Debt Collector Won't Work With Debt Consolidation Plan

[barbarayoung45]

My question involves collection proceedings in the State of: Maryland

My question is regarding a debt that I tried to include in my debt management program. My husband lost his job in March so we fell behind in paying our bills. We've since separated and I am re-paying all of my debts at this time. In July I enrolled in a debt consolidation program and have been paying on my bills since July. Unknown to me one of my creditors would not accept the payment and apparently sold my account to a National Enterprise Services (NES) so my payments have been going to NES but my balance isn't going down. I contacted (NES) recently and was told that unless I send them a $1,000 down payment, they will not accept any more of my payments and am going to send my account to their attorneys. I currently owe them $4,286 and have been sending in $85.00 each month. I belive this to be a very fair amount and am not even paying some of my other creditors that amount. Can you give me any advise on how to handle this? Thanks in advance.

[jk]

legalaw is a spammer

Can you give me any advise on how to handle this?

You do not have a lot of options here. A creditor is not required to enter into a debt management program nor are they required to negotiate the debt or accept payments.

So, you can try to negotiate something further with them or simply tell them to get lost. Unless they enter into a formal payment arrangement with you (a contract) or you pay them in full, they can sue you and attempt to obtain a judgment.