Hi All, So in Spring of this year I posted about my old Macy's CC charge-off situation. Basically after a few years of not hearing from anyone, a new CA contacted me about the debt, offering me a 55% settlement. After I had the debt validated, I sent a PFD letter. Didn't hear back, but a few months later a new CA had bought the debt and was demanding payment in full. I sent the same PFD letter, and ended up talking to a rep who claimed that no CA had the power to delete any negative marks on my CR except maybe the OC. He said the most he could do was to try to contact the CRAs to update my settled account status. I sent the PFD letter again, offering to pay 45% of the debt. Their response: On behalf of our client, Department Stores National Bank, Capital Management Services, LP, is authorized to accept less than the full balance due as settlement on the above mentioned account. . . . . .Upon clearance of sufficient funds, our records will be updated to reflect paid and satisfied. So, my feeling is that paying the debt this way is only getting rid of the CA, not positively affecting my CR in any way. But I'd like to get feedback in case I'm not interpreting the language in the letter correctly. Thanks for any insight!!!
A "Paid" settlement, which is what it sounds like they're offering, will do nothing to improve your credit scores. It will, however, look better than an "unpaid" collection to potential lenders. Remember, you probably still have the OC's charge off to deal with as well.
Thanks, Joshua. Are you basically saying that doing a paid settlement will get the CA off my back but it won't help me otherwise? I don't want to pay them anything if it doesn't help my situation. However, they've been calling both of my parents to get ahold of me - they don't have my phone number, and even if I did give it to them, I wouldn't answer their calls so I assume they would go back to trying the parents. Do you think I would be able to even negotiate a PFD with the CA, although they've said they can't do much for me?
Yes, a paid settlement on your credit reports will do nothing to improve your credit scores. It's still a negative mark on your credit reports. It should, however, get the CA off your back. It sounds like this CA is playing hardball regarding a PFD, which isn't uncommon, but I wouldn't give up yet.
