pay off a CA?

I don't know, I'm no expert. But there is a LOT of info on this board that leads me to believe that there is no one answer. The FICO process is a very complicated process and the formula is a closely guarded trade secret. So I doubt anyone can say what the absolute best course of action is. To try and improve your FICO score dpends on a lot of factors, specifically what are your balances in relation to your avaliable credit for each line. If your current utilization is high, that will hurt your score and paying down balances may help. Also, there is no getting around the fact that the charge-off most likely is hurting you. Unfortunatly, simply paying it off will not necessarily improve your score as the charge-off notation remains. You might consider attempting to pay off the charge-off as a lump sum in exchange for deletion of the tradeline. I wouldn't let the CA know that you need it off to obtain a mortgage right away though. You would be tipping your hand as they know that to get a mortgage the lender will usually require you to pay the charge-off in full prior to closing.

Someone will come along with some real information and help but for now, you might want to keep reading the posts here and try to apply them to you individual situation. Good luck.

 

It's very unlikely they will do a PFD agreement on a credit card with that large of a balance. If you do it and they deny it whats your next plan? They will know you need something and probably wont offer to settle for a low as they would if you would call and ask for a lump sum payment good today. Telling them I can do it in the next 30 days isnt good enough for them. It's end of the month, people need to hit their goals and their bonus checks rely on last minute settlements. You do want to ask them how they will report back to your credit report. They have the option of showing it paid in full or settled for less than owed, or something to that effect. Offer to them an amount you can come up with via debit card or secured means, and have them fax you a letter agreeing to that amount on that day.

 

That's a very good point. This is the end of the month and they do need to hit their goals in order to get their bonus checks. Knowing that does give the debtor a bit of extra bargaining power.

I would not consider paying them by any means other than bank certified cashier's check so you have a good receipt for your money that can be used as proof of payment should you need that at some point in the future.

I would also use the westcap endorsement on the back of the check. You can easily find the wording of the westcap endorsement by using the search box on this board or maybe by using the term "westcap endorsement" in a google search. I've always used the search box on this board.

Be sure to make photo copies of everything you send including front and back of the check. When you photocopy the check make sure that the front and back sides of the copy are "in register" with each other which means that if you were to look at the photocopy while holding it up to a light what you see is the same as it would be if you held the actual check up to a strong light.
Any copy shop knows how to do that.

The reason I suggest that you do all that is in the event that you have to take them to court to enforce the contractual agreement to remove it from all credit bureau reports within 10 days if they cash the check.

You also want to include a cover letter which outlines the terms of the contractual agreement and carries the exact wording they will find on the back of the check so they can't claim you tried to pull a fast one on them.

Be sure to send it certified mail, return receipt requested.

If you choose not to do all of the above then you will have to accept whatever they want to report to the credit bureaus as being satisfactory.

Of course, you can always dispute it with the credit bureaus but don't be surprised if they refuse to budge. After all, you admitted it was your debt and that it was all true and correct by paying them.

 

A collection agency is unlikely to accept any form of payment for a settlement other than a check over the phone, credit/debt card. If you do a bank check it will have to be overnighted, their offer will only be good thru 2-28 and if it's even 1 day late, it is a payment not a settlement. Get them to fax a letter showing the amount and date the offer is good for. Make sure they will give you a receipt showing it's paid after the transaction is completed, and within 30 days of paying.

 

In the event they refused a bank certified cashier's check I think I would tell them where to shove the debt although not in so many words. If they faxed me a letter stating the amount they would accept and I sent it to them in the form of a bank certified cashier's check overnighted to them as you have also suggested I'd be certain to bring that fact up along with the proof when they sued me which they would have to do after refusing the check. I would have an in register copy of the check before the contract was placed on the reverse side and then another in register copy after the contract was in place.

If they didn't cash it then they would need to send it back so would not be likely to have a copy in their records to prove the fact of the endorsement.
After all, they couldn't very well claim I tried to trick them or deceive them in any way, now could they? They might have a hard time convincing a judge that they had acted in good faith by rejecting their own offer. They would also have a hard time proving that I had not complied with the terms of the agreement when I could prove that I had and when they received it.

How much good will it do them to argue that the reason it had to be there not later than the 28th of February or whatever date the last day of the month might be? What would they tell the judge, "Your Honor, we do that because our employee needs the money in our office not later than the last day of the month in order to make his bonus check"?

Quite frankly I doubt that would impress the judge very much if used as a reason for having rejected the check.

 

Apparently I didnt clarify good enough, if it is an overnight a certified check will be fine if the agency will accept that.

 

Refusing to accept a check endorsed to reference the agreement, insisting on a phone check or credit/debit card payment, or otherwise refusing to reduce a verbal settlement offer to written form should be a clue that a debt collector may have no intention of honoring the settlement offer, instead using deception to collect a debt while intending to sell or attempt to collect later any "balance".

There is no legitimate reason to refuse to document an agreement they intend to follow.

 

Which is why you always get the settlement offer faxed to you. I correct my post as I left out when talking about the overnight that if the overnight has a bank check or m/o it will be fine.

 

In the best of all possible worlds, both parties would proceed to document the agreement, and would abide by it once payment is made under its terms.

In the real world, it is common for consumers to be faced with debt collectors demanding payment, offering to settle for less than full, but refusing to send a written agreement to that effect.

It is also common for accounts to be settled, and then for another CA to demand further payments years later. It is even common for debts paid in full to be collected on.

 

If the agency refuses to provide a fax of the agreement then I would not settle/pay the account until such documentation is provided. Always get everything in writing including a receipt letter. If they refuse to offer a receipt letter, file complaints against them.

 

All of which brings us full circle. The consumer can and often is reduced to filing complaints with authorities who either have no enforcement power or who are unlikely to do anything about it even if they do have enforcement power or wait around to get sued or being forced to put out money they don't have to file lawsuits against the collector. And if they filed a lawsuit what would they use as grounds? Yes, I am sure that someone here will come up with some idea as to what might be used as grounds upon which to file a lawsuit. I realize there are probably several different possibilities. Maybe providing false and misleading information to a consumer.

 

That would be correct.