good news to report!

**murph** · 04-28-2009, 03:02 PM

it looks like we're going to have the money to pay off the Bank of America personal loan settlement! This really opens the door for us to start paying everything else off. This B of A thing has been hanging over our heads for the last month and a half. We wanted to accept the offer, but we weren't sure if we'd be able to do it.

While I'm happy about getting this taken care of, it is sort of bittersweet. We couldn't come up with the money on our own in the 4 months they gave us, so we're borrowing money from a family member. This family member is really helping us out, but I really hate borrowing from family. It's one of those "loans" that he said we can pay back when we can, but oddly enough I feel even more obligated to him than I do to some of my other creditors (even though he's not reporting anything to the credit bureaus

)

On a semi-related note, I was talking to B of A and asked them about "payment for deletion" . I was doing some research and saw it mentioned in more than one place that since your credit score is really of no importance to them (all they want is their money), that many creditors will agree to settle your account and delete it. The guy I just talked to said he had never heard of that and that they're obligated to report it as "settled for less than full amount" or something like that...he even said what I'm asking is against the law. I told him my intent wasn't to break the law - I was merely telling him what my research found. My first payment on this settlement is due April 30 - I may ask about this again. Any thoughts on this?

**kmonokwe** · 04-28-2009, 04:09 PM

I'm so glad to hear that you're working things out with BofA!

I've heard from so many places to avoid borrowing from family like you avoid the plague. It sounds like your family member is very gracious, and you have said how anxious you are to pay it off. This seems to me like an ideal situation, if you HAVE to borrow money from family. I guess I'd say maintain that intense desire to pay off your family loan and all will be well.

I've never heard of payment for deletion, but I do know that taking a settlement will ding your credit report. However, as Dave always says, who needs an "I love debt" rating??? The only thing a credit rating can do for you is get you approved for more debt.

Glad to hear your update! Keep us posted

**Shelli_wnj** · 04-28-2009, 04:40 PM

I agree with the PP. Take the ding, you won't need it anyway. Pay off your family member with "gazelle intensity" and all will be well. :-)

**Cricketlegs** · 04-30-2009, 05:52 PM

Do what you have to do to get the ball rolling while remembering to do the honorable thing--pay back your family member!

Getting started is so great so keep it up!

**murph** · 01-13-2010, 04:04 PM

we paid off one of our capital one cards this month.

Since we settled the BofA account last year, that leaves us with another Capital One and the American Express. the AE one is a biggie (around 22,000), but we'll get it down. It while we still have a long way to go, we've come pretty far in the last year!