hi there, I had stellar credit until about 1.5 year ago. I don't have a great reason, but I was out of work and sort of embarassed about being late. They were sending the invoices to my old address, even though I had updated my new address on the phone. I avoided Nordstrom's calls until they finally stopped calling one day! The messages just said, call us back. Guess what? They stopped calling because they charged off my account. I didn't know that at the time. But when I was good and ready to pay them off, I called htem and got the ole nothing we can do about it. Call the credit agency. They didn't care that they were sending the the statements to the wrong address because there system had no notation of the address change. Anyhow, I gave them my new address but didn't want to deal with the credit agency. I got one letter from the credit agency to my new address atempting to verify my address. I also got a few settlement letters from the credit agency. I know the whole thing is stupid and my fault, but I'm lookign to buy a car now. I'm thinking it might have to go on my credit because my husband (who has great credit has put most of the loans in his name only) but he might want to do this one in my name. Anyhow, so I've read on creditnet quite a bit and I get the resounding opinion that charge-offs are really bad and it seems hopeless. Here's the specifics: Charge-off amount: $390. I can afford to pay this off. Charge-off date: Deecember 2010. It's really not that old, so I just can't see myself waiting for it to just fall off in 5 years. The other thing is I live in FL, so they can sue me for 2 more years. My FICO score: 646; I have a few other late payments, but I think this charge off is kililng me. So my question is the charge-off situation hopeless. Is there any way/hope that I can entice Nordstrom take the account back from the credit agency? The credit agency who has it now is NRC and they just called my parents house this morning. I called the guy and told him not to call my relatives and this is against the law. I told him to send everything to me in writing and he was all, I understand you don't want to pay. I'll write that down." The other vibe I got from the posts is that it is almost pointless to pay the credit agency since the charge off which is kililng me will remain. Any insight or advice would be appreciated. Has anyone been successful in getting a charge-off removed and/or pulled back by the original creditor? Any experience with NRC or Nordstroms? Thanks so much!
Hi Lily! Unfortunately, because the debt has been sold, the OC cannot remove it or "pull it back." I'm afraid you'll have to work with the CA. But it's not all bad news! If you can afford to pay the bill, you can ask for a Pay for Deletion - IN WRITING. Essentially, they agree to remove the debt from all three credit reporting agencies in exchange for you paying the debt in full. They may tell you they cannot do this. In that case, after you've paid you can challenge the debt as "not yours." If they don't respond to the dispute, by law, it has to be removed from your report! Hope this helps...
