I have a lot of old credit cards with small balances that I have been paying on forever. I am about to pay EIGHT of them off when the tax money comes next week. Most of these cards range from $200 - $650 dollars. None are in collections. A few, however, have a TON of interest and late fees piled on (those are the two that are at $500-650) Now, my question is:

can I call them to pay off the cards and negotiate? Like, knock off any late fees/overlimit fees? Or do I just pay them off?

If I can knock $30-$50 off each I could manage to pay off ANOTHER card. If I can negotiate, what in the world do I say? Thanks for any help!

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“For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone.”

First, let me say we're trying to settle a debt right now. It's a lot larger than the ones you mentioned, but I think you should still be able to negotiate them. I would call your creditors and tell them you're working w/ other creditors as well and that you can only pay so much and offer them like x amt. to pay off the acct. You never know what they'll say till you try. If they say no, we won't settle, well, work w/ the ones who will settle first. The other ones will come around if they want their money. HTH Don't let them guilt you into paying more than you can afford, they're good at that.

I think it can't hurt to call them and say "Hey, if I pay off this balance do you think you could know off some of the late and/or overlimit fees?" The worst they can say is no. Congrats on being smart and mature enough to use your tax money to pay off your debt. Good job!!

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FYI: Any 'forgiven' debt (from credit cards) is considered income by the IRS. If the forgiven debt is $600 or more, the company is required to send you a 1099 and notify the IRS of the amount. Even if you do not received a 1099, you are required to report the amounts forgiven on the Other Income line of your tax form. Check irs.gov for more info.

I agree with OP, it can't hurt to call and ask. Worst that can happen is they say no.

Congrats on paying them off, btw!

Just a little info. I found this guy on the web that used to do debt settlements. The website is zipdebt.com. You can get a free 20 min. telephone consultation w/ him. I actually got to speak w/ him today after leaving a msg. on the toll free number a few minutes before! There's also a link on there to download a free ebook or something about debt options. That was really helpful for me. HTH