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As you can imagine, when your debt is sent to collections, your credit score will be damaged. If from there your creditor seeks a judgment for payment, your credit score will plummet even further.

At the point you receive a Notice to Appear in court, you can be assured that your creditor is no longer willing to try to collect the debt. You are allotted 30 days to respond to the Notice. The case will be dismissed if you can prove that the debt is invalid.

If a creditor merely threatens to go to court, it may or may not be serious. In any event, you should view going to court as an absolute last resort.

If your credit report lists an “unpaid” judgment, it will remain on your credit report for 10-12 years. If the judgment remains unpaid at the end of this time, it can be renewed. A judgment which has been paid can remain on your credit report for up to 7 years from the date paid.

You should make an effort to contact your creditor to negotiate a settlement, provided the debt is valid, you would prefer this route to letting a judge decide your fate, and the debt is still within the statute of limitations (check your state’s statute of limitations laws). Be sure to check your state’s statute of limitations laws prior to doing this. The reason for this is that if your debt is outside of the statute of limitations, you no longer have a legal obligation to pay the debt and offering to pay may start the clock ticking again for payment purposes.

If you are ordered by the court to pay a debt and an official court order is issued, the impact on your credit score will be devastating. However, if you decide to contact your creditor and arrange for payment, you may be able to avoid this traumatic black mark.

Offering to negotiate a settlement is the best solution for all parties. Typically, creditors do not want to go to court and will accept a portion of the amount owed just to bring the matter to a close. If you do not have a lump sum to offer as payment, you can always attempt to negotiate a payment plan. If your creditor is not “in the mood” to consider any offers, you might think about calling the lawyer handling the case for your creditor.

If a judgment is dismissed, it will be reported on your credit report as “legally void.” This is considerably less harmful than a “paid” judgment. Paid judgments remain for seven years on your credit report from the time paid.

The best outcome would be to negotiate a full deletion of all negative information. If you are successful in negotiating this, make sure you get the agreement in writing and that you obtain the signatures of both parties. Keep in mind that once the court becomes involved, your chances of negotiating a settlement are next to none.

You might consider hiring a good consumer credit attorney. It may cost you a little bit, however, you may find that, by having an attorney handle the negotiations, you may save money as well as minimize the damage done to your credit score.

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Mark Newman Credit Finance credit, Credit Finance, Credit History, Credit Rating, credit report, Credit Score, debt, judgment, lump sum payment, payment plan, settlement

Understanding how to settle a debt with a collection agency is very important. Understanding this process can save you a lot of money and help you to repair your credit to boot.

We know that in these tough times of economic instability, it is becoming increasingly hard to keep up with all your financial obligations. If this is the case with you and you are beginning to fall behind on your payments, call the creditor immediately and attempt to work out a payment plan.

Failing to work with the creditor or being unable to arrange a payment plan, will result in your account being suspended or closed. If this is done, not only will your credit score plummet, but the debt will most likely be turned over to a collection agency. At this point, understanding the finer points of negotiation is necessary, not desired, NECESSARY.

The purchase of your debt by the collection agency probably cost it a few cents on the dollar. It is common for collection agencies to purchase debt for as little as 8 cents to 12 cents for each dollar purchased. I am sure you can see the connection here, but let me give you a couple of examples: your $600 debt could be purchased for as little as $48 or your debt of $4,800 might be bought for just $384.

In spite of this, settling for a small amount will not be the collection agency’s idea. Getting as much as they can from you is, after all, how they make money. In order to scare you into agreeing to pay the full amount and quickly, they may even threaten a legal suit.

However, legal action represents money, time, and effort on the part of the collection agency and, in light of this, it will normally not follow through with this threat. After purchasing your debt for cents on the dollar, your debt may, in fact, amount to very little to them. You should not, however, ignore any of the collection agency’s attempts to contact you. Your goal, as with the collection agency, is to settle this debt and get it behind you.

If you have the funds to offer a lump sum payment, make an offer to the collection agency. Twenty-five percent (25%) of the original amount owed is a good starting point for settlement of the debt in full. Then, wait and see if the collection agency counters your offer. This process may go back and forth a few times but, eventually, you may come to an agreement. Be sure to keep copies of all correspondence to and from the collection agency. Also, make sure that any agreement you come to is in writing.

If you don’t have the money to offer a lump sum payment, try to arrange a payment plan with the collection agency. If the collection agency can see that you are making an attempt to pay, it is likely that they will not take the matter to court.

Whether you decide to offer a lump sum payment or to make payments, make sure that the agreement includes that the “debt will be deleted in its entirety” from your credit record. Otherwise, the debt may stay on your credit report for seven years, thereby negatively impacting your credit rating for years to come.

To summarize, approach the collection agency confidently and make an offer. Do not allow bullying to sway you, stand firm. However, you must keep in mind that you do owe this debt and collection agencies earn their bread and butter by collecting debt. In light of this, try to be fair when negotiating, but obtain the best rate possible. Additionally, do not ignore any communication you may receive from a collection agency. If you follow the recommendations in this article, you may be able to clear up that outstanding debt.

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Matt Douglas Credit Finance Collection Agencies, collection agency, credit, Credit Finance, Credit History, Credit Rating, credit report, Credit Score, debt, lump sum payment, negotiating a debt, negotiating debt, payment plan, settling a debt, settling debt