<prompt> Human: This is a legit loan, I totally owe this money. I defaulted on the loan but planned on paying it in full at the end of this year. Got a call from a debt collector saying they would settle for 5k. I was happy to hear that because I said well thatll save me 2k which I planned on paying. Im still going to ask for all evidence validating the debt and other proper documentation as stated several times in this sub. Should I pay the 5k they offered me if they validate the debt? Or since theyre offering me a lower amount should I try to get it lower?Assistant: I used to work for a collection agency like this. Essentially they buy your debt for pennies on the dollar if that and then try to squeeze you for as much as you can.Now I will admit, I never did the collection portion, my job was to remind people of their payments they already agreed to and do some MINOR IT work. With that said, I spent all day every day in the most accomplished collectors of our company. So I got to listen to the best and some of the funniest collectors our company had to offer.My suggestion, negotiate. They are humans, almost anything they get is a profit, but they want as much as they can get. They have HUGE bonus perks some were making 10k a month in bonuses and theyre money hungry. Every morning there is a huge prep rally where they chant and try to make the 1 million mark each month yada yada yada.Things to note that I noticed over my year or so at said collection company: - Whenever they say they are transferring you to a manager, they probably arent. When its like the thirdfourth person, then youre getting a manager. - Their threats are typically empty and just trying to scare you. Again, this might not be the case for you, but 910 whenever they threatened or argued, they were just trying to get that fear out of you to pay. - If you can explain your situation, maybe add a little spice to it, they can negotiate lower and in most cases will. Like I said, they just want as much as they can get for it.Please take everything Ive said with a grain of salt. The company I worked for did not do student loans, but I cant imagine the process being completely different mostly did Credit Cards and Auto loans.Human: this woman told me that she cannot negotiate what I pay, and that they have a computer system that calculates the lowest amount that can be paid, so this is BS right? I should still be able to negotiate? Am I even in a position to negotiate?  <response>: I worked at a collections agency. They can definitely negotiate to a point, but need to get approval from a supervisor to go lower. Also, certain debts they purchase they can only decrease it to a certain percentage of the cost for a settlement. As an example for your debt if the lowest they could go is 30 of the cost it would only be 2100. If I were you wait until the end of the month. Usually all the collection agents are looking to make their quota to get their hefty bonuses and get desperate. If I were you call them at the end of this month. Tell them you didnt have the 5K, but someone might be able to help get you 2K see how they react. They might be inclined to take it as easy money, or possibly counter to 2500 or 3000. I hope this helps for your possibility of settling your debt. 