Has anyone dealt with a law office to collect an outstanding debt you have? I am asking because we experienced GREAT FINANCIAL DEVASTION last year to the point of going to food banks, charity agencies, borrowing money to survive, etc. We could not pay anything but necessities. At tax time I paid 5 of the 7 credit cards (paid the past payments to get current) and I am still making monthly payments to them. Well one of them was for $ 7300.00. I am making a $ 50.00/mth payment at this time and wrote the letter to the law office. They are deducting the amount I am paying but still send a letter saying to pay the balance in full and the creditor will take action. I am worried they will try to take my home which I fought so hard to keep. What are your suggestions?
Answer by cinnatigg
Next time you make a payment, send them a notarized letter or send it by certified mail. Tell them that this all you can pay a month and if the accept it, to deposit the check. By doing this, they are accepting this as acceptable monthly payment and will not send you any more letters threatening you. But, as long as you are paying, sometimes they can't do anything. They like to threaten people, because it works with some.
Answer by OC1999
First they won't take your home for Unsecured debt so don't worry about that.
Second do not send any payments until you have an agrement in writting that they will accept that it will help settle the debt. If you are paying $ 50 a month just because that is what you can afford that may not even be covering the interest they are charging on the amount. They will always accept any money but it may be doing nothing for the debt because what you are doing is resetting the Statute of Limitations each time you send a payment in.
If you are truly in the situation you are in, your credit cards are probably the last thing you need to really worry about. You should seriously look at filing bankruptcy. This could give you a fresh start to try and get back on track.
Answer by Studly
You need to do a little legal research on this...maybe even chat with a lawyer. It sure doesn't help when every state has different laws and court rules.
But in many states, if you send the creditor a payment (like you are doing) and they accept it for a few months in a row, it constitutes a "volation" of the contract.
The trick is to demonstrate to the judge there was a "clear meeting of the minds", and that both sides have accepted a change in the terms of the contract. The creditor is going to have a difficult time explaining why he accepted 3 straight payments on a debt if he did not intend to continue the practice.
I have seen this in several court cases here in Michigan, but don't know what your luck will be if you try it.
OC1999 is right, every time you make a payment you extend the SOL date. But at this point it really doesn't matter since you have now paid them and it's started all over, you are not really hurting yourself by continuing to pay. Worst case is if they sue you, you may be able to ask the judge to order installment payments at an amount you can afford.
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