If you have credit card bills that are more than 180 days past due, chances are they will be turned over to a collection agency. In some cases, collection agencies are part of the credit card company. In other cases, the collection agencies will have purchased your debt from the credit card company or will earn a percentage of the balance that it collects.
Send a Cease and Desist Letter
One tactic when your credit card balance is turned over to collections is to send the collection agency a cease and desist letter. This will not stop the collection process or remove the balance from collections, but it will prevent them from contacting you about the balance. That means you will not have to deal with annoying phone calls.
Negotiate the Balance
Another option is to negotiate the balance with the collection agency. You can offer to pay them much less than the full balance and they might accept your offer. There are several ways to achieve this. The first is to simply refuse to pay the balance. After several weeks of refusal, the collection agency might be more willing to negotiate. Chances are, they will not negotiate with you in the first few weeks. You can also offer the agency a substantially lesser amount, such as 20 percent of the balance due, and then slowly meet the agency's offer half way. Many collection agencies will accept payments of half the balance, however some have strict policies about how low they are willing to go.
Make a Reasonable Offer
Another negotiation tactic is to make a reasonable offer right off the bat. If the collection agent senses that you are serious and you make it clear that you are never going to pay full price to clear the debt regardless of what it does to your credit, the agent might accept your offer. You can offer to pay 75 percent of the balance due, if you can afford it. The collection agent might accept and spare you the harassing phone calls. This approach is also one of the best ways to protect your credit.
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