It took me a good thirty minutes to get over the shock that overtook me when, after I balked at the $1,500 retainer, the lawyer said, “You haven’t made your condo payment in five or six months, so you should have all that savings in the bank.”
Even to this day I get rattled just thinking about that conversation. Was the lawyer implying that nonpayment was not due to a lack of funds but simply me not wanting to make a payment?
Over the past year, I have found this belief to be a widely held one among individuals who work in the credit collection and bankruptcy field.
As bills became 120 days past due, I started getting letters offering to settle for less “than what was owed.” The $20,000 I owed would be written off if as paid in full if I gave them $7,800 in the next ten days. If I couldn’t do that, they would settle for three monthly payments of $2,666. If I had $7,800, I would still be making the $467 monthly payment. Heck, if I had had the $2,666 I would not be behind on payments.
But, people must be agreeing to and making these reduced, paid in full, payments, otherwise, they would not be making the offer.
I am not dumb, but I sure don’t understand finances. But then again I also don’t understand why the bank charges me of someone writes me a bad check. I didn’t do it. And if the funds are still there in my account, why do they need to charge me a fee when they remove it? Same holds true for bank fees, the lower your income, the higher the fees.