Today I received a settlement letter for a debt I have unsuccessfully attempted to have deleted. They are offering two alternative methods of payment, and at that time they will update my credit reports to reflect such status, which leads me to question #1. 1)Payment to them will restart the "7 year" clock all over again correct? I would like to settle this with the creditor, but not at my total expense. I would like them to remove the tradeline from all of my credit files in exchange for payment. I know I read other instances of this on here where this has been done (and successfully), but I am a little unsure of how to approach it. The letter is from the general counsel of the company if that helps any. So that leads me to question #2... 2)How can I reply to the creditor with my request to remove the listing from my credit files in exchange for payment? And question #3... 3)If they will not agree to such a practice, what options do I have? Thanks so much, this is a great forum...
Use the Goodwill letter as a template - say you appreciate the settlement offer, you're happy, excited about it, etc. But then say you are concerned about the affect on your CR. Ask for complete deletion after pmt. "Once I have met the terms of our settlement agreement, I would like to request a complete removal of the accounts from my credit report. If that is not possible, then I would appreciate that you give me a second chance at a positive credit rating by revising the tradelines to read â??paid as agreed.â? I sincerely hope that there is redemption with [company name] and I beg you for such consideration. I understand that no such modification would occur until my debt is discharged from your company." Then, wait for response. Hope this helps!
In your letter, nicely ask them what incentive you have to pay them, since updating a collection account to 'paid' does absolutely no good for your credit rating. Tell them you'd be happy to pay $XX if they will remove all notations from all of your credit reports. Get everything in writing. Nope. do some searches on exactly when the 7 yr reporting period begins and ends. I believe its 7 yrs from the date of last delinquency. just ask. If they agree, get them to send you a letter stating they will remove it, or draft a 'settlement for deletion' agreement. do a search here. have you made them validate yet? ETA: i'm wondering why they would suddenly offer a settlement. is it out of SOL? is the 7 yr reporting period almost up?
No, I do not believe the SOL is almost up. I am in PA and the data of last activity on the account was in 2001. I believe PA's SOL on credit accounts is 5 years? Someone correct me if I'm wrong. I believe the reason they sent this is I disputed this item along with 3 other items back in November with all 3 credit bureau's. Two items were removed without incident. This one was verified and the letter just came yesterday offering this settlement. I'm guessing I opened up a can of worms so to speak by bringing this to their attention Since I did dispute and it was verifed, I'm wondering how they would approach my sudden willingness to bargain with them. Thanks for all the help so far, it's much appreciated.
You are obviously dealing with a collection agency, not the original creditor. The SOL for being sued in Pa. on an open account credit card debt is 4 years, not 5-- and it dates from your first missed payment or past due payment to the ORIGINAL creditor. If you pay the CA a ¢ you will be throwing your money down a rathole, and making your credit worse. First, the CA has NO authority to change the way the OC is reporting. Second, even if the CA agreed to delete THEIR account on your credit report, all they will do is to sell the balance (plus obscene interest and fees) to another CA, who will then be able to re-report this as a NEW collection account from the previous CA, with a new account #, for another 7 years. Opt Out, send the CA the SOL letter from my website, send the $$ you would have paid the CA to your favorite charity( or one of mine, listed on my website)
Re: Re: Received settlement letter..advice? wow. this post made my advice look really stupid, lol. I shouldve gotten SOL issues straightened out w the OP before i shot off my mouth about paying anyone. Why Chat, you are goooood. one question tho. If this hadn't been past SOL, do you still think its a bad idea to settle for deletion?
Re: Re: Re: Received settlement letter..advice? What are y'all saying? The OP says the DOLA was sometime in 2001 which unless it was Jan, Feb or March I would not send the SOL letter until later in the year........nine months could be a long time and the CA/OC or whoever has got this debt could just decide to make a point to the OP if he gets the wrong collector. I'd hold off on doing anything until later this year and then around Thanksgiving I'd fire off an SOL letter and no CA could move fast enough to get a suit going in 30 days.......and then they really will be just that.......S.O.L.!!!! (in all ways)
Re: Re: Re: Re: Received settlement letter..advice? Well, the OP said "the data of last activity on the account was in 2001." That's probably the DOLA given by the CA, which is most probably wrong. CAs are notorious for listing the DOLA as the date the account was sold/assigned to them. (I think this is what Why Chat was assuming.) It is very likely the actual DOLA is much earlier. If the CA says the DOLA was 2001, the OP should check their records and see if they can prove the actual DOLA to the OC was earlier. If so, they can easily tackle this right now. Otherwise, the rest of your advice about waiting is probably a wise decision. Why Chat? you out there anywhere?
Re: Re: Received settlement letter..advice? No, this letter is from the OC, not a CA. I'm under the impression that I "brought it to their attention" when I included the item as part of my disputes. I have began to write a letter asking them to change the item to "PAID AS AGREED" in exchance for my payment. I will post it as soon as I am finished with it.
Re: Re: Received settlement letter..advice? 1*Payment to them will restart the "7 year" clock all over again correct? 2*The letter is from the general counsel of the company if that helps any. 3*If they will not agree to such a practice, what options do I have? Steve880 1*The reporting or sol clock? 2*Still A ca Isn't it? 3*Have you validated? ><- <>- ><- <> ><- <>- ><- <> =================== ><- <>- ><- <> Con artists prey on stressed-out debtors http://immediamail.net/ct?id=22215&urlid=16303&lid=18&nlid=15&sid=1540&cid=617&oop=p ============== ><- <>- ><- <>===================
