Understanding your credit report

A paid collection account is still a collection account. Have they zero'd out the balance? Changing wording will not change the fact that it is a bad debt. Paying these accounts does nothing to raise your score.

On my credit report were 5 charged off accounts with the original creditor and one CA account. 2 of the charged off accounts were placed with a CA that didn't report to credit reporting agencies. The accounts have been zero'd out in the past due portion but the balance is the past due balance - settlement offer paid = balance. A few have updated the past due balance and balance to reflect $0 but I'm still awaiting the rest to comply with the agreed upon terms. Also, the payment status (charged off, legally paid less than amount owed, settled, paid in full) has not been updated to reflect what was agreed upon. If they stated in their correspondence a specific status would appear, how can a credit reporting agency overturn and update the status with something else? I thought credit reporting agencies only update in accordance with the information provided by the creditor? Why would the FTC advise to submit supporting documentation, if the credit reporting agencies aren't going to use it in their investigations?

Have you tried disputing directly with the creditor who is reporting incorrectly?

Hi,

I agree with Ohiogal1.

The only option you have now is to talk to the creditors who are directly corresponding with the credit bureaus and ask them to provide valid information so that your balance is zero'd down in your credit report.
This may help you in getting what you want.

I've been disputing with the credit reporting agencies to update the accounts in accordance with the agreed upon payment status, balance and past due balance of $0. I also provide the credit reporting agencies a copy of the letter I received from those creditors.

The bottom line is whoever is updating my credit report at these companies, isn't the same person that prepared the correspondence or accepted the settlement.

I'll continue working to see if the creditors and credit reporting agencies can get on the same page.

Generally even if the person who has prepared your correspondence or accepted your settlement isn't the person who is reporting to the credit bureaus, it shouldn't be a problem. The credit reporting agency should ideally have it recorded about your zero balance and settled status.

Reporting to the credit bureaus is done electronically! Nobody is writing the CRA's to tell them you paid your debt. You settle a debt, it gets a status in the computer. Programs are run to pick up that information and are transmitted.

Here is a summary of the trail of reported account information, and required unpdate upon payment.

First, disregard for a moment what is required as to any update of the derogs or delinquencies that have been reported. The first issue is update of the debt status.

Settled means you owe no more debt. There is no such thing as settled with a balance due, if the party agreed that whatever was paid constitutes settlement of the debt. When a party accepts either full or partial payment as a settlement of the debt, the current status of the account shows one, and only one, current status code. Paid. There is no such thing as a current status code of paid or settled for less than the full amount. If the creditor updates the current balance to $0, that is acknowledgment of the debt having been settled. If they creditor does not update the current balance to $0, that means that they have not yet reported their acceptance of the debt as settled.

If you settle for less than the full amount, that fact is not reflected in the current account status. The creditor can choose, at their option, to enter this fact into your CR by reporting a separate "special comment" code to field 19 of your credit file, which simply states that the account was settled for less than the full amount of the debt. That special comment is not scored by FICO, but is a derogatory remark that is available upon a manual review of your CR.

If you have settled a debt, the important reporting is that the creditor update the current account status to $0. That should be the primary focus of any dispute. The status of the account prior to settlement will still be retained in your credit file under a separate reporting code called the payment rating, but the current status has only one permissible status..... paid.

If a debt is settled, the debt collector must update their collection reporting to show $0 balance subject to collection, and close their account. Technically, debt collectors dont report actual debt unless they own the debt; their reporting constitutes the balance of debt owed to the OC that they are authorized to collect. That is why the same $ amount can appear under both an OC and CA reporting.

All of the above refer to what MUST be done upon acceptance of payment as fulfilling a debt. What is not required is any deletion of their prior credit reporting of the derogs and delinquencies that were reported along the way. That is a separate matter that depends upon agreements relating to CR deletions, and is not dependent upon debt status. Those are the fuzzy items. The reporting of the codes outlined above are not. They are required.