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Making payments to closed credit card; good or bad

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  • Making payments to closed credit card; good or bad

    With my house problem taken care of and my monthly budget more under control, I'd like to start addressing my other problem. One of my credit card accounts has been closed by Citi and placed into collection.

    I'm wondering if its a good idea to send Citi monthly payments to lower the overall balance. Some of my concerns are that since citi has closed the account, I'm not going to get any kind of records of payment or current balances, and I won't be able to go online and get this information myself. Of course, there is always the chance that they won't cash the check. The only way to confirm whether payment gets cashed or not is to sit and wait for it to appear on my bank statement.

    Plus, making the monthly payments won't stop Citi from sueing me somewhere down the road (will it?) and they won't reflect positively on my credit as on-time payments. I could deal with the collection agency but they will probably be of no help and want all of the money now while they threaten to take me to court and garnish my wages.

    Another thing to consider, will making monthly payments to Citi be an admission of guilt of sorts in the event I actually do end up in court? It would be hard to dispute charges in court while at the same time I've been trying to pay them off.

    Whats the best course of action to take here? My credit has been ruined but I'm close to getting back on a good course to recovery once I take care of this one last matter. Taking out a loan just isn't an option. I just got help with the house and I doubt I could even get a loan anyway. Paying a lump sum of any kind won't work at this time. Any advice here would be greatly appreciated. I would like to avoid getting sued still get back on top of this situation.

    Thanks

  • #2
    If it's in collection, then you are probably done with Citi. Could be they sold your account to the collection firm, so you now have to deal with that company. Unfortunately, Citi will report a write-down on your account for a good number of years. I'd suggest you call the collection company and work something out. They want a lump sum, but will end up taking payments if that is what you can do.

    Now if it is all still in-house at Citi, then you should call them right away and deal with them. If that is the case, then you may be able to salvage what they are reporting to the credit bureaus.

    Credit can be repaired. It just takes time. Good luck.

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    • #3
      wincrasher is correct.

      From the time that the collection agency wrote or contacted you about this debt, the payments or the fighting of the debt, goes to them. You no longer deal with Citi.

      It's the collection agencies job to collect on these debts... or to deal with you.

      The Collection Agency may report back to Citi or they may not.

      That depends on the relationship of the CA to Citi; and whether Citi hired them just to collect on the debt, or if Citi sold them the debt.

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