I have been reading your posts and frankly need your wisdom... My dilemma is do I payoff an AMEX chargeoff (10K) and try to either negotiate a deletion upfront or work to get one afterwards. Or, should I validate/dispute it off without paying? The chargeoff appears on Equifax as "last activity" 6/2000 and on Experian as "last activity" 10/2001. What do I do about that? Many thanks, in advance, for your help... Susanna
Always negotiate what you want before making (and in exchange for) the payment. Once you have paid them, they have no reason to negotiate or help you.
Susanna, If they don't delete, don't pay. You can always pay IF and WHEN they decide to file a lawsuit. There is no advantage to pay if the item remains on your report, noted as a paid charge off / collection. You may want to check the Statute of Limitation in your state. After a certain period of time, the debt will not be enforced in a Court of Law. The time limit is the longer of either the state you live in or what is in the credit agreement with AMEX. Collectors will try to collect on debts that are way past the SOL. Hope this helps....
Lizardking, Coldata has contacted me regarding the AMEX chargeoff; MBNA is 150-days late and still being handled internally. Are you suggesting that I just try to validate/dispute this off my CR? Thanks, Susanna
Lizardking, Also, I thought that if the OC reports the chargeoff, only the OC can delete it. How will validating/suing CA help me when they cannot remove an OC's tradelines?
Lizardking, I sent a validation letter to Coldata and they have not responded in 30 days. Instead, they sent me another collection notice. (They are not reporting this CO to the CRA's -- AMEX is. The SOL for a lawsuit on this account is 3 years, so I have another year.) Should I follow-up with another validation letter or just lay low until the SOL is past...Thanks.
Susanna, don't be suprised if Amex sues and then puts a freeze on your bank account. Had that happen to a client recently who had fortunately just filed bk so we were able to get it lifted and the fee the bank charged refunded. I don't know what I would do...I'm sure you will get some good advise from others. L
I don't know...do you have a bank account? I know out of all of this guy's creditors, two went after judgments...Discover and Amex. He said he went to the bank and his account showed a -$12K balance. Not saying they will...I have no clue, but it is best to be prepared for all eventualities. Marie and Lizardking and others will know more than I do about this. L
Lizardking, Thanks for the great advice... Having a small balance in the checking account is not a problem (unfortunately) due to our extended unemployment and paying off other bills...(I only have a joint account with my husband.) Also, your identity fraud method certainly falls into the category of "guerilla warfare" -- not sure I have the skills to get that accomplished. Do you know of anyone else on this board who has been successful with your method? Also, I did read your earlier post about getting a lawyer to "buy" the debt for 10-20% and then once you have control of the debt, get it deleted that way...Is that a viable method also? Many thanks, again!
