Background: Went through a divorce in 2002 and got stuck with a car I couldn't afford. It was repo'd and charged-off last year after I stumbled around trying to pay for it. Full balance owed is $3000. Anyway, the OC is a federal credit union and I contacted them about paying it off (the full balance) in exchange for deletion of all negatives. A pretty fair deal, I thought. They sent me this today: "We cannot retract any remarks, derogatory or otherwise, from anyone's credit report, as this is illegal per the FCRA". They then offered this: "Once the payment is received, the accounts will be reported as paid in full on our system and that information will be sent to credit bureaus we report to, showing that you have met your obligation". Would this sentence mean that the TL would read "Charged off paid in full"? If so, this is a terrible offer IMO and one that I won't take. Also, from reading this site it appears to me that they can report whatever they want to the bureaus, but that doesn't make any sense to me...what do they care about ruining my credit for another 6 years if they get their money? What should I do now? I'm not paying this if I can't get deletion. I 'm in grad school and there are many more useful ways I could be spending three grand.
Yes it will report as charged off/paid in full. No, it is not illegal for them to remove a derogatory tradeline, it IS illegal for them to report inaccurate information - huge difference. They are not required to report to the credit reporting agencies. tell them to remove the entire tradeline if you pay in full this way they are "in compliance" with the FCRA. LOL!
