All right let me aware that this is serious. I would appreciate if no one would find it funny/stupid.

I was in car accident and I didn't have insurance. I am in Alabama now and I have been paying 300 dollars a month to the collection agency.I already paid 6000 dollars so far. I still have a lot pay(30000).Thats what the collection agency says at least.Is there any one having a idea about what should I do or I should seek for an attorney to make the price less.Or should I just stop paying?I am lost.
Would appreciate your help.

Frustrated & Confused,

This is  really frustrating.I think you should call collection agency, just be nice to them. Please speak slowly , shows you are a nice guy and CRY. Tell them you are a decent student. You have just average speed tickets and you don't drink at all.You really need to support your education ,which is true. After, calling them more than 10 times, they will ask what you want? Just ask them can I please settel this because I always have to eat in deli grocery as I cannot afford lauch at McDonalds. They may ask you how much you can pay? Then you do your math.You work and pay for collection agency Is not that true? Use basic human need like food , shelter and ask them you will never repeat that again. But you are already frustated & confused. First and foremost, get out of that frustration and life is waiting for you. As you said that was an accident, take it easy.

declare bankruptcy if u dont have money.

u wont have to pay a dime then.

even if u are in US, collection agency cant make u pay.. the worst they can do is goto court and get a judgement against u.. then they will/can seize your assets, bank account money, car, house, certain amount of money from paycheck..

your credit is already damnaged since its gone to collections.. but good thing with collection agency u can
negotiate the rate.. they might even give u 75% discount on total amount.. but u have to be ready to tell them your situation if u have no money.. they will rather take less money than no money...

trust me these collection agencies make big bucks from honest people that pay full price. they buy the debt for very very cheap.

Don't pay and keep telling them that you can't pay, period. They will lower their amount eventually. They will call you tirelessly, threaten you but don't worry. Just keep saying you are student and have no means to come up with that money.

Believe me, it works. My roommate went through this as well. Good luck.

Hey,

  I was in the similar situation. From my experience, I will advice u to do following things.

- Ask original invoices from that agency about the damage. Find out if the real damage really was $36000. In normal accident, that damage amt is a big money.Was somebody injured????

- Tell that collectiion agency u are out of job ( if u work in cash) from last year. The only thing u can pay is $25-$50 a month which u will save from ur pocket money to pay them. BE STRICT IN THIS MATTER. TELL THEM THERE IS NO WAY U CAN MAKE 300 PAYMENTS ANYMMORE. Tell them u have borrowed enough money till now that no body is lending u any money. IF POSSIBLE DO THIS TOMORROW MORNING OR ASAP!!! Threaten them of filing bankruptcy.

- Find out if that agency is lawfirm or Collecting Agency who is collecting money from you??

- If its collection agency, you should be able to settel this case in 5-6 thousand. They buy debts from other companies on 6-7 cents per dollar. So if u insist then they will agree. You might have to threaten them of bankruptcy. If u file bankruptcy, they will not even get 5-6 thoudand dollar. I think u are student so u should not have assets for court to sell. So for them something is better than nothing.

- If there is no way u can settel the case and u have to pay that 30k then go to attorney and file bankruptcy. It will stay in ur credit for 7 yrs but u can improve it again after that. And it will beb smart decision of filing bankruptcy. It will take you at least 7-8 year to pay that money off. Filing bankruptcy will save you thousands of dollars and which u can invest it in ur studies or something else. U can focus in ur school as well. DONT PAY a single penny TO THAT AGENCY any more...They will suck u as much as they can....

- Mail me your no in my mail if u want to discuss in details with me in phone. I will give u a call back.

Thank you all for your valuable suggestion.

Sijupanta : Thank you for your encouragement. It meant a lot to me.


Lato boy:  You felt me. They make big bucks from honest  and helpless people like us.

Slipknot:  I dont have much idea about bankruptcy. Will it effect us down the road. I mean to get a job,H1, GC....you know our common dream.


Balbahadur: Can you please email me @  confused.frustrated@gmail.com.I got the most info. I ain't gonna pay anymore. plus its time to pay that big money for tuition also.Do you think bankruptcy wont effect our common dream of getting job,H1, GC........


Thank you all again.

Thank you all for your valuable suggestion.

Sijupanta : Thank you for your encouragement. It meant a lot to me.


Lato boy:  You felt me. They make big bucks from honest  and helpless people like us.

Slipknot:  I dont have much idea about bankruptcy. Will it effect us down the road. I mean to get a job,H1, GC....you know our common dream.


Balbahadur: Can you please email me @  confused.frustrated@gmail.com.I got the most info. I ain't gonna pay anymore. plus its time to pay that big money for tuition also.Do you think bankruptcy wont effect our common dream of getting job,H1, GC........


Thank you all again.

I hear you man. I drove my entire college life without insurance. I guess not everyone gets lucky like I did [knock on woods].

Anyway, now that we are already in this situation, let's look into some of the ways we can make it better for you. First call the agency and tell them u moved to TX and give ur frens address in TX to correspond. There are only two states in US that doesn't allow agencies to garnish ur wages moving into future. So, if you have TX address you will be safe from your earnings [direct deposits].

American laws are easy and are meant for both customers and service providers. Even if you deny to pay for the amount, there is no restriction for collection agencies to open new deliquent account when you get close to 7 yr mark range of ur record elimintion. Do some research urself, it's very important.

Bankruptcy option is bad. BTW, the duration for Bankruptcy is 10 yrs. So, let's see u are 23 now. and u say I won't pay. The accout will take at least 12 pay cycle to be declared as default account for you to start ur 10 yr cycle.

My best advise to you. Call one of those lawyers the add we hear all the time in radio and tell them ur story. They will negotiate on ur behalf. So, in the end just like people above are saying, they will negotiate for you to pay around 35-40% of total amount which would be around 10-12000 and for fee talk to them it will be substantially low then ur payment.

GoodLuck bro, do tons of research on ur own and always be armed and dangerous. This is the country where prople get cheated easily.

 

Thank you all for your valuable suggestion.

Sijupanta : Thank you for your encouragement. It meant a lot to me.


Lato boy:  You felt me. They make big bucks from honest  and helpless people like us.

Slipknot:  I dont have much idea about bankruptcy. Will it effect us down the road. I mean to get a job,H1, GC....you know our common dream.


Balbahadur: Can you please email me @  confused.frustrated@gmail.com.I got the most info. I ain't gonna pay anymore. plus its time to pay that big money for tuition also.Do you think bankruptcy wont effect our common dream of getting job,H1, GC........


Thank you all again.

I also consider my self lucky , I drove for 8 years without insurance.

Anyway if they are asking for 36000 then actual damage is about 20000 ( I designed a insurance quote software in Australia so I know lot of things about insurance claim esp in motor industry)

was the car written off? or repair? ask for receipt.

stop paying , then they will call you.  tell them you cant pay that much.As some one said earlier they will even threaten you, but don't worry they wont do any thing. In this time don't buy any property or any other car or personal items thats worth good money.

Going to Court is another option and the court will decide how much a month you can afford to pay these guys  and you can tell in court that you can only afford to pay 30 dollars a month after food and shelter.

Bankruptcy is another option but it may comeback to hunt you if you plan to live in US

And main thing is don't worry Life goes on, One person I know paid off 60000 dollars.