Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Michigan
Negotiate payment
We received a letter stating that we have to pay a credit card debt. I disputed amount and have now received a letter stating that the amount is correct and creditor won't accept any less than $232 per month. We cannot afford this payment per month. We had offered $75/monthly. I don't want this to end up in court so would like to settle. Two years ago we wrote and asked for a payment plan as we were having financial problems and asked that they quit calling work place, but we never received a response and kept getting charged the late fees and over-the-limit fees. They did quit calling work place. When we contacted them recently, they said they couldn't respond because of cease and desist. We had asked them in a letter to contact us in writing. I didn't even know what a cease and desist was! Couldn't they have contacted us in writing when we requested that they do so? All we asked was that they quit calling work place. Over $3,800 in extra fees have been charged to us during this time. Our monthly payment made absolutely no impact on the balance because of all these charges. What are our options here? Can we try to negotiate lower monthly payment? HELP!
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Negotiate payment
Yes, they could have contacted you at your request. You could see an attorney to negotiate a lower amount for you. Otherwise, it would not be all that bad for this to end up in court because you will be able to dispute the late fees and over-the-limit fees. You do need to make sure that the account is closed.
If you forced your creditor to sue you, this would give you some leverage because they don't want to have to pay an attorney. They would likely sell the debt and you would then have the opportunity to negotiate a lower amount with the collection agency. They often settle for much less. In any event, say in the worst case scenario, a judgment was entered against you. Now, the creditor has to go through the trouble of getting an order of garnishment. At the time of the garnishment, you would have the opportunity to plead your case in how much you could afford to pay per month and certain funds are exempt from garnishment.
If it were me, I would stop paying, send another letter that you dispute the debt and have no way to pay the balance at the time in any event. The creditor will be forced to sell the debt and/or take you to court. You want to be in court and they don't. That's just my legal opinion.
I don't know your entire situation and you should not rely on this advice which does not create an attorney-client relationship. I am merely speaking of general legal principles.
If you want additional free legal advice, please contact my website at www.lawrefs.com or contact me directly via email.
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