should I contact cc companies to settle.

[keepsmiling]

Take a look at case law (you will find most courts side with the OC/CA regardless), get to know the FDCPA intimately (ditto for state collections laws) and start seeing what claims you can make against OCs and CAs. Study the agreement and get to know this well. The only accepted forums are AAA and JAMS. Get to know both sites so you know what you are getting into.

A caveat: if you have no claims against them and will definitely lose in court, you will lose in arbitration. Having claims filed against them seems to be the key in coming to a mutually satisfying arrangement using this method.

Sorry if this is dumb, please idiot-proof it for me lol.... claims such as.....? Might Chase's change in terms = bad faith be a claim????

[GoingDown]

If your debt is consolidated into 4,5,6 creditors and you have access to funds then why not settle. Try to pay 25% or less of the balance due and when they send a 1099. Use the IRS form 948 to relieve you of the tax implications.

@hub remember preferential treatment is only 90 days before filing so that hardly plays a part into the whole thing.

And screw filing chapter 13 for just unsecured creditors, I would rather use a hole punch on my eyelids and watch the movie Gigli for the rest of my life.

Good luck

Yes, I did use Form 948 and it does work. One of my original creditors was unable to collect anything from me and sat on the account for 3 years without any collection activity, so they sent me a 1099-C for the entire debt plus interest and fees. I sent in a copy of it along with the insolvency form and an insolvency worksheet, and I didn't owe any taxes on the forgiven debt.

[flyinbroke]

How would I find out what the arbitration stance is in NJ?

Take a look at case law (you will find most courts side with the OC/CA regardless), get to know the FDCPA intimately (ditto for state collections laws) and start seeing what claims you can make against OCs and CAs. Study the agreement and get to know this well. The only accepted forums are AAA and JAMS. Get to know both sites so you know what you are getting into.

A caveat: if you have no claims against them and will definitely lose in court, you will lose in arbitration. Having claims filed against them seems to be the key in coming to a mutually satisfying arrangement using this method.

[keepsmiling]

How would I find out what the arbitration stance is in NJ?

[flyinbroke]

You didn't. It does look like everyone threw out there with what worked best for them.

At the end of the day, you have to do homework, and the math. You have to look at federal and state laws and see what may work out best for you. YOu have to look at track records of the OC/CA.

For some it will be BK. Some it will be fighting. Some it is settling. Some may use strategic defaulting. Some can get away with the blow-off.

YOu really do have to look at each and every factor in the equation.

[lovemybugs10]

I hope I didn't imply that one way is better than another. I believe far from that. Everyone has to do what works best for them.

[flyinbroke]

I am in a case similar to Tree. I only qualified for a nearly 100 percent 13. My student loans and retirement plans would have to go on hiatus, and once my car is paid off I would have to put this money into the 13. So I will be expected to survive with no emergency money for five years, with a 7 year old car (though still in good shape, you never know) and no assets to my name. Forced to watch Gigli is far less torturous and I only had five accounts in default.

I contacted everyone when I had financial issues....all but three worked with me. The three (five accounts total) were all Too Big To Fail banks who got lots of our money for TARP.

I have been sued by one, but in my state, arbitration can be your friend. At the very least it killed that suit dead in its tracks. The second (with two accounts) hired a sue happy law firm collection agency...I arbitrated with them too. The third (also 2 accounts) hired a law firm I am going after in arbitration and they went silent. The last account is silent too.

At the end of the day, what works for one will not work for you. BK is great for some, but not for all. Arbitration may work for me but not for someone living someplace like Oregon who has state mandated. Blowing them off may work for someone with untouchable assets, but not so much for someone whose pay can be attached.

Do your homework.

(PS to OC...from what I have researched Citi will sue. Chase will sue. Discover will eventually sue. If you want to settle, you better have enough money to settle them all.)

[lovemybugs10]

rapalapaul- I got your message. I agree with Shark66, you've got to do whatever you can to get out of OT. It will hurt in the short term, but once you filed 7 and it's over it'll have been worth it.

You should stop talking to your creditors no matter what though. They are only going to use the info you give them to try to hurt you. Don't talk to them again until you've filed and then only to give them your attys number.

If you really want to settle, how high can your payments be? Discover accepted 670 and citi accepted 870 a month from me, both for 6 months. I'm not the highest out there, and I'm not even close to the lowest.

From your posts though, it sounds like the best thing would be to stop OT for 6 months and then file. If I could file chapter 7 and get away with it, I would have done it in a heart beat. I wish I had done it when my husband was out of work. (but we tried to sell our house, so we couldn't file. Wasn't even on our radar. Stupid us)

[shark66]

Yea i am union but we just launched a new car and they can work us up to 11 hours a day for the first year and 20+ saturdays.

I haven't read your contract, but would be very surprised if the language used in it actually matches what you're saying.

In most contracts that I've seen there's a provision on how much OT can be forced on an employee, and under which circumstances. There are also rules on how one can exempt themselves. Fine print, local rules and gray areas. It usually has to do with a "hardship" of some kind.You get the idea.

If I were in your position, I'd be talking to my steward and/or business agent ASAP.

Good luck.

[rapalapaul]

Yea i am union but we just launched a new car and they can work us up to 11 hours a day for the first year and 20+ saturdays.

[shark66]

Are you a part of unionized workforce or not?

Either way, there are ways of going about this, but they are different depending on the answer to the question above.

Good luck.

[rapalapaul]

I cant say no to ot it mandatory thats the bad thing.

[shark66]

They sold it for 10k I owed 42 with fees they said I still owe them 36k. How should this debt be settled? I know some people waling away from second home and was told as long as i stay current on my home they cant go after me. Is this correct?

To the best of my knowledge and belief, that's not correct and they will be hounding you down for money...

Given your entire situation, I'd suggest saying "no" to OT and doing what you need to get yourself into Ch. 7 at any cost, since that deificiency's not going to go away...

Good luck.

[rapalapaul]

thanks for the tips I just have to do some more research for my state(michigan) I was aout to file for chapter 7 In oct. of 2010 but my job decided to put me on ot in aug,sept. making 7800 those to months really screwed me. So then we decided to wait till march or april being that I would be back on 40 hours and laided off 3 weeks in dec. I even had to move to a differant plant lost almost $2 a hour. All was fine till they told us we r getting a nice profit shareing check in march. First one in 9 years and that were going on 10 hours all year with a bunch of ot. Now I am screwed Cant make means test and if i do a chapter 13 my dmi will be huge on OT. looks like i might have to take my profit share and taxes and maybe a little 401k and settle. I havent made a payment on cc since last march they stopped calling after i gave them my lawyers Info. I do have one thing I need to really find out about. Eleven years ago I bought a double wide i was young and stupid. I made payments for ten years in 07 I bought a house and thought i can fix it up pull the equity out and dump the double wide. Well then the market took a dump. I tried to rent it after 2 people screwed me on rent and 3 years of making 2 house payments I let it go back to the bank. They sold it for 10k I owed 42 with fees they said I still owe them 36k. How should this debt be settled? I know some people waling away from second home and was told as long as i stay current on my home they cant go after me. Is this correct?

[ryan]

Everytime I hear Treehugger go over his situation, it has a lot going for it, imo.

I am probably headed to that same point. A couple of lawsuits at this point but due to
a few wrenches thrown at the creditors, no collectible judgments. In reality, I live no different than
if I had very good credit.... rarely even get a collection phone call anymore.

Down the road, I can;t see settling anymore, but I do see BK as future possibility.
Point is, each situation when you detail it, is unique and there is no "one size fits all".