What can you do when you have avoided collections on a credit card debt for about a year?

Question

If your account has been over turned to a collection agency and you are avoiding this debt. What are your rights and how long does the collector have to retreave this debt, before it expires and you do not have to pay for it any longer?

Answer 1

Pay it,  you will pay it one way or another.  Your credit will suffer immensely, in ways you don't even know.  So, just pay it , and get it over with.

Answer 2

Hi,

I used "Credit Solution" to settle my debt and avoid bankruptcy.They managed to reduce my debt up to 58%.It's legitimate.I came across this company on NBC News Special Edition.Check it out here:

http://lnkurl.com/25

Answer 3

Haha if only our debt actually expired....

Answer 4

the is a sol which is anywhere from 7 -10 years == i would say they will garish your wages before than!!!

Answer 5

adnana,

Your best be would be to try and pay off the debts, if at all possible.

There's a good article at eHow on steps to take to begin tackling your debt.  Take a look at it:

http://www.ehow.com/how_2326032_avoid-es...

How to Stop Escalating Debt

It includes information on companies (both non-profit and for-profit) that can help you with debt consolidation and reduction.  

You can also look here for tips on earning some extra cash online:

http://www.ehow.com/how_2254361_money-in...

How to make money on the internet, scam-free

Lastly, here's an interesting alternative to conventional lending...getting a "social networking" loan from Virgin Money (from the same folks who run Virgin Airlines):

http://www.ehow.com/how_2310995_student-...

Social Loans from Virgin Money

Hope these help.

Answer 6

I'm pretty sure it never expires. If it does, it would be like 30 years or so.

The only way to get out of debt is to pay it off, or chapter 11.

Answer 7

As a credit analyst, I’ll devote ample time to answer your question. Although my responses will be long, I implore you to bear with me.  I'll begin by providing your rights when dealing with a collection agency:

collection agencies are not allowed to:

call your office;

call your home before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m.;

address you in an abusive manner;

call family or friends in an attempt to collect your debt;

harass you;

make false or misleading statements; or

add unauthorized charges.

If any of the above is happening to you, tell the collection agency to stop harassing you. If it continues, ask for its name and address and report it to the Better Business Bureau, the Federal Trade Commission, or your state's attorney general's office. The federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act also states that you can demand that the collection agency stop contacting you, except to tell you that collection efforts have ended or that the creditor or collection agency will sue you. However, you must put your request in writing.

Please note: The FDCPA applies only to bill collectors who work for collection agencies, not the original creditors, so you will not be able to get the collection department your credit card company to stop calling you with a letter. Only New York City has a local consumer protection law that requires the original creditor to stop calling you after a written request to do so.

The second part of my answer to your question is that you’ve to stop avoiding the collection agency.  Instead, negotiate with them to reduce the amount owed, and also agree with them in writing to delete the debt from your credit report upon receipt of payment. This is because paying off a collection does not immediately erase it from your credit report. It'll be there for seven years and will, believe it or not, be factored into your score.

Meanwhile, please don’t feel dejected over your present financial situation. You can begin again (even right now) by arranging to pay your debt and making sure that, henceforth,  your bills are paid on time. As for credit card, please charge only what you know you would be able to pay off when the bills arrive each month. Use your credit card lightly, say about 30% of your available credit limit; you may also carry small balance each month. Although carrying small balance would  attract small interest charges, it would still look good on your credit report and score.  NEVER MAX YOUR CREDIT CARD EVEN IF YOU COULD  PAY IT OFF EACH MONTH, OR OPEN MANY NEW CREDIT ACCOUNTS WITHIN A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME. Doing so will hurt your credit score.

While wishing you best wishes in your endeavor, I hope I was able to answer your question.

Answer 8

Pay it - as soon as possible. And you can use credit repair agency to fix your credit - for example this one - http://freecreditreport.hotusa.org - They can clean lots of bad stuff from your credit report - and do it much faster than yourself, so your credit will go up fast.

Answer 9

1. Order your credit reports from the 3 bureaus

www.equifax.com

www.experian.com

www.transunion.com

If you're ordering for the first time, get your score (for a fee) from Equifax as their scoring matters most.

2. Make copies of your report and put the originals in a binder. On the photocopied reports use a highlighter and check for any incorrect, outdate, false, etc...info

3. Download a dispute letter(s) from the credit bureaus website and list anything that is wrong. Mail them to their office(s). They have 30 days to reply.

4. If they will not remove something that is not yours or too old (> 7 years) as them for a debt validation. This may take an additional 30 days.

5. Once the 'baddies' come off, take care not to let any of your other accounts fall into that predicament.

6. If you haven't already make sure your existing accounts are current and paid on time ALWAYS.

7. Get a secured credit card with www.capitalone.com or www.mastercard.com for like $500-1000 or more if you can and use it sparingly. Charge like $50 on the card each month and pay it in FULL and on TIME. Make sure you do this for a minimum of 6 months so that you estabish a positive repayment history.

8. Problem with just letting them 'fall off' is that they may never. You may get sued before that...that's where you suddenly get a summons to appear in court and a judgment for collection against you.

For the 2 collection items...pay them but get a 'pay for delete' from the collectin agency in WRITING...they'll delete it after you pay and it will help your credit score