<p>The bank sent me a letter telling me my negative balance, and giving me monthly options. Because its more than $750, I would have to pay $100 per month. I don’t know if I as a student I can commit that much. My payment withing 30 days signifies my acceptance of this deal. I can ask my parents for the first month, then maybe get a job on the weekends. Do you think I could negotiate a smaller monthly amount? If not, I guess its not important.</p>
<p>The alternative, if I do not correspond, is that they will hand it over to their attorney or collection agency, which involves a lot of trouble. </p>
<p>I just want to know, do banks usually keep to their word on these matters. I would love to know the exact consequences of my actions. I will pay of course, but I need to know if its a 100% yes, go ahead, or not (My family and I just happen to be in a very financially challenging situation (3 in college)). </p>
<p>The bank will send it to collections - 100% certain. This is not bluff. Then your credit is toast (it may be already).</p>
<p>You have nothing to lose by asking to pay <$100/mth but do it now. Don’t let the 30 days go by. </p>
<p>You should also go to <a href=“http://www.annualcreditreport.com%5B/url%5D”>www.annualcreditreport.com</a> and run a credit report on yourself (free). Use only this site - others are not really free.</p>
<p>Yes, the bank will “keep their word” and will include the police for fraud. In my state (CA) it will include a minimum of 3x the amount and prosecution to the fullest extent of the law.</p>
<p>Pay up, and take it all as a lesson (as we all should too).</p>
<p>ugh! checking back to your first post, is it $3300 you owe? $100/month will take you almost 3 years to pay that off. Are they going to charge interest or let you pay off the balance owed over three years without adding interest? (That would be very unbankerlike) That really more than sucks. I feel bad for you. This type of scam - maybe not the exact scam, maybe something a bit more sophisticated - can happen to anyone, and anyone who says it could never happen to them is fooling themselves. Maybe it wasn’t your bank’s strict legal responsibility to protect you from this, but it sure would have been nice if someone noticed that you were taking on an unusual financial transaction and asked you about it. The bank employees should be well versed in this type of fraud. </p>
<p>It is very easy for responsible adults to advise you to pay your debt and treat it as a lesson learned. Personally, depending on the exact circumstances, I might tell the bank that I am sorry I made a mistake but I cannot afford to repay the money at this time.</p>
<p>Tell your bank to pay for it with TARP funds. Or ask them if there is a statute of limitations if you just accidently forget to pay it for a few years. Then you just apologize and it’s ok, right? Or maybe they could find some room in their executive office renovation budget to reimburse you. Maybe if a few bankers kicked in .01% of their million dollar bonus that would cover it. Tell them you recognize the debt and you have securitized it, but unfortunately the current market value of the security is zero. I am pretty fed up with banks at this point.</p>
<p>Oh, if none of the above work, then ask the bank’s branch manager to give you $1 and have him ask 2 of his friends to also give you $1 and have them do likewise and you will be all paid off in no time.</p>
<p>I really hope the two posters above were kidding. Telling the bank “I can’t afford it” will only lead to this going to collections and the ruin of your credit. Worst case scenario is jail for negotiating a worthless instrument. Yes that has happened in cases like this. </p>
<p>The bank tellers have no way of knowing what a typical transaction is for a person. Banks and the media have done a lot of education on this.</p>
<p>I get it, NJres. How I wish the “everyday people” could get away with excuses, abuses, and bailouts that bigwigs and politicians get away with. </p>
<p>Until the Op has such power, I urge him to take the deal and get his debt settled on time.</p>
<p>I am quite sure this website is not itself a scam. I am bothered by the fact that these scams have been around for a long time and I don’t think the banks themselves are doing enough to protect their customers.</p>
<p>NJres you said yourself these scams have around a long time. Every bank web page has info on the scams, statement inserts have been sent, news articles written, etc. I am curious as to what else you think banks should be doing. At some point people have to take responsibility for their own actions and stop looking for someone else to blame (not directed at OP).</p>
<p>mcmom, thanks for the link. I bet many universities have been targets of similar attempts. </p>
<p>wow… a little googling on “tutor scam” and/or “math tutor scam” turned up a bunch of hits from all over the country, on craigslist (job posting) and many universities. Be careful out there!</p>