Citibank collection-revisited

Posted by PegLeg (68.52.155.174) on November 09, 2003 at 20:50:23:

I have a debt with an ATT Universal Card, now Citibank. I have had the card for several years (10) and at this time, have a debt of a little over $5000 on it. I made payment arrangements with them and they started doing a monthly debit. That was no problem but apparently, they only did this for three months. (We may have agreed to that, frankly I don't remember). I forgot to pay my bill for about two months following that (I travel allot) and when I went to pay it online, my account was not available. About that time I got a call from a collector saying that I had defaulted and they wanted the full amount from me. I told them that I would be happy to set up a payment plan but they refused and said that I would be sued. I told them sorry and refused to sit on the phone while they harassed me. I then sent in a check directly to Universal Card for $500. They cashed it right away. I got another call from the collection agency and about the same thing happened again. I said I would be happy to pay with a set monthly payment but could not pay it all at once. Again, they said they would sue me. They also said that they had sent a letter that day that would give me seven days to pay or be sued. I told them to please contact me in writing and that I would respond in writing and they said....you will be sued if you don't pay within the seven days.

Today I received the letter from the collection agency, NCO Financial.

It states:
"We have been unable to come to an agreed repayment plan with you regarding this debt. We are authorized to offer you a settlement for less than the full balance on your account. Unless we enter into a mutually acceptable agreement, the account will be returned to Citibank for review for referral to an attorney licensed in your state."

What a pain dealing with these people. I tried to reach an agreement with them, I offered to pay the full balance over time and they refused.

Now that I have this letter, any suggestions on what I should do. I have some questions:

Should I offer a lesser amount and if so, what should I offer? The debt is between 4500-5000.

If I do reach an agreement with them for the debt, what guarantees should I get regarding my credit report? How will it show up, from them and from Citibank?

If I cannot come to an agreed upon settlement with them, should I call Citibank directly and try to negotiate with them.

Finally, should I report them to the FTC and Attorney General for the false threats on the lawsuits?

Some general advice would be great as I have never been in this situation before.

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