pay for delete? realistic?

It's very realistic--send them both a DV letter in addition to a PFD letter. If you only have these as negative, it would probably greatly help your scores.

what do you mean pdf letter?
I sent them debt validation letters two weeks ago. but did not hear from them. how long should i expect to wait?
thx a lot for good news

PDF: Paid in Full Delete ( letter). Don't you have to 'negotiate' some sort of payment plan to have the CA remove your debt, if paid off? Some of the CA's, I deal with, won't even take the time to talk to me about a "lesser payment." What can I do?

I think it's worth a try, all they can say is no.

There's an example of a pfd letter on top of this forum, in the "sticky" area

recently I've been feeling that I won't get 'anywhere' with some of the CA's I deal with. GOSH!! Just gets frustrating.

I did this successfully once. I negotiated a pay for delete with a creditor on an old account, only around $160. At first they said no. Then, I informed them that they would move to the bottom of my list of creditors and receive a small monthly payment. Suddenly, they were ready to talk. But, I really struggled with getting them to put it in writing. It took about a week of back and forth, but they finally faxed me the signed agreement and I paid them. It is no longer on my credit.

I am trying this again with a few medical bills with 2 different collectors. From one I have gotten zero response. From the other, I got phone calls wherein they stated that they will not do what I asked in my "pay for delete" letter. So, I told them I would be sending them a "cease and desist" letter. I figure, if they won't work with me, I won't deal with them. If I'm going to pay it and not get it off my CR, I will pay the original creditor, not the CA. That was yesterday. Today, they contacted me again stating that it was all a misunderstanding and that they would do it. But, when I asked them to send it in writing, they said they would not do that. They said, however, that they would send me back my original letter stamped "Agreed". I am not sure if that would be legally binding. Any advice that anyone has to offer about that would be helpful. Thanks.

Oh yeah, and they said they are trying to get it removed right now, from both mine and my 5 year old daughter's credit report. I didn't even know it was on her credit report!!

Ohhh its on your daughters report??? I would not be negotiating a pay for delete..I would be negotiating a 'delete it or I sue your sorry butts for ruining my 5 year old's credit.'

A stamped 'agreed' is not sufficient because any person could walk down to the local Office Depot and buy an 'agreed' stamp and I bet that is just what they would say after payment and it is still on the report.

Get it in writing or tell them to take a hike.

For those with medical debts, if you plan on paying in full...do not, I repeat DO NOT contact the collector. Send a payment with a restrictive endorsement to
the medical establishment (restrictive endorsement is something along the lines of: For deposit only into the account of (medical facility's name) that way they can't transfer it to the CA. When it gets deposited THEN you send a letter to the CA telling them this is paid to the medical facility and that they are violating the HIPPA laws by reporting as you have no business with them. They will remove it because violating HIPPA put them in very hot water.

Now some CAs will be stubborn and say either, "No, we can't remove an account by law" or "We can't remove an account due to our contract with said reporting agency". There is an EASY way around that. In the pay for delete letter and/or agreement you and they sign, put in a non disclosure agreement that the CA can not discuss this account with anyone but you and the original creditor. Then you just dispute the account with the CRA....if the CA verifies, then they are subject to a lawsuit for breach of contract because they disclosed information about that account with the CRA. All they have to do is not respond and the CRA will delete the account. :)