Hi all. I have decided (through the advice and help from other creditnet.com users) to contact my debtors and negotiate settlements for the money that I owe (and have owed without paying for 2+ years). I owe roughly $9000 in CC debt. I have 2 questions: 1) Let's say I am able to negotiate my debt down to 60% of what I owe, and then pay it, will my credit report reflect that I only paid 60% of the debt - and if so, how does that impact my score / perception of me as a credit risk to future creditors? 2) Is it possible to have the credit card company or debtor remove derogatory marks from my report as part of the negotiation? If so, how do I negotiate that? Thank you for reading and thank you in advance for your thoughtful comments. This site has helped me immensely. BenBen
Have the accounts been charged off? If so, any negotiation you enter into must include removing all derogatory items from the tradeline, or removal of the tradeline completely, as a paid chargeoff and an unpaid chargeoff have essentially the same effect on your credit score...which is a killer. Why bother paying for items that will kill your score anyway? Who are the credit card companies??
They're all charged off and are now in collections. Are you saying that I should just not pay? If I do pay them off (or negotiate them down and pay), it won't help me? Wouldn't it help me if all of those accounts showed zero balances? At least for my debt to income ratio?
Re: Re: RE: negotiating CC settlements I'm screwed. If I pay them off, they'll drop off my record after 7 years right? Should I just file bk?
Re: Re: Re: RE: negotiating CC settlements I'm not giving any advice here. I'm just saying that if I were you I wouldn't pay because it would take even longer to drop off my report than if I didn't pay.
Re: Re: Re: RE: negotiating CC settlements is there a way to know how long each item will remain on your report? Is there a code or date or something?
Ben, I only found CN a few weeks ago, so I'm going to refrain from acting like I know what I'm talking about. BUT, I do know from what I've read on the board so far that "YES" you can negotiate as part of your settlement to have neg. TL's removed. Use the search feature for phrases like: "negative tradelines" "derog removal" "negotiating unpaid charge-offs" Or any other phrase you can think of that applies to your situation. After you've done your homework, ask questions from people on the board who have actually had good results with this method. That's my .02 - FWIW!
Ben, I only found CN a few weeks ago, so I'm going to refrain from acting like I know what I'm talking about. ;o) BUT, I do know from what I've read on the board so far that "YES" you can negotiate as part of your settlement to have neg. TL's removed. Use the search feature for phrases like: "negative tradelines" "derog removal" "negotiating unpaid charge-offs" Or any other phrase you can think of that applies to your situation. After you've done your homework, ask questions from people on the board who have actually had good results with this method. That's my .02 - FWIW!
BK over $9K-Good Lord! You are getting some misinformation. You need to read the FCRA plus, the staff opinion letters and you'll see that at the 7 year mark from chargeoff {if you negoiate settlement or not, derogs will fall off the report. Before you start offering to pay, you need to truely understand your rights under the FDCPA and. the FCRA. If you wish to settle, that's up to you. WHatever deal you get, make sure it's in writing. Don't talk with a ca on the phone. THe only acceptable communication is by mail and on your end, send everything CRRR. You've not done near enough reading. If you had, you'd realize that SoParkDiva is just wrong with this statement: I'm not giving any advice here. I'm just saying that if I were you I wouldn't pay because it would take even longer to drop off my report than if I didn't pay Point is, if you want to buy a home with interest rates on generational lows, you likely will have to settle this stuff. ANd, with a year of clean credit and old collection accounts satisfied, you can get conventional rates through FHA mortggaes.
I had a bunch of CA accounts on my reports, mostly medical. I settled most of them for deletion. Only one CA settled after my first phone call, the rest took some time and numerous patience. If you choose to settle, I would recommend two things: 1) Admit to nothing in a phone call, just that you would like to settle the alleged account 2)Get everything in WRITING a)you can make your own settlement letter, stating your terms, and ask the creditor to acknowledge the agreement with a Signature and return the letter back, in which you will remit payment immediately b)OR you can let the creditor mail the settlement, but, in every CA account but one, I mailed the CA the settlement letters. In one of my settlements, I got the creditor to agree to accept $$ as payment in full, and when I sent the agreement, I added deletion to the terms....they signed. In a few creditors that were unwilling to settle, I had success with validation and a dipsute to the CRA's. I have a lawsuit pending against a CRA, in which the defense lawyer suggested I was a "frivolous disputer." I explained to him, that I worked very hard to save my $$ to pay off my debtors, under certain terms, mainly deletion, which is my right. So what if I disputed 15 CA accounts at once, I had all the signed agreements among the creditors agreeing to delete in exchange for XXdollars. I wouldn't recommend settling on anything for nothing less than deletion, period. It won't help your credit report and you are losing your right to validation by settling. Settling is not the only way to have baddies removed from your reports.....disputes, validation, lawsuits, are often used.
After reading and absorbing the valuable experiences people have had, I took the "deletion or bust" approach to my only outstanding debt, all of $58 for a dental bill that got put into collection WAY too quickly. I was furious at the circumstances, sent $25 to shut them up, and then forgot about it. They quietly put it on my TU but never contacted me again. So for the remaining $58 and my only outstanding bad debt, I called them and said I'd like to pay the balance but need a deletion. They said they'd be happy to mark "paid" and again, I insisted on deletion. The person had to speak to their manager, did so (or probably not) and told me that was not acceptable. If it had not been for the wisdom I gained from this board, I would have just settled for "paid" and had a late/neg TL. Instead, I calmly explained that I had no other motivation to call and pay this balance than my intent to clean up my CR. I contacted them, they never contacted me, but if Mr. Smith (person I was talking to) would simply give me the name of his supervisor, or let me to speak to same, I would let Mr. Smith's supervisor know that I had made a sincere offer to pay IN FULL and Mr. Smith had turned it down. Amazingly enough, this time Mr. Smith's supervisor, still anonymous, ok'd the offer. Once again, this board gave me the tools I needed. I would LOVE to give you my payment info, but first I need a fax that includes deletion as part of the terms for payment in full. Fax came ten minutes later, and two days later the TL was gone from TU. Bless this board.
Re: Re: RE: negotiating CC settlements The point is I didn't pay them and my credit is great and MY wages were never attached. I'm sure the IRS folks are not that busy that they forget to attach my refunds when they send them out. You people won't be happy until everyone is gnashing their teeth and wringing their hands in despair right along with you. It's ridiculous how you go on & on about all the negative things that could happen when I am proof that good ol' time will eliminate your debts for you. Stop scaring people who are coming here looking for hope. I am not on here saying anything illegal. I am simply sharing my experiences so that others in my situation will know that there is a rainbow at the end of the storm. *smooches*
Re: Re: RE: negotiating CC settlements Diva, The OP said he would like to buy a house. With 30 year rates at 40 year lows, I think that is a good idea. You will not get a conventional rate with unpaid collections. That needs to be addressed. Your comment that paying will extend the reporting time is just wrong. I think it was jlynn that has pointed that out a time or 2 and even provided links to the applicable statutue yet, you still continue to post incorrrect info. Bottom line, if lasting 7 years with your head in the sand and never being able to own anything works for you then that's your choice. People who wish to accumulate assets need to take a diffeent approach.
if an account has been charged-off, how can you tell how much longer that account will remain on your credit report? i have one that has been on my report for over 8 years that i owe on. shouldn't this have come off already?
The DF is supposed to provide the original date of delinquency to the CRA within 90 days of listing the tradeline. The CRA is supposed to use that original date of delinquency to compute the 7 year period and remove the account. DFs sometimes incorrectly report this date, either "accidentally" or deliberately. Some CRAs don't show the original date of delinquency clearly, or show it in terms of a "will come off your report" date. Dispute with the CRA as "obsolete, past 7 year reporting period".
Well I got a chuckle at this one....it reappeared after two years...and it would be interesting to know whatever happened with benbenben on this. The facts that are amusing are that keepmine mistakenly stated that the OP wanted to pay off his bills because he would like to buy a house...buying a house was NEVER mentioned by the OP...it was brought up by keepmine in his/her original rant to SoParkDiva. Btw...the OP indicated that at the time the debts were over 2 years old...add another 2 years since we have seen this post and he is more than likely to have reached or close to the SOL for legal action on his debts. SoParkDiva was indeed correct in her statements....the debts were 2 years old at the time...if the OP had negotiated and payed...the debts would be listed as PAID and the tradeline would restart and stay for another 7 years. SoParkDiva simply stated that it would take longer for them to fall off if he paid, which is correct...he only had 5 years to go, rather than paying and adding another 2 years on top of that. Finally, some of you have mentioned...dont pay for anything less than deletion...and some may have actually experienced some grace and had this happen...(it seems that these were things such as medical bills, etc.) but I guarantee...this is NOT the routine and you newbies are kidding yourself if you think that you can go to AMX, Discover, etc and bully them around...it just aint gonna happen. If you have, please humbly share your stories. I am all ears. Anyways, this post was humorous because it brought back to memory some of the ridiculous behavior of former posters who got upset at others for trying to help others...unfortunately we lost some wonderful contributors......so advice to new memebers...we are just trying to help each other with our own experiences...please dont ever get too big for your own pants....or if you do...please apply for the MC to that guy that wants to start the reality show.
thx for the info on disputing the account that has been on my report for over 7 years. i will try that and see what happens. i posted the following on another thread, but have yet to have any responses, so thought i would try it here: i have read in many postings about sending a letter to creditors that i owe and asking for a settlement as well as asking them to remove the information from my credit report. i would like to know if anyone has a sample letter that i could use or view and also when you are talking about having the information removed, do you mean just having the negative statements removed or having the creditor remove everything from the report like i never had an account with them? thanks!
