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What to do about chargeoffs/lawsuits
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Posted by Sam
on November 29, 2001 at 18:33:46:
Due to a downturn in business over the last few years, I am way behind in over 30K worth of credit card debt. The first one to officially charged off was sold or transferred to a collection agency. They said, in their letter, that they could "settle" for about 60% of the debt, but that is still way above the original credit line, and, as far as I am concerned, this creditor, and all of the others, have been paid in full, and then some, since I've been paying the minimum for many years, and I still owe the maximum. In one case, the credit card was closed over 4 years ago, with a balance of 10K, and after paying over 12K over the last 4 years (not to mention what I paid in previous years) they still want payment, in full, for 10K, largely due to 25% interest, and almost $60 per month in over the limit and late fees. It finally got to the point where I just could not keep up, and I realized that my credit was totally destroyed, and the damage was done, and if I just kept trying to pay the minimum, I would still be broke, and trying to pay the minimum, with a destroyed credit rating in another 4 years. Thus, I decided to just stop responding to them. Now, I am being threatened with a suit by one, and I am sure the others will be threatening suit in the near future. I already have been hit with tax liens and levies in the significant 5 figures. I am working on that. Obviously, some people would say I should declare bankruptcy. But, I can't loose my home, since I need a place to live. I have a significant equity built up, plus my business requires me to have a lot of capital equipment, although it has not been doing very well, recently, for several reasons which should resolve themselves in the next few years. Since I am self employed, nobody can garnish my wages. But, they could sue me and get judgements. I don't know what they could do with the judgements, other than put a lien on my property, like the IRS has already done. My goal, now, is to settle these things and get my life back on track. What is the likelihood of being sued by these various companies? If they sue, what can they do, other than get liens on my personal property, like the IRS has already done? What are my chances of settling with them? If I settle, how much should I expect to settle for? (At the moment, I don't have any money to settle with, and my mortgage is behind, but my income tends to come in large chunks, so that I might be able to offer some settlements, if I can get something in return, like the negative info removed from my credit report, etc. Like I said, these companies have been paid many times over, over the last dozen or more years. Even if they got nothing, they would have made an annual return of ove 12%, which is pretty good in any book. I just want to get this all behind me and get on with my life!! What can/should I do? What should I expect? Sam
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