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layla · Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 1:30 pm Subject: charge-off?

I just checked my credit report and apparently three of my four delinquent accounts are reporting as charged-off. Only one has been sent to a CA.

Does anyone know what will happen to the "Charge-off" status once I settle the debt? Will "charge-off" disappear and be replaced with "settled"?

Thanks!

Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 4:51 am Subject:

That should be discussed in your settlement negotiations. Generally the TL would be updated to "Settled in Full", "settled for less" or if you are paying in full I would request a "Pays as Agreed" notation.

layla · Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 6:28 am Subject: Thanks, nascardevil. But...

The creditors are saying that they will update as "settled" (for the most part) but Citi is still saying that their tradeline will report as "Charge-Off settled" rather than simply "Settled"

This hurts worse because I had no idea that the account had charged off. I was working with Sifxpert who told me that the account was simply past due, and that he was working on it. I stupidly trusted him when I should have been doing this myself.

I guess my question is, do I need to stipulate that I don't want "charge-off" on the report and that it should be replaced with "settled in full"? Or is that standard, and I am being paranoid based on what rep at Citi said? In this case, the Citi account is still owned by citi but being collected for by GC Services.

Thanks again for the advice.

Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 6:36 am Subject:

Citi is one of the harder ones to work with. You will likely have to live with "CO'd Settled in Full" with them.

layla · Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 8:20 am Subject:

Yeah, they have been horrible to deal with. BofA has been the easiest by far.

Do you happen to know if they have broken some sort of consumer law by not letting me know that the account was going to charge off? I mean, had I known, I would not have let it happen. Lombardo told me the account was "fine" and had not yet charged off.

Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 8:23 am Subject:

Were they still sending you statements the 6 months preceding the CO? Those would show the acct 30,60,90,120....days past due.

Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 8:41 am Subject:

Unfortunately Lombardo messed you over on that one. I suspect Citi was doing what they were supposed to. There really isn't much difference between settled for lesser and charged off settled though. If you have a bunch of deliquent debt and then you turn it all into settled debt it will improve your score especially if you settle it all then keep current on other TLs like house and car over time. Frankly the score doesn't mean all that much anyway if you can get your finances in order it will work itself out. The only time it should come into play at all is if you are trying to buy a home and I always reccomend getting a conventional fixed rate 15 year with 20% down. If you have the 20% then it is almost certain that you can qualify for a conventional fixed rate. I never apply for any of the other crap because I simply don't need or want it although I did get an auto loan for my wife against my better judgment a few years ago.

layla · Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 9:26 am Subject:

Thanks a lot. The only loans I should be looking to take on in the next few years are student loans (mostly federal, possibly private but I don't think I'll qual anymore)

I would like to buy a house sometime in the next five years as well.

So it sounds like a couple of paid charge-offs would not be as bad as a bankruptcy as far as long term. At this point, I have 27 other TLs, credit and mortgage and student loans that are all positive/paid/never late.

Sounds like I should just move forward with the settlements.

One more question: since Citi will not deal with me (they are referring me to GC Services) should I call the CA myself? They have not called me nor sent me anything regarding a 12K debt since February. Thanks!

Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 10:25 am Subject:

Yeah if you have 27 good TLs then a couple of settled accounts aren't going to hurt you especially if you settle now and aren't looking for a loan until a couple years or longer from now. There is no way I would bankrupt if I only had to deliquent CCs for a small amount. I would try to reduce that 27 to about 10 or less though. I personally have 4 in good standing (mortgage,auto,2 CCs) and 2 other CCs that my wife opened without me knowing that are deliquent now.

It certainly would not hurt to contact the CA that is listed as the owner. If you have some money to offer as settlment then what I would do is contact them by phone and offer them 50% of the charged off amount minus any fees and penalties as settled in full. The will probably turn it down the first time. Then I would send them a DV letter RR and dispute it with all 3 CRAs. At that point if they continue to report without validating then you can get them for FCRA violations. After that I would offer the same amount about every few weeks until they accept it or counter with something you agree with.

layla · Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 11:32 am Subject:

thanks, dollars. the thing is, the debt is not sold...it is still owned by citi. in fact, citi's hardship department offered to let me pay in full but they refused to negotiate. they were also interested in knowing if I had declared BK, but again, would not settle. this account is charged off, so I am not sure why they will only accept PIF and not a settlement.

I wonder if I should just keep on citi till they work with me. the CA hasn't even gotten in touch with me yet.

CA isn't even reporting the account yet; only Citi is. I really want this account settled, though, and not sure whether to hound citi or just bite the bullet and call the CA myself.

Thanks in advance....

Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 1:21 pm Subject:

Sounds like Citi is just playing hardball. I would keep at them by calling whenever you felt up to it. You might try asking for an account manager. The might think you need to clear it up for some reason so they are not budging. You could make the settlment offer in writing and see if they accept it. You would have to send a settlment letter and get them to sign it before sending money or send a check with all the terms written on the back of the check. If you do the check thing then send a really small amount and see what happens.

If Citi still owns it and is not deferring you to the CA then I would probably not mess with the CA. Eventually they will just defer you to the CA though even if they are still the owner. There really is no hurry to deal with Citi or the CA since you aren't trying to get a loan anytime soon. I would just keep at them. Worse case is in 2-3 years you haven't settled for your 50% and they push forwarded on a suit so you just settle at 80% or something. Best case is they screw around and the SOL expires and the 7 years on your CR expires.

Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 3:36 pm Subject:

If a sol expires on a debt that is charged off and you do not pay it is it still on your credit report or do debts come off your report once the sol expires.

Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 3:59 am Subject:

SOL and federal reporting period are 2 seperate things. Reporting period is 7-7.5 years from date of first default. SOL varies by state. What state do you live in?

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