I had an account with Providian opened in Oct. 1997. Four days later I was laid off. At the time, I thought my credit was hashed because of student loans but it was actually clean. Plus, I just didn't know how credit worked, I thought I was hashed for life. So, I let the stupid thing go (like an idiot) and It was charged-off for $500 in February of 98. I did finally pay some on the bill later that year and took it down to $350. Well, I've now come to realize that this is my only negative and I would be clean if I had known then what I know now. I'm wondering, is there any chance they would now re-open the account with that as the balance? I have since opened a DMB and Cap1 account, both of which are over a year old. And like I said, it's the only bad mark I have. I can't dispute it, there's nothing to dispute, it's definitely mine. I am holding off on paying to figure out what to do before giving up leverage. I desperately need to buy an auto soon, and I need to clear this up. The knowledge base around here is outstanding, so I'm sure someone has advice. Thanks in advance!!
Dispute it?? Of course you can't dispute it without lying about it. In order to dispute it you would have to claim it isn't yours or it's inaccurate somehow or whatever other silly excuse you might be able to dream up. So don't dispute it. In fact, I recommend that you never dispute anything on a credit report. Simply demand that they validate it. Never had any problem with doing it that way yet. Give it a try? What have you got to lose? At least, they have no valid comeback on you if you didn't dispute it and they just might put their foot in a trap. Of course, they will come back and claim they validated it. Expect that to happen because it's about 99% certain that they will do just that. So you then demand that they provide you with the name, company address and company phone number of the person who validated it. You can go from there, because there are a lot of ways to further attack whether they give you the demanded info or not. Bill Bauer
Re: Dispute it?? Bill, whatever I do, it has to end with me paying the bill. I owe it and will pay it. What I am most interested in doing is either trading the full payment for removal from my credit file, or having them open another account for me with this (or similar) as my balance. I don't know what possible chance there is of either, and I may just be stuck with a paid charge-off for another 6 years or so.
Re: Dispute it?? You could try to write them a letter asking them if you pay the debt in full will they be willing to report your file as paid and current and remove the derogatory information. Of course, you would first write the letter asking for these terms and asking for a valid, witnessed signature of a person with authority in the company. If and when they agree to these terms and send the letter back, you then pay the debt in full with a subsequent, strictly endorsed letter. Another words, if they cash the check, they agree to remove the charge-off and report as paid in full and current. I have heard that some people have good luck with these letters and others don't. I guess it all depends on the creditor. But, if you have an agreement in writing with the creditor then you always have some proof to send to the CRA's once the debt is paid. If you want copies of these kinds of letters, let me know and I will post them. Obviously, if you just pay the debt without some sort of credit reporting negotiation, it will just be listed as a "paid charge-off". I know a paid charge-off is better than an unpaid one, but you might as well try and negotiate some kind of deal with the creditor. By the way, was it ever assigned to a collection agency?
Re: Dispute it?? Yes, SM, it was. I'm on the second. The last one is willing to settle for half the amount. The money doesn't bother me though, it's the mark on my report. My FICO score is 581 thanks to this unpaid charge-off. Depending upon the consensus opinion I get, I will be paying it soon.
Re: Dispute it?? All of what SM has posted is excellent. So all of his comments not withstanding, I'd like to comment that I personally have never heard of it working. That don't mean that it won't work, that it's ineffective, nor invalid because you need to try every option available to you, and SM's is most assuredly one of them. And just because I have never heard of it working doesn't mean it never has. I'd try his suggestions and if it don't work, then I simply would not pay the bill at all because you have no incentive to pay it other than to get it off your mind and your conscience, not to intimate that such is not good and valid reason to do so. Simply that it should not be your only consideration. Here is why. You have the gold, and they want the gold, and the golden rule or one version of it is, "He who has the gold makes the rules." So use your gold to the best possible advantage which is to bargain in exactly the way SM has told you to do. If it don't work or it don't come off your credit report, then you will have to take other steps to make it come off, and that's a whole 'nother ballgame as you are well aware, I'm sure. Bill Bauer
Re: Dispute it?? ..and if you pay it, it can be damaging as well because it will reage the account and the last activity date - so it will stay on your credit report longer.
Re: Dispute it?? It's got to be paid. I was such an irresponsible idiot in my youth and I feel like I have to approach it as a twelve-stepper would. This $350 is the last debt I owe in the world after having been 40K in hock at one point in my life between consumer debt and a student loan. I've lived in a rundown part of town and drive a 14 year old car with 320,000 miles on it for the last 4 years while digging out of it. I now realize most of the debts I paid were likely beyond the SOL (except the $4000 student loan) and were already off my reports. Oh well, I feel better anyway. I will take SM's advice, because it seems sound. When I figure that one out, I'll see if anyone here can show me a place to get an auto loan with my wonderful, magical 581. It kills me that I would have spotless credit now if I knew what I had been doing.
Sound reasons Your reasons to pay it off are very sound. In my personal opinion, if that's the way you feel about it, then you should most definitely do it. The amount is not enough to make any real difference anyway. You may still have credit problems after you pay it off I'd say you could go ahead and try for an auto loan now if you wanted to because you should be able to buy a decent automobile even with that on your history. To try for a loan, you might want to try eloan here on the net. Only problem with them is that they insist you buy a car with less than 50,000 miles on it and that it not be older than 5 years old. Those are tough demands to meet and if you do, the car will be so new that the payments will knock your socks off. You should not have a lot of problems, even now. Bill Bauer.
Re: Sound reasons Paying it now will NOT re-age the "starting date" for purposes of credit reporting. The FCRA was indeed vague about it, but in 1997 Congress amended it to say so clearly. It should not stay on your report any longer just because you paid it. I doubt if Providian would work w/ you when it comes to removing it in exchange for payment, but it doesn't hurt to try negotiating. Saar
Re: Sound reasons ask for a settlement offer- 50% or so. And yes, some people have been successful in have negatives removed for payment
