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Collections Law/Letter to Past-due Creditors

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Expert: Creditwrench - 7/28/2009


Question
Hi,

I live in South Carolina.  I have a LOT of debt.  I have 7 credit cards for which I am months, I mean months, behind.  The highest credit card is around $2000.  Some others are around $1500, and the lowest is under $500.  I have not been able to make payments due to high payments on two personal loans (totaling almost $500/month), doctor bills, plumbing and vehicle repair bills in the past year, my daughter being in college and paying her gas and health/car insurance, and mental problems.  (I am current on the two personal loans and on my mortgage; I have no car payments).

I know I should have already contacted the credit companies, and I have no excuse except for my shame, mental problems, and inability to pay anything.  I have talked to debt collectors on the phone in the past and always end up sobbing.  Please know I am not trying to make excuses, just be truthful about what's happened.

I know that my debt has been turned over to collection agencies.  I think I may have a part-time job starting in two weeks, and I would like to contact these credit card companies and offer to pay $25/month.  I know it's very little, but I do want to pay my debt, no matter how long it takes me.  I know if I talk to them on the phone, they will do everything they can to get me to find 1/2 my balance to pay off the debt, or pay hundreds of dollars to bring my accounts current; I do not have family nor friends who have any money to give/loan to me.    

Should I write a letter to these collection agencies and explain everything as I have to you and offer to pay $25 month?  

Thank you for your time and willingness to answer.
Wendy

Answer
Your attempts to pay $25 will get you nowhere. They will just laugh at you and end up taking you to court, getting judgments and creating even more grief and misery for you. Instead of getting into crying jags with debt collectors on the phone why not go to http://www.creditwrench.com/18questions.html and start learning how to control the situation. Be sure you listen to the recordings as well.You can't pay so quit trying to send good money after bad. When the going gets tough the tough get going. You have to as well. If you don't your life will always be full of misery and heartache.

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Creditwrench

Expertise

Debt Collections law, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), federal law, how to properly answer court summons for collection cases, how to prepare federal cases against debt collectors, how to deal with debt collection phone calls.

Experience

I've been an active consumer advocate for more than 40 years and have helped hundreds of people win cases against debt collectors as well as helping them defeat demands for summary judgment lodged against them by banks, debt collectors and defeat mortgage foreclosures and keep their homes.

Education/Credentials
Paralegal courses for the most part.
I have been teaching people how to deal with judgments, mortgage foreclosures and other such problems both on and off the internet for many, many years. I am a Richard Cornforth information provider ever since 2000 and worked with many other organizations and causes since 1980. I was Oklahoma State Chairman for the nationwide drive to defeat the Constitutional Convention which was proposed by various factions within our federal government such as the Council of State Governments and the National Organization of State Governors who were working hard to organize a Constitutional Convention to be held in 1995 for the purpose of rewriting our American Constitution to be more acceptable to the United Nations. I worked with Senator Charles Duke of Colorado and Senator Don Rogers of California and many others across the nation to keep them from getting the number of delegate states required to lawfully hold a Con-Con and we were successful. I have worked with many other legislative issues in Oklahoma and have always been very successful.

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