You're making the mistake of thinking that this is personal. It isn't. There's no vindictiveness. This is an impersonal assembly line process designed to collect debts. Institutional lenders are budgeted for it. They don't go easy, they don't go hard, they just go.
I didn't necessarily say they "were" trying to be vindictive. What I said was that, at this rate, if they're not willing to settle for an amount I can give (which would be way less than 50%), vindictiveness is the only point in trying to collect from me.