Question about calling NCO for payment arrangement

[janna57]

I do have some back bills that I have procastinated in paying. They are utility bills, gas and water. I just placed them on the bottom of my priority list, since I don't pay gas and water bill now. However, I never intendend to fully neglect it. My intention was to pay the bills in full when I get the extra money. Well, something always came up and I failed to pay them. I could have paid them off, if I just made payments. So, I have decided to make payments. These bills are from 2003. The gas bill was turned over to NCO. And, I'm not sure about the water, yet. My gas bill is $230 and water $300. I have been reading about NCO, and I am afraid to call them. I want to make arrangements for $25 monthly payments. Should I just send the $25 in monthly, or should I call and talk to someone to make it official?

[janna57]

Thank you so much for the information. I definitely will not call them. I will just give my mother the money every month until I have the total amount. (it will be about a year!) I cannot pay the amount all at once. It would definitely be a hardship.
I'm glad that I did not call them. The letter sounds so nice. i.e. "If you need assistance give us a call to see what we can resolve." Ha! My credit rating is already screwed. Number one, I filed BK in 2002. It was great. It wiped out all the bills that I had up to that time. Unforutnately, my medical condition worsened and that's such a long story... But, now I have a job that I do just 5 hrs. a week, to qualify for Medicaid for workers with disabilities.
But, in my credit history, after my BK, I have - $850 from previous landlord.(we were evicted due to delinquecy of the rent) And, I don't believe that we owed that much, as I paid a security deposit of $535. There was not $535 damage to the apartment. I refuse to pay it. My husband called them and told them that we would make payments. But, that was him not me. It was in my name, and they could take me to court!! We did give them about $100, and that is all they are getting! We left the place immaculate!
Then, we greatly downsized from beautiful 3 BR townhouse to a one BR apt. The only utility that we pay is electric.
I know that we will not live here, forever. So, we better pay up on the past utility bills. But, as far as my credit rating goes, it will be a long time before I have a good one.
I am trying to talk my husband into filing ch.7 for himself.
What gets me is that, we did not intentionally get into this mess. My health was a big factor. My husband lost his job, too. But, theses creditors do not care!! My husband always has this tear jerker story to tell. But, I tell him,
"They don't care who died, or is dying, or lost their job. They just want their money!"
OMG, I am so sorry for being so winded here! Thanks again, for the info.

[BKPaul]

NCO actually called a relatives house, told them about my debt, who it was on, and how much I owed. I wished I have done something about it. I think my debt was around $800. They said they would settle for around $500. I told them to give me a couple days. I got the money, called them and now it was $550! Talked to the same guy, told him either $500 or nothing, finally after waiting several minutes, he took the $500.

[Rover]

I believe that it's almost never a good idea to talk to a bill collector about anything. If you can't pay, won't pay or intend to file BK, what's the point? Not talking is not going to hurt your credit rating any more.

[edwards2]

NCO I assume is a collection agency? Their MO is to be as rude and threatening as they can be. They will continue to contact you until they have manipulated you into paying what they want. They get a percentage of what they collect so they dont care what they say nor to whom they say it. They always start the conversation going off and screaming and yelling. Their intent is to scare you into paying. Do what you can afford to do. As you said your credit is already shot so what's the big deal? Have they contacted you lately?

[mike9302]

NCO is a collection agency that is located about 5 miles from me. It is in an old Walmart building. The jokers that work there all look gheto and very low paid.

[fellowpoorman]

Typical CA, like ACS, unprofessional and rude, they want to scare you..Stand your ground, don't give them any info at all!!!!They are not interested in you , helping you, they just want $$ and thats all, they'll say anything, don't believe them.THey don't even use thier real names.

[gunsmoke]

I never talk to bill coll. They only talk to my answering machine. I've been planning my ch 13 for 9 months now and have no intention of fileing until I get the feeling that one of them is going to sue me. Odds are that one of them will before my sol runs out, but until then I keep saving money until the big day comes. The one thing my future bankruptcy attorney expressed intently was to not talk to collection agents. The less they know about you and your intention on the debt the're trying to collect,the better off you are.

[fellowpoorman]

ACS(Academy Collection Service, Philly PA) called my neighbor and said that there was a family emergency and i needed to call them right away,my cousin was in a car wreck and dying. It freaked her out, these are the things they do. They are real D-bags , these collctors. Why would anyone do that job? Total scum!

[GoingDown]

[QUOTE=gunsmoke]I never talk to bill coll. They only talk to my answering machine. I've been planning my ch 13 for 9 months now and have no intention of fileing until I get the feeling that one of them is going to sue me. Odds are that one of them will before my sol runs out, but until then I keep saving money until the big day comes. The one thing my future bankruptcy attorney expressed intently was to not talk to collection agents. The less they know about you and your intention on the debt the're trying to collect,the better off you are.[/QUOTE]

This is very good advice. Some will try to use what you say to them against you later in bankruptcy.

Never talk to debt collectors!!!!

[fellowpoorman]

So What let them sue you.. As soon as you file , it goes away....