. We have been showing up to the court dates and they kept asking for extensions to get the paperwork. We just got paperwork In the mail from them validating the debt of 3000$ so we are trying to settle. They are trying to get a summary judgement based on the evidence. We negotiated a settlement for 2000$ and I’m working on getting a loan from family to pay it so it doesn’t get put into a judgment. If the court date is the 9th but they gave a due date to pay by the 18th should I strive hard to pay it by the 9th or what will happen in court if we have agreed on a settlement? I have it in writing from them also. Can they still issue a judgement after a settlement has been agreed upon? We are in Hawaii.
Yes, that can happen. And you cannot trust PRA. I would show up for any court date if I could not gather the money to pay prior to that day.
I’m not sure what is the best coarse of action to take. I am being sued for 3500 from midland funding over a old credit card. I have a court date for garnishment this week so should I try to negotiate a deal prior or go to the court date? I haven’t been able to get much info from midland on the credit card. They said I owed around 1700 in 2011 when it went delinquent
Are you saying you have a court date as a result of them trying to garnish your wages, but you are contesting that because you qualify for exemptions? Are you being called in for an asset discovery hearing?
Yeah it’s a court date for the wage garnishment. I assume it’s for asset discovery. I doubt I qualify for any exemptions but I can’t afford the 25% with all my other bills. Including house, utilities, daycare and a lot of medical bills. So I’m wondering if I’m better off just trying to negotiate a deal with them or going and explaining it to the court?Could I possibly negotiate it down to 50%. I’m not even sure this is my actual debt. I have asked for paperwork on this but haven’t received much except for a balance I supposedly owed of 1700 as of 2011. Thanks
The time to request proof of the claim was prior to the judgment. You are typically not entitled to much of that at this point.
I would show up to the hearing and answer all of their questions truthfully. If I can qualify for exemptions I would use that as leverage to get them to settle for half-ish of the balance owed on the judgment today.
My daughter is not sure how to go about resolving this debt with American Express. My daughter, had an agreement with them, but when she lost her job, she was not able to continue payments. They now have their lawyer coming after her for the full amount of $5000.00. She would like to go back to the original agreement of just over $2000.00. Which is the best way to handle this situation.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Sylvia
Can you provide more details about the status of the debt? Was she sued and a judgment entered? Did she catch it before being sued? Who did she do the settlement agreement with? If not American Express, what is the name of the collection agency?
I have a judgement against me for a credit card $1800.00. It’s a request and writ for a garnishment from a old account I had with a Credit Union. The Credit Union sent this to me in the mai. The Judgement creditor did not get any funds because I no longer have a account with Credit Union. I do have an account with a bank for direct deposit but the Judgement Creditor did not garnish that account yet. What should I do before they find this bank account? Can I make payment arrangements some how? They are trying to garnish my wages but have not garnished from my current bank yet.
Check out my video about avoiding bank levy and wage garnishment.
I received a court summons for a credit card debt. Can I negotiate with the company before the court date and don’t have to appear in court?
You can negotiate at any time. How you go about it can impact the amount you save. Who is the named plaintiff and the law firm handling it? How much are you being sued for?
I have a judgement against me and a lien for a credit card that was used fraudulently. It’s only about 1,600. But right now I don’t have it. As I have a small business barely hanging on. When I was served, the summons wasn’t for me, it was literally someone else’s summons. I finally figured that out but the 20 day response time had expired. Now what?
How long ago did the response time expire? What is the name of the plaintiff suing you? What law firm did they hire to sue?
It was about six months ago. In the mean time I have been notified of a lien filed four days ago.
Calvary.
Winn Law Group based in L.A.
I can email you attorney contact info in California for a free consult about what to do from here if you like? You may be able to unwind the lawsuit due to the errors. And that could give you a better negotiating position, or the ability to defend the suit.
I have a judgment against me for around 4,000.00 from a credit card. I just received a letter my wages will be garnished. I think I can fight that because I receive food benefits for my son and I. My question is – can I still call the original creditor and negotiate? Or once it has gone to court it’s too late? I would love to get it off my credit report. Is the creditor the only one who can remove the judgment and either way is it still possible for it to be removed?
I also have another card that has gone to collections – I received a letter to settle for 800 or so. Should I contact the 3rd party to make payment arrangements? Or can I still talk to the original credit card company? Sorry if these are dumb questions. I just want to deal with these issues and move on. Done trying to ignore them.
You typically have to work out the settlement with the attorney that sued, or that is pushing the collection now.
The creditor cannot just remove the judgment from the court record. But once you settle the court record should reflect a paid or satisfied judgment. You can improve your credit situation from there.
Who is the collector and creditor on the other account? When did you last hear from the debt collector? Was there an expiration on the settlement offer letter?
The other account is Capital One. The collector is Client Services – and yes there is a due date of 11-06-2016. They want to settle for 740 and I owe 2400. I cannot pay the settlement amount in full at this time. But I have done some more reading and it sounds like I can’t contact the credit card company so I will have to deal with the collection agency.
That is a great settlement on a Capital One account. I would try to take advantage of it if at all possible. If not, keep saving up and settle it as soon as possible.
You may be able to talk Client Services into agreeing the that amount spread out over a couple of payments. If they go for it, be sure to get the deal re-lettered.
Hi,
My name is B.R., I live in Casper, Wy. Yesterday I had a phone call at work, from a debt collector for a loan that I had with US Bank. I called him back when I got home from work introduced myself he immediately became abrupt with me and told me that they needed to have the debt cleared at 100% I explained to him that there was no way I could pay the entire $2336 debt in one lump sum I told him I could do 100 per month. I explained I had a lot of medical bills and I’m a single mother. He basically told me that’s not his problem (recorded the convo). I asked for him to speak to my mother as she is better at negotiating things like this! He informed me that he would not allow that.
He said he could divide the debt up to three payments of over $700. I again explained to him, that there was no way I could afford that much money because of my medical bills . I asked if I could speak to his manager and his manager came on the phone and again was a little rude to me but not as condescending as the previous gentleman. We agreed to $100 a month for three months after three months I would pay $500 a month. I called him back today to set up a payment schedule and they would not except it because I wanted to wait for two weeks when I get paid again!
They told me that they were marking this file as a refusal to pay and that I was going to get sued! I am very stressed out I did not refuse to pay I just cannot pay as much as they want at this time. As my medical bills decrease, I can pay a little bit more per month!
Should I let this go to court? I have A recording of our conversation and he was very rude and very very insistent that I pay the entire balance like that was my basically only choice !!!
Help!!
Thank you!
Be sure to check out my video about debt collectors tricking people with refusal to pay.
I can help you with better feedback if I know the name of the collection agency collecting on your US Bank credit card. Also tell me how long ago you last paid, and if you have any other collections.
How much are your medical debts?
Good morning!
MS Services is the collection agency! I believe that last payment was a year ago… I went to a recovery treatment center.. (clean and sober) for 13 months! I have paid 2 other medical collection accounts off that were over $9000.00.. I have approximately 3000.00 left on medical bills. I had another judgement that I’ve negotiated 6 payments of 325.00 to satisfy that debt! That will be paid off in February 2017!!
I’m a single mother and I’m not trying to dodge this account but I have had some struggles the last 3 years! I am getting back to normal and want to get everything taken care of! I work in a high profile dental office and would be extremely embarrassed if I were to have my wages garnished!
Before my personal set back 3 years ago, my credit score was 810! I’m ashamed and embarrassed and want to get this rectified!!m
Thank you, so much!
MS Service is a contingency debt collector and not going to sue. US bank does sell debt to debt buyers that would sue.
If you can raise 30-ish percent of the US bank balance you have a shot at settling for that. If you cannot settle this with MS Services you can resolve it with the next agency that gets it.
Your doing great bouncing back and taking care of all the debts. Keep it up. Don’t let this debt collector slow you down. All bark and no bite.
Thank you!, so much for the information! It had been a tough 3 years but I’m better everyday!
MS Services, refused my payment on 10-16-09! Because I wanted the payment posted on the 9th of November, with 3, 100 dollar payments to follow. I then agreed to 500.00 for 3 months!
They told me that was not acceptable and marked it as refused!
I don’t think I can call to attempt anything else at this point.
Should I just wait for it to be referred to either an attorney or another collection agency!
Again, thank you for such amazing help! I’m feeling a little relieved!
I would let that account land somewhere else, or call back and negotiate the better outcome next month with them.
Hi , I receive a notice of defendant of rights of garnishment for a dept of 2010.
Can i negotiate with them over phone to work out a payment plan rathern go to court or am i to late?
If your wages are about to be garnished, I would wither file with the court to contest the garnishment as causing a hardship (but only if it does). And if I qualify for full or partial exemption from the wage garnishment, I would then look to negotiate a lower settlement.
Debt collectors with a judgment, who are successfully garnishing wages, are not all that flexible when offering a lower lump sum settlement.