There is always a way to negotiate, bargain or talk your way into a better situation.
You can negotiate with money or you can negotiate when you do not have money.
Curt was 65 with no insurance and had a heart attack.
His wife Mary Ann who was 56 had no insurance too.
But at the hospital, she signed the form as a guarantor for her husband's medical bills.
They owned a little landscaping company without much business.
The hospital bill for the surgery was in excess of $25,000.
She didn't have a clue as to where she was going to get the money.
MaryAnn called me and said she wanted to visit.
I went to the house and she presented me with an Order for Stipulation that the hospital's attorney wanted her to sign.
He wanted her to stipulate to the court that she was going to pay them $200 a month for the rest of her life.
I told Mary Ann that I have an idea and contacted the attorney.
I asked the attorney what the hospital would do if MaryAnn either died or became disabled.
How will they get their dough? I told him I had an idea that where the hospital could get all of their money.
He didn't have a clue as to what I was talking about.
I simply said, "Look, the hospital has an insurable interest here.
It's like a vendor-vendee relationship.
Its like credit life insurance when you buy a car.
I said let MaryAnn put $200 a month into some type of an annuity and name the hospital co-beneficiary up to the amount of the bill.
If she lives, she pays off the bill and has a little nest egg.
Plus, she saves her credit.
If she dies, the hospital gets all of their money.
The attorney thought it was brilliant and today, the folks are re-establishing their credit and are now over their dilemma.
Stop for a moment when things get tough The reality is when someone "thinks" that you have money and are going to pay them, they WILL listen.
Take the case where a judgment was removed.
Jim had a deficiency judgment awarded against him almost four years ago by a furniture company, which was not going to see a dime.
But, Jim was now getting back on his feet and needed his credit straightened out.
So we sat down with Jim and his attorney and talked about Jim's dilemma.
We told Jim's attorney (let's call him Mumbo - better than Dumbo) about a plan.
We instructed him to file a motion to vacate the previous judgment awarded against Jim (we had to be careful of the Statute of Limitations).
We further told him to contact the other attorney.
The attorney for the furniture store (we will call him Mumbles - that's all he would do) was asked if his client would accept $2,000 on the $4,000 judgment.
Mumbles found the offer too good to refuse since he was finally going to line his pockets with a least 25% or $500 that just fell out of the sky.
The only thing that Mumbles had to do in order to complete the negotiation was not to answer the motion to vacate, petitioned for by Mumbo, the attorney for Jim.
Mumbles never answered the petition to vacate the judgment and Jim was awarded a default.
What did this do for Jim? Well, he immediately had certified copies made by the Clerk of The Court and sent them to the credit reporting agencies.
The agencies as a result removed the judgment from Jim's credit report.
So when you think that all is lost, just step back and "look at the horse from another direction".
Amazing from one side you see a head and when you change positions you have a very different view.
I cannot stress enough how many different approaches there are when it comes to negotiating debt.
Put yourself in the mindset of the creditor.
He has not gotten a "peep" out of you for a long time.
Now he senses some life and will most probably accept any type of an offer to get MONEY.
Thanks, Regis Sauger