Long time no post. People probably don't even remember me. Got 2 scenarios. 1. a friend of mine has a bunch of charge offs and a student loan. The loan is from 1995 or 96. I know those don't fall off the credit report, so I advised him he should just set up payment arrangements and keep them. The other charge offs are subprime credit cards, I am guessing there are about 5 and they all charged off ar or around 1999. He came into a sum of money and now thinks if he just pays them off, his credit report will be like new. Am I wrong, or is that not true? Even if it says paid collection, it still is a collection account with a negative history attached to it. He has made pretty good monthly payments on a car for the last two and a half years and is in the process of trying to buy another. Should he try and make a settlement with these people or just ride it out for the next five years? I'll go to the other scenario in another thread.
I don't have all the answers for you, but I thought this was an interesting question, so I didn't want to let it slip over the horizon. One suggestion I do have is that you do a search on CreditNet on the word "Validation". Look particularly at the posts put up by a fellow with the warm and cuddly user name of LizardKing. Also, I believe LKH has posted several times on his experiences. There's a lot to be learned from the posts of those two. There's plenty of others who are worth listening to, and as you search the various threads, you'll find those too. Based on what I've seen others accomplish, and my own experiences, I think there is more o hope than you think. Whatever your friend does, don't send any money. At the very least, get a written agreement from the creditor that they will delete the negatives or not verify any disputed items through the CRA. But first, do the search and read like crazy. You may decide to take a different tack altogether.
Tell him to arrange REHAB for the student loans... 12 on time payments and the negatives must be deleted. If he wants to pay the other, do so only on the condition that the DELETE the tradeline. Anything less is still bad credit, paid or unpaid. You can try settlement offers in writing, but you need to talk with a MANAGER at the creditor. The people answering the telephone do not have the authority needed.
