I received my TransUnion CR today, it is the first time in years I have really studied my CR. I have 4 adverse accounts, and I would love to get at least a few off of there. They are not big ones, they look like this: Balance $174, placed for collection, will be removed 2/09 Balance $131, placed for collection, will be removed 2/09 Balance $49, profit and loss writeoff, will be removed 9/07 Balance $22, placed for collection, willl be removed 7/08 I cannot believe I let such small debts get onto my CR! I moved a lot a few years ago, and with at least a few of those, I never even knew that I owed anything until I saw it on a CR. My questions is: do I pay? It is my debt, and I have no problem paying it. I'm not trying to get out of anything, and it's such small amounts of money, I could do it today. But how will that affect my CR? Will it look better to have the balances at $0, will it have no effect because the debts went to collection so long ago, or will it extend the amount of time before it drops off the CR? Do I just wait it out?
Dispute the tradelines through the credit reporting agencies. Chances are with collection accounts that old, most will not verify the tradelines. Thereafter, you may opt to pay the ones which remain, if any, or pay them all if you wish knowing that they will not affect your FICO scores. In that same vien, paying collections this old certainly won't help you in terms of FICO scores and may actually damage them insofar as the date of status will be more recent (the date of payment). They may be costing you 20 points as of now inasmuch as, again, they are quite old.
Typically if that were to happen the account would be transferred to another agency or back to the OC. It wont just ''go away''.
"I question the accuracy of all data in this record." or "Please verify the accuracy of all data in this record."
My dh had a similiar situation and was able to get them off. First he disputed them as "not mine", a few fell off that way. For the others he contacted the companies or CAs and asked if he paid would they take them off his credit completely (not show as paid collection). Surprisingly this worked, I think because the amts were so small. He got everything in writing and may have had to follow up with the CBs but in the end they were gone completely. Good luck!
Even if the collection agency in question bought the debt outright, rather than collecting on behalf of the OC?
Keep good records. In the view of OCs, CAs and JDBs an unpaid debt is forever ... they will post a phantom $5 payment and re-age the account to keep it on your CRA reports. They'll even change the creditor's name or account number and create an entirely new entry if the CRA stops listing the old entry as obsolete and blocks them from making further changes to keep it alive. With the right paper trail, you can collect money from them via suits under the FDCPA. With accounts this old, your situation seems a good candidate for becoming a litigious debtor when the time comes.
In that case, the CA would be a JDB (Junk Debt Buyer) and supposing they weren't real smart at it and went belly-up, the debts don't evaporate. They're an asset. If the JDB sold off everything it had, some new JDB bought the debt. If the JDB went bankrupt, the trustee sold off everything it had, and some new JDB bought the debt. If the company was wound up by its owner(s) without that happening, some live human being turned off the lights and went home with some boxes full of records and DVD-ROMs and became the new owner of those debts ... which may molder in his attic, but he still owns 'em and could sell 'em or try collecting on them.
Thanks so much for all the input, I have a lot of work to do but I can't wait to get started. Just a few days on this forum and I've learned so much already. Thank you!
It is a great board. Life changing board. Just making a earlier point again...KEEP YOUR RECORDS-ALL OF THEM. And adding a few of my own: If you get a company to agree to delete an account for payment, don't pay it until they sign a statement that they will take it off your credit files. If you don't get the statement and they don't remove it, no way to prove it. Back to square one. Also, don't talk to CA's. Do everything in writing- certified mail, return receipt. This gives you proof of delivery and a paper trail. Lastly, search this board for any and all questions. Its a plethre of information. Best of luck!
Question.....what if they promise it via phone and you record the call? You don't recommend speaking to them on the phone, even if you have the means of recording the call? Aren't they more likely to violate FDCPA on the phone than in a letter?
