Removing Items on Credit Repor

RE: Removing Items on Credit R

C wrote:
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Now we all know that paying someone to remove negative or derogatory items from your credit report is not only a waste of your time, but also illegal.

>Not necessarily. Even if the information is true, and you know it's true, but the creditor can not verify the information, it should come off of your credit report. You probably can get rid of those 4 year old "Was 30s" as the creditor can probably not verify it, especially if you closed the account more than 2 years ago. Whether you pay someone else to write the letters for you or you do it yourself is irrelevant.

>What is illegal is a credit repair firm promising you beforehand that they will absolutely get every negative item removed from your credit file.


But the question I ask is this:
if you do have a charge-off, or are deliquent in paying, you strike a deal with your creditor to pay so much off in such and such a time, can you request that after paying they remove any trace of the negative item, like it never existed? If so, how often are creditors willing to do this? Thanks so much!

>This is perhaps the best way to get rid of the negative item. As long as you own them money, you have leverage with the collection agency. First, make sure that they are the only ones reporting the debt. Dispute all of the others and get them removed so just one creditor for the charge-off remains. It's actually best to try and deal with the original creditor, but sometime you can't as they may have sold their charged-off account to a collection agency for pennies on the dollar. Your $1000 chargeoff might have been bought by a collection agency for $150, so if you settle for $400, they will have made $250.

Then make a deal with that creditor that as a condition for you paying X cents on the dollar (or whatever they are willing to take), that they remove the derogatory item from your credit files with all 3 major CRAs. Currently, there is no law that requires any creditor to report any credit information to a CRA, so don't let them give you a bunch of crap about it being 'illegal'. Get the agreement with them in writing so that it becomes a binding contact before you send them any money whatsoever. Then pay them off and send them another letter reminding them of the provision of your agreement and insist upon a copy of the letter or other communication to the CRAs regarding the deletion of the item.

After 2-3 months, check your credit report to make sure the item has been deleted. If not, you have an actionable tort for breach of contract against the collection agency.

 

RE: Removing Items on Credit R

If you still owe them money, you still have leverage. Tell them that as a condition of you sending any more money, they will have to remove the items from your credit files of each of the major CRAs. Tell them you have demonstrated good faith by beginning to pay and now it's time for them to step up to the plate. It's a 'no-cost' item for them. In fact, it costs them money to report you to the CRAs. Insist on a written agreement. If they don't delete, they get no more money.

 

RE: Removing Items on Credit R

David:

That's a very nice altruistic thought, but the fact of the matter is that if there is something that is put on your credit report that can't be verified, it should come off, and that's the law. It should be the same standard as in a court of law where documentation is required and not just "I said, they said..." How many times have Judge Wapner and Judge Koch chastised people for not having documentation of their claims?

If the creditors are too damn lazy to keep the documentation easily accessable, that's their problem. The item in question should be deleted. You certainly wouldn't want to get something in the mail alleging that you own $100 from a 5 year old parking ticket, but they don't even have the original ticket, but Mabel the switch board operator remembers when old Charlie, the retired cop, wrote that ticket, because he'd almost killed himself that day by slipping on an ice cream cone a kid had dropped on the sidewalk of Main Street, etc. I would think that you would at least insist on some kind of proof, such as a copy of the original ticket with the date, time, and identity of the official who issued the ticket.

Stuff lingers on a credit report long after the creditor has relegated the records to the dusty archives in the basement, or more likely a secure records center remotely located from their data center. There is no economic benefit in the creditor going through all of the trouble to pull those records so they just decline to verify it.

If you have some "Was 30s and Was 60s" that are 4 or 5 years old, challenging them will probably get them yanked off the report. Several years ago I got a "was 120" (from a car leasing snafu) deleted from my report because GMAC didn't keep records (in 1987) on paid off accounts after 12 months.

If someone is going to accuse you of not paying your bills, they should at least be able to offer some proof of that accusation. If they were to bring some civil action against you and showed up in court with no proof whatsoever, not only would the case be dismissed, but you would likely be awarded attorney's fees and court costs from them.

Veracity is the truth only when it's back up by proof.