Discover Card Won’t Negotiate With Me. Should I Wait Out the Statue of Limitations? – Tony

“Dear Jeremy,

Over the past 24 months I have managed to settle 3 second mortgages and one credit card for a grand total of 310,000 for 32000.. I have only two remaining debts and am struggling with them. They are two remaining credit cards..One through a credit union for 22k and a Discover card for 9500..Both lenders have sent my accounts to attorneys and will not take a settlement to speak of.. (actually Discover card offered 7500 which I do not have..)

1. Discover card since they wont negotiate with me and my last payment was over a year ago..do I wait out the remaining 36 months to my SOL on the account?. Or will the law office offer a greater discount as time goes?

2. Have you ever had a credit union negotiate credit card debt?..I have not called the attorney’s office yet but got a huge roadblock with the bank trying to offer a settlement…

Any advise would be helpful

Thanks

Tony”

Dear Tony,

I’ll answer the easy question first. Yes, credit unions do sometimes negotiate credit card debt. There are a lot of factors however which may be causing the roadblock. For one it could be their policy not to negotiate. Or perhaps they have access to your credit report and they believe you can pay more than you are willing to offer. In any event there is nothing that prohibits them from agreeing to a settlement so keep trying and hopefully they’ll give in.

Your second questions involves the weighing of a lot of factors and there is no right or wrong way to do it. If you wait to settle you run the risk that your credit will be negatively impacted during that time. You also run the risk that the late fees, interest, and possibly court fees and attorney fees will increase the amount of the debt and ultimately make it more difficult to settle. On the other hand, as you indicated, if the creditor waits to long to sue you it might end up past the statute of limitations.

To make an informed decision as to whether you want to settle now or later contact an attorney in your state who has experience in defending collection lawsuits and they might give you a better idea about what you should expect.

Jeremy Golden, Esq. is one of the resident debt experts here at GetOutOfDebt.org that helps people for free. Jeremy is a consumer rights attorney licensed to practice in California. He represents individuals in cases against debt collectors for violations of the FDCPA. He also focuses on defending people in collection cases who have been sued by their creditors or debt- buyers. In the last five years he has won at trial or obtained a dismissal in over 200 collection cases. Recently he was voted one of San Diego’s Top Attorneys in the field of Consumer Law by SDMetro Magazine. His website is goldencardona.com

Legal Disclaimer: This is for educational purposes only. It is not to be relied upon as legal advice. It also does not create an attorney-client relationship. No such relationship is formed with attorney without a written agreement.

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