Paying Off Debt and Cleaning Up Report
First off - if something has been charged off, I assume we would pay whomever has the account currently (debt collector, instead of the original)? Is there any way to remove the original bad mark, or is that just something that has to fall off with time? I have read that you can settle for a delete - will most of the debt collectors do this? I know I need to get it in writing, but will a fax count, or does it have to be received in the mail? He has one account that has been turned over a few times - it is being reported 3 different times negatively on his report, yet is the exact same account. Is there anything to be done about this? I am paying EVERYTHING with money orders, and not giving them any access to our bank account information.
Is there a thread on here that I haven't found yet that would be helpful to go through this? I haven't started paying anything off yet because I want to be sure I do it correctly so that we can raise his score (if possible) as much as we can and I don't want to screw this up. We have waited 9 hard years for this and I have never been so relieved. :D
If your husband's account has been charged off, then it will rem
If your husband's account has been charged off, then it will remain on the credit report for 7 years. Now, what you can do is, contact your husband's original creditor first. Tell him that you want to work with him directly. If he agrees, then tell him to pull out the account from the collection agency. Once he has done that, settle the debt with him. Tell your creditor that it is not possible for you to pay the entire debt amount. Clearly tell the amount you can afford to pay. Negotiate for a pay for delete agreement. Thereby, your creditor will contact the credit bureaus and request them remove the account from your credit report after the payment of the settlement amount. Yes, it will be best if you do the settlement agreement in writing.
If your creditor refuses to work with you directly, then settle the debt with the collection agency. If you think that you won't be able to settle the debt on your own, then get help from a settlement company.
As far as the other account is concerned, I think it is better to settle the debt as soon as possible. Contact your original creditor and know the name of the collection agency which is currently holding your account. You can settle the debt either with the CA or your creditor. Again, I would suggest you to go for Pay for delete agreement. If they refuse, then request them to at least update your account status as "Paid in Full" on your credit report.
well are there two entries for the same debt?if so then the OC s
well are there two entries for the same debt?if so then the OC sold it.if there is only the OC'S entry then it was assigned.charge off doesn't always mean it was sold,but if there are two.then you can get validation from whoever bought it and try to work a settlement.then get the letter stating the debt is paid,and try to get the OC to delete their entry.if it was assigned then try to negotiate a settlement.either way get any agreement in writing before proceeding.
On the TL that is being report 3 times, are 2 of them CA's? Who
On the TL that is being report 3 times, are 2 of them CA's? Who are the CA's?
Yes, there is one for Credit One Bank - he had ONE card with the
Yes, there is one for Credit One Bank - he had ONE card with them, and the account number listed is the same. It is listed twice under Credit One Bank - all the information is exactly the same, except on one it says Charged off as of July 2010 and the next entry says charged off as of June 2010, then there is another entry for it where Main Street Acquisitions it appears bought the debt in Dec 2010.
I just went through this with my wife's credit score. I can give
I just went through this with my wife's credit score. I can give you some hopefully good advice due to my mistakes.
You are absolutely right - I would not pay off anything without getting in writing that the debt will be deleted from his credit score. (Make sure they say delete and not just updated as paid - important distinction to get in writing)
You can do a lot of this on your own if you have a bit of free time. You can dispute all the duplicates on his credit score on the basis that its reported twice for the same debt. You can do an online dispute with experian and transunion but will have to mail the dispute to equifax.
BUT I wouldn't worry about the duplicates first - those should be easy to get off, more importantly is getting the debt deleted and only way to do that is if you still owe the money and use it as leverage (ha paying them like dangling a bone in front of a dog). I got HORRIBLE advice from a mortgage broker - told me to pay off all the debt immediately and the score will go up.... WORST advice ever! Then I couldn't get any of them removed without professional help. Even with professional help now (a year later)- 4 remain on her score and wont go away for 4 more years. I found out too little too late what I did wrong :-/
Lastly, if you do decide to hire someone to finish cleaning up the score after you've done the above - try to stay clear of those that require money up front OR require a 12 month contract.
Best of luck! Im not a credit specialist just an average schmo with credit score problems myself :-/
Thanks so much for any and all advice - we want to buy a house i
Thanks so much for any and all advice - we want to buy a house in the near future and hope that with a lot of hard work and better management of our money that this will be something we can accomplish.