I've identified 2 accounts that I am considering settling. The first is a no-brainer, a dental bill for $84 that went to collection, last activity 1996. The second seemed to be a no-brainer as well, a credit card bill that the CA was offering a 50% settlement on. After pulling my CR this week, I discovered that this bill's 7-year data is this July. So I can save myself $1k by just waiting a couple of months for this to drop off. The only problem is that I have already told the CA that I'd be sending my check, will this affect my last activity date? My question: to help my CR the most, should I be working with the OC or CA to settle an account that is in collection? With these smaller bills, I just want to get them off as quickly as possible, not really going to worry about saving money here. I drafted a letter and sent to the dentist's CA, but I'm wondering if I should just deal with him directly. It seems to me that a dentist wouldn't have any way of working with a CRA without going through his CA anyways. Thanks for all the great tips!
No it will not affect the DOLA date...do not worry about mis-informing the CA about sending the check...they lie all the time, they are use to it Wait till July and save $1000. Try to work with the OC whenever you possibly can. If they are reporting the debt (the OC), settle ONLY for complete deletion of the derogatory information on your report. If they are not reporting the listing on your report, but the CA is...once the OC accepts payment after settlement, validate with the CA and they will be forced to delete the listing because they will have no proof of the dabt (you already paid the OC). -Peace, Dave
