My problem with these bills is that you can never know how much it is going to be until after you get the services

What happens, it doesn't sit there. They send it to legal. Some states say, can't garnish but they can put a lean on all assets: bank accounts, property, etc... then legal add their charges... but to save you ask for payments...

I owe a hospital a bill from years ago. Like $1100... But now that I have the $$$$ They cannot find the ccx debt. It got sold to a collection co , then re sold, then re sold... Now I and the HP cannot locate the debt. Soooooo WHAT IN THE NAME OF GOODNESS DO I DO NOW???

This women is lost. She is worrying about an $800 bill but is probably about to go into debt for $80k to get her master's.

I owed tens of thousands of dollars at one time and offered them 25% to settle with the collectors. They refused so I just declared bankruptcy - problem solved! What was funny was that after I filed for bankruptcy, then they were then willing to negotiate! Too late!

What annoys me with collection agencies is buying debt is a risky investment. You take a high risk purchasing a debt from the OG creditor that a consumer never paid or in some cases never owned. It makes me so angry that these agencies can actually end up suing us and damaging our report for nearly a decade.

She doesn't know to do this. I had 8 collections on my credit. I call them & say how low will you go?? It took them off guard but I've gotten settlements for each of them. I have 4 left to pay.

I WISH I only had $800 in medial bills. I have over $25k in bills from my baby boy being in the hospital

I understand life events happen, but the fact that people can "negotiate" out of paying money that they owe is bonkers

Do not pay nothing keep your money

You dont ever pay collections they just company that want a profit. the original debt get a tax write off Dont PAY COLLECTIONS

He’s so right. I had a account in collections and told them I wasn’t paying the full balance the sent me a letter in the mail weeks later to settle for less than half of the balance

$800 dollars she dont want to pay it😂 Silly

"Mam, you owe for the meal." "My financial advisor said I dont have to pay it all."

I continued to make double the payment agreement with Marshfield Clinic, never missed a payment, and they decided out of no where to send the rest to collections. This was even after I called them to see why they were doing this, and they said they didnt care that I was making the double payments, they said they wanted full payment or it would be sent to collections.

It may be the client who the collection agency is working for will not accept a lesser amount. Not all clients are willing to negotiate. So it’s not always the collection agency.

Dave I just love you.....Thank you so very much!

thanks i needed to know that and what to tell them. :)

Man, if she doesn't pay that $800 and keep it moving!!!!!!!! I wouldn't even bother Mr. Ramsey with such a silly question.

People are acting like they have thousands laying around, Ivehad almost 2k debt for 2 years and its VERY HARD to pay off!

Contingency based collections can’t settle unless the client wants to ... I’m a debt collector with a small small company in Indiana, we don’t own the Debts and it sucks but depending on who they owe the bill to we can’t always let them settle! It’s heartbreaking because I don’t have money either so I definitely get it

Dave Ramsey showed us the way to financial freedom years ago & Dave is simply awesome!

No disrespect intended, but this call was more embarrassing...on her part. I’m sure he’s not telling people to drop his name while negotiating 🙄.. geez ..so juvenile

Even if you have the money never pay them straight up Always try to screw them because they will screw you

I was recently in the hospital back in April. I called the hospital for the bill a month later. They told me that the billing wasn't finalized yet and for me to call a week later. I called a week later. Still not ready. Call again a week later. I did just that. Then it was every two weeks I would call and still not ready. I finally got a bill in the mail early August and along with the bill i received a letter that that bill was in collections already. So I waited four months for a bill not only to get it but to also have a letter stating that bill went collections. Ain't that bout some BS. Neither one will be getting paid. Nah. I had the money then and was willing to pay. I now used my money to pay my other debt that was willing to accept it. I really don't care that it to collections.

Agent: where do you work Me: at deez Agent: deez what Me:deez 🥜

Pay the bill! Next..

OK, my doctor's office gave me a statement inflated for insurance, I paid the amount on the statement in full and was given a discount; this happened three times for the same treatment. Six weeks later, I started getting bills in the mail stating I did not pay the correct amount. How is it my fault if the billing agent does not know how to file insurance claims and charged me a lower rate? This account has been turned over to several collection agencies and all three cannot validate the debt, the fourth collection agency just contacted me about additional bills reported by the hospital collection department.

However, even if you pay the $800 the collection remains in your credit report, unless they remove it and you pay within a few days after it goes away from your report.

Love Dave

😂😂😂😂😂😂 She has it she just don't want to pay... this is too funny

So, we have plenty of debt and 2 extremely medically complex children. My wife has 32k in student loans/tuition and they wouldn't budge, even with 2 kids on SSI, me applying for SSDI(narcoleptic, back and neck injury) and she works full time. We ended up settling by agreeing to send them our tax return at the end of the year every year until it's paid. Honestly, we said "considering our situation,this is the absolute best we can do without going broke every month" because they were asking for 600 a month I think. That way, we honor our debts, and don't have to stress about this debt, which is at the bottom of our debt snowball list. Gives us a few years to get to that 32k debt, and by the time we get to paying just the student debt, it's probably half way paid off and at that point, just full on every extra penny on it every month until it's paid off, that's the plan. Just starting step 2, excited to see how fast we can get this over with.

An debt that is “settled” is very different from a debt that is “paid in full” and yes this has two completely different calculations on one’s FICO score always remember this when dealing and negotiating with a collection company.

Dave, first time watching one of your videos. I really liked your negotiation tactics and can relate to the caller because I too had a medical debt that went to collections because my ex wife took my son to an urgent care that wasn't covered by my insurance using my insurance. The collection agency stated that they represented the company and that they can't negotiate because they're hired to collect the debt. I really couldn't tell if the original creditor actually owned the debt or if they were lying. Could you help me understand that scenario? One critique to you phone convo that I think you should have mentioned is that if the bill is yours and you owe it... pay it as long as they're willing to remove the record from your credit report (in writing). Thanks

Good one 👍

Good Advise..

Man, im glad I found this video.

How do u get in contact with Dave ? Kinda in the same boat as this lady

Great str8forward advice. Should I tell them I am unemployed or just flat out say this is what I can give you or you get nothing? Thanks

If your medical bills are sent to collections. Can you go back to the hospital and negotiate straight with them to make a settlement?

Settling doesn't do squat for your credit, it may hurt it even further. Unless they're threatening to sue you then just ignore them. Also, it highly unlikely they'll bother to sue unless you owe more than 5k

I told them do not call me or send any letters to my home since they won’t negotiate.

Can i settle with an agency that i am already on a payment plan with?

I recently settled $10,000 in medical bills with the hospital. Collections accounts are currently reporting paid in full. How can a collections agency report paid in full when I never paid them, I paid the hospital?? Can I dispute the collections agency since I never really owed them anything?? The hospital said they never sold these debts to the collection agencies, they were just assigned.

You owe the money, you need to pay it. No excuse.

If they won't negotiate, don't negotiate. Who needs 'em?

simple don't pay the collection agency!!! send them a debt validation letter instead chances are you don't owe the debt. while i do agree with the posters that say pay your debts off meaning the OC and not some junk debt buyer

I don't blame them. She has a degree she can pay. She just doesn't want to.

What if I have debt reporting from college for $600 sold to the collection agency now they agency is reporting it for $800 they added a $200 fee is that right ?

I'm struggling with this one. Can't pay an $800 medical bill, but headed for graduate school?

That’s why I pay who I owe to medically directly.Some idiot collector didn’t take care of me.

How about a $18,000 balance on a helicopter bill for a life flight... we in no way could pay that and they threatened to put a lean on our house after paying $300/mo for months and months...its all we could handle but it wasn't good enough.

Even if you pay a collection, your credit is still damaged

800$ collect cans on the side of the road. Thats ridiculous

$800 can be a lot of money for some.

She was talking to a collection Agency not a debt buyer

When calling the collector, should I use a public phone so they don’t know my phone number and starting harrassing me with phone calls later?

Glad that Dave told her to JUST PAY THE BILL. I said exact same thing below. Stupid to even worry about $800 bucks. Boy are you poor. Cheating your fellow man for $800 bucks.

Sometimes some of those creditors are fraudulent. That happened to me with 2 company's just make sure you always check the 3 credit bureau's and sometimes if you dispute the charges you can get them taken off your credit. People ig you do not have proof of debt and or the company seems shady do not pay them a dime because they will use your car to make extra changes and your be in an even worse hole than when you started. Watch you you are sending your money too. And if they are really put the money on a pre paid debit card or a money order. Nothing else.

So what about larger balances where they are threatening legal actions

They are being jerks because they want to get paid for work rendered? Go to work, at the end of the week your boss fails to pay you. How does that fell, Not to good.

What to do when you walk away and then getting sue for 9k us bank bill what to do next Mr. Ramsey ? File bankruptcy or ..... please help. Trying to help a friend w the info.

the people on here commenting "Just pay your bills on time and you won't have to worry about collections." Why are they watching this video? lol...

my debt it $1k. i just graduated highschool and i have a bit of money saved up for college but id really hate to take out a sizeable portion of my savings. should i just pay or am i entitled to negotiate?

So I have a question. I took out student loans and now they've gotten completely out of control for me. The federal student loans are at least somewhat manageable since I'm a First Responder, but my private student loans are ruining my life. Long story short, my private student loans are roughly 4.5 times my yearly salary and they expect me to pay $2.5K per month for it. No matter what, when I do the math; I'll never be able to afford the payments and will never pay off the loan. I've spoken to Navient several times and they aren't coming to a reasonable payoff at all. They pretty much asked me to sell the house (that's not even mine) just to pay them back. So they want me to be homeless just to pay them. Anyone have any ideas of anything that can be done so I can get a handle on these loans?

Her negotiating angle was weak, quite pathetic! Who enters the conversation “that’s not he says”

I have a similar situation. Mine was that they refuse to take the collection off from the credit report. They said that they cannot remove from the credit bureau the only thing they can do is to updated it, but here is the thing the debt collector reported this collection to the credit bureau but they said they cannot remove it. What should i do in this situation? Thanks

Question for anyone out there ..... they shouldn’t be calling you without sending a validation statement right .... as a debt collector I don’t even see accounts until they’re validated ?? Maybe the company I work for is different. We’re not fancy or nothing lol

Next time, apply for hospital charity care.

Yeah right off the bat medical bills don’t settle sorry. Almost everyone else does but medical bills don’t. Your best bet is to pay a reasonable amount per month. I took $25 a month on medical bills

Price of the call to Dave was more than her debts

I know you need to request for a written amount due through the mail, but would an email work the same way?

a) if you can pay the bill, make monthly payment arrangements and pay the bill. b) if you CANNOT pay the bill, you will need to have a legitimate reason for incurring an expense that you cannot pay AND it will show in your credit reports and they may even ask for a prior year W2, or a SWORN WRITTEN STATEMENT, as an indication that you are not making enough money to pay. IT IS FAIR AND REASONABLE for ALL OF US to pay for what we can. Getting out of debt is not screwing people out of what is owed them. Not wanting to pay a bill that is difficult to pay and UNABLE to pay all your bills are two entirely different things. Paying for things you buy, medical care you receive is PART OF BEING AN ADULT. THAT SAID. I have negotiated with collection agencies and credit card companies successfully. IF YOU LEGITIMATELY CANNOT pay your bills they WILL work with you. It will not be pleasant... but if your credit history is not showing that you are upside down, behind paying bills, etc. they are NOT going to negotiate with you. And your creditors CAN pull your credit report, they know basically how much debt you have. When they can see you're alternating which bills you pay each month based on late payment records on your credit report... WELL, they will bend over backwards to get whatever you can convince them is reasonable. Be ready to give a PERSONAL explanation as to why you have bills you cannot pay. If you are legitimately in a situation where you cannot pay your debts in 3-5 years and are unable to make monthly minimum payments, then bankruptcy might be a consideration. If that is 'way too extreme' then maybe your situation does not warrant a reduction of debt either. Food for thought.

I wish i can find these male debt collectors who apply this pressure over the phone so i can really make them bleed. I dislike that unprofessionalism when u CAN NOT EVEN go to jail for owing a company who sold my debt to a collectors agency.

In the end it is a legitimate debt. Getting cheeky about paying a legitimate debt is low-life behavior in my book. Celebrating screwing someone out of money owed is the mark of a huckster.

Glad he made clear not to lie. Negotiating for a settlement should be done if you are TRULY in a tight spot and cannot pay. If you have the income such that you are able to pay you have an ethical and moral obligation to pay back what YOU borrowed.

What if I want a lower monthly payment I owe over $5,000 and they want $400 a month

My credit card balance was $500.00 at the time I lost my job. Now the debt collection company tells me my balance is $1229.00. I offered them $500.00. They laughed and said, " We will require 80% of your balance to clear this account." I told the man it was $500.00 or nothing. He wouldn't budge off the 80%. I said, " This is very unfortunate, but thank you for your time." What do I do next, Dave?

This woman is going for a Master's Degree? Yeah sounds about right.

Pay ur bills on time

Can collection agencies have your license suspended?

I kinda disagree with Dave that they are “being jerks”, ultimately they are just trying to recover a debt they are owed.

You have to play hard with these guys. Remember that they want money.

This sounds like she called them one time and was surprised she didn't get exactly what she wanted on the first attempt. I've heard Dave talk about this process of negotiating a payoff before and he always describes it as a long process with repeated conversations. She just sounds like she has non patience and a lack of understanding in general.

so basically to any lender listening never ever loan this person money, if she's not will to pay an $800 debt good luck expecting her to pay down something larger

It's $800 freaking dollars. Boo hoo, pay it

I avoided talking to collectors by paying my bills on time. Works every time

I'm a bit confused when people say "don't pay collections." In my case, the bill is legitimate, is in collections, however, I have one month to make payment before it's reported to the credit bureau. So, I have to pay the collection agency in this case?

If they ask you where you work, tell them you're not working right now.

She obviously sucks at negotiating.

its because its such a low amount they wont budge

It’s so disgusting you still have to pay for medical care in the USA.

Ugh! Pay your bills! It's so unethical! You borrowed it, pay it!

Dave should have told her to pay

As a Canadian I feel sorry for Americans. The medical bills seem to be placing a dent in a lot of pockets. I pray that somehow you guys can get universal health care sometime in the future.

Nice lol i like this show

If everyone who just boo hoo'd her deposits $25.00 in a PayPal account for her, she could settle her bill no problem. You all just said 800.00 was nothing, be a decent human being and help out a college student. Random act of kindness. And Canada, we are being ripped off here, probably to bow us down to socialism, but, we do not want a panel of wicked people deciding when to send us home to die. Keep your socialist healthcare, we will pass.

“Better than I deserve” what a knob!

If that is her mindset, she is in deep trouble! There's gonna be a list of Dings on her credit report 😵

You owe $800. Dave is not your financial advisor for starters. Secondly you automatically go to the 50% settlement. The agency is trying to get their client paid. Mind you the agency gets a fee for collecting so the Doctor is not being paid in full regardless of what you pay. The first thing Dave said is the first time I agree with him. Negotiate does not mean you call and they give you whatever you want. Finally a true statement. but, then he blows it by settle or get nothing. How about paying in full the charge? the office treated you and now you want to pay less than agreed. Work 40 hours after you graduate and see if you would like your employer to only pay you for 30. i bet you would not agree to it. also, an agency may sue for $500.00 so now you just may have pushed them to that. Be sassy and mess with them. Sorry Dave not very Christian of you. and you have no idea if they were sassy with her. by saying they won't settle does not equate to sassy. You never even ask her why she isn't paying it. You side with the consumer right away always. Man you shell out some misplaced advice.