I need credit card advice...please help.

Search

Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2004
Messages
1,925
Tokens
I never thought this would happen but unfortunately it has. First of all I have recently become unemployed but still have this credit card to pay off. The debt is ~9k on the card and Ive been paying about $180/month on it. well, its going to be impossible for me to make that kind of a payment any longer. What can they do to me if I dont pay any longer or just send them ~50/ month?can you be arrested for not paying the full amount or be taken to court even though I am putting forth the effort to pay a little something?

Thank you for any advice you can give me.
 

RX Senior
Joined
Apr 20, 2002
Messages
47,431
Tokens
Pretty sure they will just call all the time and send letters. I had similar trouble about 6 years ago. they never took me to court. I also had more debt than that.


Also, it will probably go to a collection agency in which you can work out a plan to pay 60% or so.

I cant gaurantee anything. But the above is likely. It's when you default on car or house payments you are in deep cu-ca.
 

Member
Joined
Dec 14, 2004
Messages
5,605
Tokens
You can be taken to court however you won't be arrested. At this point you should talk to the credit department of your CC issuer and hope you don't get a jerk. Explain the spot you are in. What happened when I was at AMEX was they'd shut your card down and let you make small payments for a couple of months usually 6 months tops by that point they expect you to get back on your feet again and atleast make the min payment. By that time if you are not able to make atleast the min payment they'll either try to take you to court or more than likely send you to a collections agent. By the way expect a pretty big black mark on your credit report as well.
 

Member
Joined
Sep 21, 2004
Messages
684
Tokens
I work for MasterCard, but for a bank in Canada. You should give them a call and let them know your situation and they'll usually try to help you out...it's much better than just not paying it at all, or paying less than what your minimum payment is.
 

New member
Joined
Sep 21, 2004
Messages
1,041
Tokens
call, them up. they may cut the interest for a little awhile and/or take a reduced payment monthly until you are in a better situation. but do not just ignore your bill, as it will ruin your credit. i know it may be tough, but call them up and make an arrangement. good luck to you.
 

Active member
Joined
Jun 20, 2000
Messages
71,780
Tokens
would never file bankrupcy for 9k....just keep paying it down the best you can..If you still gamble which I hope not , use that money you gamble with to pay it off also
 
Joined
Sep 21, 2004
Messages
5,615
Tokens
The first thing you should do is close the account and toss the card so they don't keep tacking on back-breaking interest; they might try to talk you out of this but don't let them. Then tell them that you'll pay what you can every month; you can't be arrested or jailed even if you fail to pay a penny. If it does go to collections and they don't get any money from you within six years (that's in Nevada, it varies by state) your obligation to pay is eleminated. If they tell you that your payments aren't enough and that they're going to send it to collections tell then that if it does then you'll never pay a dime; that might induce them to accept what you can pay.
 
Joined
Sep 21, 2004
Messages
5,615
Tokens
I'm not sure of this but I don't think the new rules apply unless one makes more than the median income in one's state; if one makes less then bankruptcy might be a good bet.
 

Life is tough. It's tougher if you're stupid.
Joined
Mar 21, 1999
Messages
2,067
Tokens
There are a variety of resources available to help you, but here are two things that I would absolutely not do:


1. File bankruptcy
2. Ignore it and hope that it goes away


There's a guy out there named Dave Ramsey who has a radio show that's on in the afternoon. You're going to think he's crazy for about a week or two, but the guy saved my life. He's got a couple of books, but his first one is called "Financial Peace" and it's okay, but the most recent one (I forget the name--some sort of "money makeover") is outstanding. The books will tell you how to communicate with creditors to minimize the pain. Don't get me wrong, it's going to hurt, but you can at least stop the harrassing phone calls, etc. when they start rolling in.

Here's another note: avoid the credit counseling services--even the "cleanest, most non-profit and innocent" sounding. Most of them are good and will negotiate with your creditors for reduced interest/payments, but THIS WILL BE REFLECTED ON YOUR CREDIT REPORT AS IF YOU FILED BANKRUPTCY. I am just now coming out from under some of this from 6-7 years ago.

Check out www.daveramsey.com. There's a lot of crap in there, but there's some solid advice in his books and on his program. Again, you'll think he's absolutely crazy, but he's right.

Good luck.
 

It's like sum fucking Beckett play that we're rehe
Joined
Jul 20, 2002
Messages
2,917
Tokens
Some good advice.

Call the CC company, they want to keep your account out of delinquency status. Ask them if they will reduce the interest rate and set up a payment plan. Be sure it is one you can actually meet.

Get the agreement in writing and make all the payments you agree to in a timely manner. If the CS rep you speak with on the phone cannot assit you in setting these up, thank them and ask to speak with a supervisory. Keep moving up the chain until you reach the perosn with the authority.

$9M is not much debt so you should be able to handle it.

If your credit is good, you might think about transfering the balance to a 0% card to buy yourself some time.

Bank of America just gave my wife $6M and me $13M at 0%, no fees at all, through May 2006. Discover has also recently sent me a balance transfer offer (fee capped at $29) 0% interest for 9 months. Citi and Chase will also do it 0%, no fee until 1/07.

I play a lot of CC games and currently have about $50,000 at 0% with maturities ranging from this June to 3/07 (I have one card at 0% for life, but that's another story).

Hope it works out for you. Given that you live in Buffalo, my advice is to start shovelling snow for some of the elderly near you. You should easily be able to earn enough to pay the CC company.
 

Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2004
Messages
1,925
Tokens
cant thank all you guys enough. >>>>>an yes I have been shovelling for some extra cash!
 

New member
Joined
Sep 27, 2004
Messages
548
Tokens
I work for a well known credit card company

Here are the steps to:

Call your credit cards and tell them you are out of work and can no longer make the regular min payments....By lasw the can lower your min payments to 1% of your balance...right now credit card min payments are 2-2.5% of balance...soon fed goverment will require min payments to be 3-4% of balance...you credit cards just like ours will put you on temp hardship program..ours is 12months max then you have to wait an additonal year before you can go back on prgrm....you will have lower apr and fee suppression (late/over lmt fees). If you close account nothing will change... If you fall 120dd (4mnths) deliquent you card will by closed by grantor which is reported on your credit report fr 7-10 years(no good). also DO NOT neglect the bill....if you go 180 days deliquent you will charge off and have r9 on credit report, almost same as bankruptcy...then balance in full will be due and at that time they may take you to court...we put liens on property and garnish wages and bank accounts all the time...everyone falls on hard times..but there is help...i talk with hurricane victims that are worse off and they are able to get on some type of program...goodluck..and if you need further asstc. please say the word...i will do my best to help you or give you advice
 

New member
Joined
Sep 21, 2004
Messages
365
Tokens
There are good books on this subject in your local library.
Nolo Press publications are excellent. Borrow their book on Bankruptcy, or read it at your local Borders type bookstore.
They are written for laymen and are all "Do it yourself" type books.

You have the right to send a letter to any credit card company/collection agency calling you , informing them that you forbid all telephone contact.
So if it does go to collections, you will not be hassled at all once you do this.

If it goes to collections, they could eventually take it to court and get an order to take the money from your bank account. So open mail from the collection/credit card companies so you can keep track of this.
You may have to not keep money in the bank, which is no big deal, just start paying bills with money orders from the market or po.

It used to be a snap to file bankruptcy and get the debt released in full, but new bankruptcy laws just went into effect.
Check "Nolo Press" on the net, they should have info and updates on their site.

If you are going to declare bankruptcy, max out everything first. But as I mentioned, that used to be the way to go, it may not be anymore with the new laws. Don't max out everything if they've made it impossible to release the debts in bankruptcy.

Bankruptcy is a venerable American tradition, and you will be joining the likes of Mark Twain, I think Edgar Allen Poe, and many other great men.
It's no big deal, and nothing to be ashamed of.

As I believe someone mentioned earlier in this thread, you should NOT be gambling in any way, shape, or form, while you have this situation.
Gambling on a negative br is NOT the way to go, now or ever.
 

New member
Joined
Sep 21, 2004
Messages
365
Tokens
Someone gave incorrect advice earlier in this thread - they will charge you interest and perhaps penalties, whether or not you cancel the account.
Cancelling the account has absolutely no effect on the interest charges.
Come to think of it, perhaps the poster was correct - if you cancel the account they won't be charging you their usurious "Late Charge" fees.
But you will still be charged usurious interest rates.

Not only that, it's not necessary for you to cancel the account - they will take care of that for you, if they haven't already, as soon as you miss a few months minimum payments.

BTW - In my post above, that should've read "Edgar ALLAN Poe".
 

New member
Joined
Dec 12, 2005
Messages
14
Tokens
don't pay a red cent.

stop paying now. don't bother paying. i am NOT shitting you here. they cannot do a damn thing.

i have a friend who works for a collection agency and he knows all the ins and outs and knows what these credit card companies do.

the absolute worst-case scenario is you work out a deal with the collection agency to pay off about 33% of what you owe right now.

these credit card companies would fuck you over in 2 minutes. so fuck 'em. don't let them intimidate you.
 

Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2004
Messages
1,925
Tokens
Ive thought of not even paying anymore and eventually they would take a partial settlement rather than waste their money with courts and all that crap. I did cancel the card a few months ago but out of the $180 I pay per month only $48 is being paid off the principle. At this rate Ill be paying til'Im 80 years old.I could pay everything by money orders and I do have money still in neteller that I havent brought back to the banks here. If i were to withdraw money from neteller with my debit card from them can that be traced? Thanks again for all the help....really appreciate it guys.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
1,106,145
Messages
13,433,409
Members
99,281
Latest member
king88fans
The RX is the sports betting industry's leading information portal for bonuses, picks, and sportsbook reviews. Find the best deals offered by a sportsbook in your state and browse our free picks section.FacebookTwitterInstagramContact Usforum@therx.com