Anyone had experience settling a debt with Sears, or a CA called Portfolio Recovery? I've got a 1500$ debt that the CA will settle for 787$, but will only agree to report as "Paid by Settlement", which I want no part of. I'm thinking my best option is to force validation, and then try to fight the CA on violations of the FDCPA. Any help is appreciated...thanks Scoob
I helped someeone else settle about 20 charged off credit card accounts. All were reasonable except Sears. They demanded full payment or they would sue. I said no. They sued. We ended up paying 80%. The average settlement with all the creditors (even after factoring the large Sears settlement) was less than 20%. They are tough to deal with. A side note: They kept saying they would take back their products - refrigerator, ac unit, strereo, etc., but they never did come. I asume they don't want the merchandise but just use it as a threat.
I say go the validation route with the CA. First, this route allows you to get an idea of wether you have a leg to stand on in this. Obviously if they provide full validation then you are aware that disputing with the cra's will probably be pointless and you know that in the event of a lawsuit they have the proof tying you to the debt. So validation is necessary for these reasons and for the filp side of the coin as well. If the worst does happen you might still be able to get them if they don't report your account "in dispute" while in the validation process, If they don't report it "in dispute" and all else fails use this fact as leverage for a deletion. Good Luck
