Comments on: Treat ‘em Mean, Keep ‘em Keen: Making Your Creditors Work for You

By: James

James — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 21:51:13 +0000

Contrary to what is said up top, creditors will sue you for your debt. Capital One is notorious for doing this so be careful!

By: Lori

Lori — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 01:53:06 +0000

I’ve recently fallen into hardship because my husband lost his job after 25 years, and after working a new job for 1 month he had a quintuple bypass and was out of work for over two months. We have four children and have had no credit card debt prior to 8 months ago when this all started. Now we are inb debt over our heads. Our first action was to call creditors before we became default and some of them were willing to set up a payment plan. But one creditor refused and sent us a bill to pay in full within two weeks of us calling them. Now they have turned our account over to a lawyer who when asked to send their terms in writing have refused, so I haven’t talk to them since. I may try again to see if they will send terms in the mail, but any advice would be appreciated.

By: joel

joel — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 13:43:47 +0000

Yeah, what you mention probably are right, the creditor would not simply hire a lawyer to sue you because it is too expensive. But unfortunately, if you are in asia, you will find out most of those well called ” LEGAL” financial company will threaten you and Asia is not like europe or the state, even though we got threaten, we can’t do anything. So probably, the best way is, just return your debt in time =D

By: Ryuko

Ryuko — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 18:15:12 +0000

OK, I always believe in being civil and polite (even if you’re trying to rip them a new one). That’s a great thing — and paying back loans is also a very good, moral thing to do. But if you’re at the point where angry, threatening people are calling you and such, then your credit rating is already shit — especially if you’re already in collection. The best thing to do is simply play back hardball and get them to settle for as low as possible. This will put you on the road back to being able to rebuild your credit (and peace of mind by not getting nasty calls) much quicker.
Don’t worry about these guys making profit. If you’re being chased by a debt collection agency, then the original company has already washed their hands of you — they have already settled, sold the debt to another company. Debt collectors are evil, mean people (and if you are one, I feel no pity). They are brutal, and twist the truth. They are professionally trained to do this, and often have several years experience, so know just how to pull your strings.

The moral: Pay your bills on time, and politely apologize if you’re late or can’t pay the amount owed. Often times, a little phone call when you miss a payment can keep you out of trouble, and most companies can be pretty lenient if you’re having financial difficulties. This can help prevent you from getting in collection to begin with.

By: Lazy Man

Lazy Man — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 12:33:02 +0000

I’m with Fathersez – simply pay your debt and move on.

By: Beachgirl

Beachgirl — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 12:03:08 +0000

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By: James

James — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 22:18:31 +0000

I agree totally that you shouldn’t worry too much about your creditors. You only need to pay them if it benefits you to do so (assuming they aren’t friends or family members or something). If we are just talking about credit cards and whatnot, then it’s hardball. They lent to you for one reason – to make money. If they don’t make any money, it’s their tears not yours.

By: fathersez

fathersez — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 15:24:02 +0000

Something does not sound right.

They are your creditors for a good reason. You owe them something and they are just as human as you are.

I would propose that a sincere approach would be a much better path to take than a “mean and dirty” approach.

By: Working Dollar

Working Dollar — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 19:10:18 +0000

“In my experience, I’ve found that most creditors will not pursue legal action against you to collect a debt. Regardless of what they tell you or how many lawyers they threaten to sick on you. The costs are oftentimes too prohibitive, especially if you have no real assets. They simply can’t get blood from a stone.”

The above point (#2) is quite true. In fact, most credit companies are all bark and no bite. The most many of the major creditors will do is ruin your credit rating.

Also, if they call you with threats, record the call, and be sure and tell them you are recording the call – if they threaten you with anything and you get recorded, you can actually the recording and report them the FCC and you will get a nice heft check in the mail – its called being fined by the FCC for threatening a consumer.