I am sure this has been asked a million times, but I am at the beginning of the process to repair my credit and I need help! Some background info: 1. Most of my debt is from 4 - 6 years ago. I have not accrued anymore debt since then. I have about 9k in a defaulted auto loan and about 3k in various consumer credit cards which have all been sent to collections. 2. I have about 4 - 5 accounts which were charged-off and sold to collections agencies. Collections have been calling me on a regular basis for years, but I NEVER answer the phone or respond to them in any way. My questions: 1. Should I be sending the debt verification letters to start with? -OR- 2. Should I be sending the statute of limitations letter (for the debts over 4 years old / I am in California)? 3. Once I send the letters, if I receive no responses, how do I get the debt removed from my credit report to improve my credit score? 4. If the collections agency does respond, what action should I take? Will this "reset" the clock to get this removed from my credit report? Thanks everyone, and my apologies if this information is listed someplace else.
Welcome to Creditnet! Here are my initial thoughts in response to your questions: 1.) It sounds like you've missed the 30-day window in which you needed to request debt validation and protect your rights under the FDCPA. That said, it doesn't hurt to still go ahead and send your DV letters first. Just remember that the CA isn't required to respond or stop collection activities. 2.) Are you certain the SOL has expired on these debts? When did you first fail to make payment and became delinquent? Have you made any partial payments since then? We can address numbers 3 & 4 after you give us a bit more information about the individual debts.
