Q & A Table of Contents
How To Convince My Credit Card To Let Me Off The Hook
From: Don, Methuen, MA
Question: How do I negotiate with a credit card company if I them to accept less than the full amount I owe as full payment of the balance on my account?
Response:While it is reasonably easy to understand your interest in convincing the credit card company to accept less than the full amount you owe as full payment, it is considerably more difficult to understand what interest they would have in agreeing to that.
What does the credit card company have to gain from accepting payment of less than you owe them? Is your contract with them different from the standard contract -- which normally doesn't give you any options to negotiate the amount due?
Unless the credit card company has something to gain by letting you pay less than you owe, your attempt to change their mind is going to fail. By using the card, you agreed to their terms and created a legal liability for yourself. If they allow you to reduce your debt in the way you suggest, they will be opening themselves up to an untold number of similar attempts by other card holders.
A far more realistic approach is to negotiate the terms of your repayment. Stop using the card and reach an agreement to pay pre-agreed amounts on a regular basis. Even if you go to a debt consolidation service, take a home equity loan, or find some other source of funds, your legal obligation for your existing debt will not disappear. If you file for bankruptcy, the credit card company will be at or near the front of the line of your creditors in terms of access to your assets.
One of the rules of negotiating is to choose to negotiate when there is a reasonable chance that the parties each have something to gain by changing the existing situation. Unless the credit card company has something to gain, the likelihood of your being able to change the situation is effectively nil.
You can change your own behavior far more readily than you can expect the credit card company's behavior to change.
Good luck, and may your choices of negotiating subjects and counterparts serve the interests of all the parties -- and not only yourself.
"According to one expert who contacted TNSC, it is possible to walk away from credit card debt under US law. Filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy will totally eliminate all unsecured credit card
bills."
Good luck,
Steve
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