I have the money to pay off a charged off Citibank account in full. I have been offered settlement of about 60% of the debt by a CA. I've told the CA that I want the tradeline deleted or I will not settle. They told me they would not delete the tradeline and that they would be returning the account to Citibank and Citibank would likely sue me and get a judgment against me. I believe the account was charged off prematurely and improperly and I have threatened that I will sue Citibank because of it, but it hasn't scared anyone. I'm also worried I won't have the evidence, even if the account was charged off prematurely, to convince a judge that I shouldn't owe the full debt right now. So my million dollar question is, do I just give in and pay the thing in full, settle the account for less, or string it out in hopes of getting the tradeline deleted? Getting the account deleted would be amazing, but it seems silly to risk getting a judgment against me to do so, since that would make my situation 1000x worse. Perhaps I should wait til they sue, answer and file my counterclaim for detrimental reliance and whatever else, and try to get them to delete the tradeline before the hearing? Or is this a waste of time? Thanks in advance for your opinions.
You're not going to get the tradeline deleted. It is Citibank. Settle the account and have the balance zeroed out. This will be helpful. If the debt is large enough, they will indeed sue you. They are not a paper tiger.
I agree with APEX. Unfortunately you're not going to get it deleted. Settle with the CA for the best deal you can possibly negotiate and move on.
I believe that they have to charge off the account no later than 180 days after delinquency, but as far as I know there is no requirement of waiting that long, so I don't know what you mean by "charging off prematurely." They can charge it off as soon as they decide it is uncollectible, or at 180 days, whichever is first. But remember that charge-off is simply an accounting treatment of how the debt is recorded on the books. It doesn't affect the amount of the debt or the fact that you owe it.
Hedwig is correct but, I would like to again reiterate that "messing" around with Citibank is only going to lead to future regret. Pay it and then dispute it. They'll mark it as being disputed (Citi is about as FCRA compliant as they get) and accordingly, Fair Isaac will no longer score it.
