Newbie here with a couple of questions

Discussion in 'Credit Talk' started by tntallen, Jan 29, 2015.

  1. tntallen

    tntallen New Member

    I've been doing a lot of reading and I need to come up with a solid plan of attack for some unpaid CO's that have been sent to collections. They are almost at the SOL however, we want to get a new mortgage this year so I'd rather just get them paid. In 2009 we had a very rough year and everything went in the crapper. We've finally started to dig out and things have turned the corner. I'd like to keep going on this upswing. I have an meeting with a mortgage broker next week to see what we need to do to get approved within 12 months.

    Anyway, to get these CO's paid off w/ the collection agencies I should:

    1. first send a validation letter to validate the date. Which would be good anyway because I have letters with varying amounts. I want to be clear on what I owe and to whom.

    2. When I then work w/ them (in writing) to get these debts paid I should negotiate to have them remove from my reports with payment. (do they really do that?)

    3. Should I try to settle for less or just pay the full amount if I'm able?

    4. Could I try goodwill letters on something that is charged off? I was successful once a long time ago, not sure it'll work now. And what about for late payments on my mortgage? The payments for from 10 years ago....



    I've already disputed some older stuff this week. I'm hoping that they are so old they won't bother to respond and just go away. I doubt it but I can hope!

    When they get back to me at the end of the 30 days, do they send me a new report so I can dispute more? I got free reports and they're only good for 30 days. I did a repair years ago and the bureau cites were much easier to navigate. Transunion seems to have their website created by a bunch of little kids, very hard to navigate for me.

    Anyway, thank you for your insight. I'm off to create some validation letters.
     
  2. jam237

    jam237 Well-Known Member

    1.) Validation may or may not work. You have to read the language of the law, and the required notice carefully.

    Validation has the most power within the first 30 days after their first letter, because THEN they need to stop collecting the debt; after that, while I hope they stop collecting, the only official thing is that it removes their ability to ASSUME that the debt is valid.

    The approach that I would take is to forget the letters, and get the credit reports, if you can't use the web sites, use the phone, or mail to request the copy.

    The reports should show who currently has the accounts, as opposed to the number of companies who may have hot potatoed the account. (I've had an account go through 4 CAs, in a week - would you rather call 3 companies that don't have the account, or the one that does.)

    2.) They may, or they may not. Thankfully, as long as you have the proof of payment, for the person making the loan decision, you should be ok.

    3.) This is a challenging question, it's up to you to decide what you can afford, and see if that is good enough to make a deal.

    4.) Anything may or may not work. Is your mortgage history from 10 years ago actually showing up on your credit reports?
     

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