A newbie here, still reeling from a first-time review of credit reports--lots of ugly junk and plain old errors, and stupidly complicated, arcane and non-standardized report formats--and wiped out from Round One of dispute letters. (at least I knew enough to go the certified/return receipt route). Maybe consumers are starting to get a break here, but cleaning up bad information still seems to hinge on luck, energy, caprice--anything but a clear, simple and predictable process. I'm still confused about a few things--I've searched this board, the FCRA and all over the Web, but am still in the dark (and, of course, getting the runaround from the powers that be). Here's one that's really got me: What exactly does "charge off" mean for a defaulted student loan that the guarantor paid in full? In other words, how is it that Sallie Mae can write off the debt if it received full payment for it? Various Sallie Mae reps have told me this is (1) obviously an error, which they will happily resolve if I write and ask (so why not just take care of it immediately, pal??) (2) not an error, but *maybe* they'll be nice if I beg in writing and (3) Sallie Mae's absolute right, and impossible to remove. I've written them to ask that they remove the "charge off" but I have no idea what my rights actually are on this issue. Anyone have any experience in getting a "charge off" removed in this instance. (BTW - I rehabbed - but feel that the program misrepresented the extent to which derogatory information would be deleted.) Help.
Maybe consumers are starting to get a break here, but cleaning up bad information still seems to hinge on luck, energy, caprice--anything but a clear, simple and predictable process. Ther is no D**************(Supply your own letters here) excuse for this.
A charge-off means they wrote off the debt you owed them as a loss. After that, they file a claim and get paid. However, that doesn't erase the fact that they never collected from you.
No, that's not correct. Once you are 180 days delinquent, they can report charge-off. What they can, and should do, if a person pays after the charge-off is: "Paid Charge Off" or "Paid after charge-off/collection".
If it's already been charged off, the delinquency cannot be "corrected". It's a matter of history. You're right - there is no impetus to pay it off unless you can negotiate for deletion but student loans rarely go away like that.
