One of the major reasons why it's possible for consumers to negotiate directly with their creditors
is that settlement offers are a normal part of the collection process.
Many
creditors extend settlement
offers automatically at certain stages in the collection cycle. In this example, the creditor offered
to forgive 80% of the debt balance! Naturally, the client was very happy with the savings of $8,954.
While settlements
in the range of 35% to 50% are more typical, lower percentage deals like this are definitely possible.
There was simply no reason for this client to pay $1,679 in fees to a third-party settlement company
(based on the industry standard of
15% of the debt balance) when this result happened automatically.
Note: The image file below is a scanned reproduction of a faxed original. The
client's name, address,
and account information have been deleted to protect their privacy. No other alterations have been made
in any way to the originals or the digital images.
