I am pleased to inform the board that I have been a memeber for a little over a month. Already I have disputed several items that were not mine and to my surprise I have 3 deletions!! I am making progress, but this initial success was with accounts I was positive were not mine. I have Discover credit card that is mine and is and reporting Charged off. It was opened in 2/2000 and the DOLA was 7/2006. In the Account Status heading it reads : "Account is Open". Credit limit of $1,800 with the current balance of $2,800. Since I have no ther credit cards, and believe it will be impossible to obtain new credit cards (i have BofA Secured) to rebuild, my question is whether or not I should contact them directly to see if I can negotiate some sort of payment arrangement. If so, what are my chances of reducing the amount owed. Would I have to pay it down to my original credit line or to $0?? And, if i pay consistently, would they consider re-issuing me card Is this possible or am I just a green, misguided, and delusional newbie??? Thank you in advance...
If you pay it in full, we can have it deleted thereafter. If you settle it, it will stay. They will not re-open it in any event.
As in any negotiation, do the homework up front and decide what you can live with and cannot. For example, do you want to keep this account? Is it worth more to you to preserve your credit score and reports? For example, this account is already reporting as s "Charge Off", one of the most negative notations. You could call and ask for a "settlement", but you will need to be prepared to pay that amount in full. A "payment plan" will most likely not get you much of a reduction in amount owed. You could ask for some relief in the interest rate,, this would probably help significantly. So, work out all the "what ifs" before you call and negotiate. Once you do, make sure you get the agreement in writing.
