I need some advice. I posted this yesterday and got no response so I will try again. My husband has an FCNB credit card (was partially secured) that has been closed by creditor but has not been charged off yet. It is showing 120 days delinquent as of 2/01. We thought it was charged off after they closed it a few months ago ...should be more than 120 days past due because they closed it months ago but that is how it is showing on his CR.....not sure what to do with it now. If we bring it current it is still closed and will show all the recent delinquencies. We cannot pay off the balance right now but maybe in May...should we do that and then dispute to try to get it deleted? or should he try to bring it current and see if they will reopen it? If they did that it would still show the delinquencies so will it look better to have brought the delinquent account current or should we just try and get it deleted and then get a new secured card from a different bank. I'm sure it will be charged off soon....What would be the best thing to do that would have the least negative affect on our credit?
In would pay it off. Remember, you can only have things deleted if they are inaccurate--not just because it hurts your FICO score. You can however ask the creditor to remove it. Even if they don't agree to remove, it will at least show on your CR as paid--even though it will probably still reflect that you were delinquent. But a paid delinquency is better than unpaid! Hope this helps!
Paying it off isn't going to help you in any way. It is going to show an adverse entry in your credit file either way. You should never dispute any item on your credit reports. That gets you nowhere fast. Learn how to demand validation and never give them any reason why you want it validated. The difference is that with their standard verifications, you will come up with the answer that they verified it almost every time, whereas if you demand validation, you always have a way to come back. You should dispute the account with the creditor or collection agency and if you do it in the right way, they can't answer the credit bureau when the credit bureau asks for verification so the report goes off no matter how valid it is. It's a war out there in the credit world, and you need to learn how to fight tooth and nail and win at least most if not all the time. Bill Bauer http://creditwrench.hypermart.net/index.html
