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Will collection agencies in Canada contact me for a $500 write off for a credit card I didn’t pay off?
I had a credit card with CIBC, and the debt was $500, but for personal reasons that are unrelated to the question, I couldn’t pay the minimum payments and the bank wrote off the debt and sent it to collections as a “bad debt write off”.
Will the collections agency make a big deal about the payment and come after me if I don’t pay since it is only $500? If yes, I am not trying to scam the system and would like to know the best way to handle the situation, and if I don’t have to pay should I still pay?
My apologies if this is supposed to be common sense, I’m a new “adult” (19yo) and I have to teach myself everything about credit since nobody prepared me for these issues.
To the person who suggested calling them and settling by telling them I constantly change jobs and have no bank account : I have both of those, (my job is part time though) would they know I lied if I say that? Can collection agencies verify what I’m saying , or do I just have to get them to agree to the negotiation by saying anything to convince them to put a deal in writing?
I got in touch with credit Canada, and they said to only start paying when I get contacted by the collections agency directly, and to avoid paying if they don’t contact me, and to settle for less than the debt and threaten to declare bankruptcy (but not actually do it) if collections contacts me. Should I listen to them? The debt is new, was sent to collections in November apparently but collections agencies aren’t showing up on my credit karma report.
2 Answers
- Anonymous3 months ago
They might. The bigger issue is 7 years of bad credit. And not all collection agencies buy debt. Many just collect it. Buying tends to come into play with very old debts. Like years.
- Anonymous3 months ago
Yes. Collection agencies buy bad debts from credit card companies. That credit card company of yours didn't just give it to a collection agency but sold it to a collection agency. So now you legally owe that money to the collection agency. They didn't pay good money for your debt just to let you walk away scot-free. No, they plan on getting it from you, and getting deadbeat debtors to pay debts they've welched on is their specialty. It's literally all they do.
The good news is the collection agency only bought that $500 debt for probably $50 or $100, the remainder being what the bank wrote off. So, while you owe the collection agency the full $500, you can probably get them to settle it for less, like by saying, "I'll give you $100 to leave me the fvck alone. Take it or leave it, but if you leave it, good luck even getting even a dime from me because I have no bank accounts and change jobs more often than I change shirts." Are you slamming yourself when you say that? Yes, but by saying that, they know that the only way they're going to get money from you if you don't agree to pay is either through garnishing your bank accounts or your paychecks, and if you don't have any accounts and don't keep jobs very long, the collection agent will realize they have very little chance of getting that money from you and will likely settle the debt for a lesser amount, not $100, but some counteroffer like $200. Get it in writing, though.