Charge off acct

[Peepa]

Anybody familiar with the best way to get a creditor to remove a charge off acct from credit report?
Ready to pay it but thought there may be a good agreement letter template out there that I can send and have them sign before I mail payment?
I want to make certain they will take the entry completely off.
Tips? Suggestions?
Anything else I should know?
Experiences you''d like to share?

 

[neatfreak]

I''m a little confused about the context here...is the account past due and the transgression is on your credit report? Or do you want them to close an account and have it appear on your report?

 

[Peepa]

Date: 6/11/2009 11:42:53 AM
Author: neatfreak
I''m a little confused about the context here...is the account past due and the transgression is on your credit report? Or do you want them to close an account and have it appear on your report?

Oh no, it''s past due and on my credit report. I want to know how I can get the record taken off.

 

[MonkeyPie]

Date: 6/11/2009 11:52:03 AM
Author: Peepa

Date: 6/11/2009 11:42:53 AM

Author: neatfreak

I''m a little confused about the context here...is the account past due and the transgression is on your credit report? Or do you want them to close an account and have it appear on your report?

Oh no, it''s past due and on my credit report. I want to know how I can get the record taken off.

If you haven''t paid it and it''s been a certain amount of time (usually like 30-90 days), you can''t get it taken off. You have to work it back off with good credit elsewhere. Sorry.

 

[Rock_of_Love]

I would ask for a letter saying it will be removed as part of your settlement. It probably won''t be removed and you will have to do that yourself later with all three credit bureaus. But, either way, it is a pretty standard request, so they should have these letters ready for you.

Also, when you settle, just an FYI, try to get as low as $.20 on the dollar!!

Lastly, just an FYI, I do loans sometimes for friends and once these settlements are "settled" and they become "in the past" vs. still being reported as late or current, you can start to rebuild your credit. I had a friend who basically brought her score from the low 500s to 630 than 670 within about 8 months. And, this was just by settling these items. They were still on her credit report, but now they were in the past and no longer currently reporting. Also, she was able to get an FHA home loan - min score 620. All FHA required was a "letter of explanation" explaining why she had these settlements and charge-offs in the past. Now she is a homeowner!!

So there is a light at the end of the tunnel! Hope that helps!

 

[wyndham]

Hi Peepa,
Once an account has been charged off (i.e. closed by the bank with an outstanding balance still owed by the customer), it is usually turned over to a collections agency so they can attempt to recoup the money from the customer. It''s great that you are prepared to pay off what you owe -- I''m sure your creditors will be pleased.

Regarding your credit report...once an account has been charged off, it generally stays on your credit report for 4-7 years (depends upon whether the account was a checking account, credit card, etc). If you make restitution by paying off your debt, your creditors will change the status of your account from "charged off with a balance due" to "charged off; balance repaid". Simply this alone will help your credit. Some creditors will go a step further and completely remove the record from your credit report, but they are not always required to do that so you will need to ask them (nicely) to do that. Even if they aren''t able to remove it completely, it''s important that you pay off your debt because that repayment will 1) increase your credit score, and 2) be noted on your credit report as long as the charge off exists (so it will counterbalance it).

I wouldn''t attempt to make the creditor sign a letter stating that they will remove it from your credit report because typically, representatives of companies are not able to sign anything on behalf of the company. Instead, I would ask for a transaction number or a proof of payment receipt, and I would keep that for your records.

Best of luck to you, and congratulations on repaying this debt.

 

[trillionaire]

Peepa,

If you want them to consider removing it from your report, DO NOT PAY THEM. You have no leverage once you pay. The economy is bad, so more creditors and collection agencies are willing to play ball. If you can afford to pay the whole debt, then offer to pay it all and you will have your best chance, since they profit the most that way. It is also important that you don't acknowledge the legitimacy of the debt, even if it is really yours. Say that you saw the item on your credit report, and it is easier to pay to have it removed than to pursue legal action to have it removed. You also need to know the statute of limitations for debts in your state. How old is the debt? Older debt is more likely to be removed, especially if it is out of the statute of limitations, since they have no other legal means to collect at that point.

Google "Pay for Delete" letters. You should find plenty of examples, and probably advice too. They may say no, but you can either keep trying, or settle for paying and getting the account to read "paid or settled debt"

DO NOT SEND MONEY until you have recieved physical documents saying they are going to delete. You need the proof. Also, many companies will say that they can't do "pay for delete" which is a lie. It's their choice. Also NEVER handsign anything you send to them. Type your name, only.

Good luck!

 

[Hera]

Yes, I would look into paying for deletion and I would google debt validation or 1-2 punch on Creditboards.com. I have used both scenarios successfully.

What you want to avoid: paying and then having your credit report report as paid but then still having the chargeoff on your record. It will not improve your credit score.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Once the debt is charged off, isn't that when it's no longer with the creditor? How old is the debt? If it's years old, can't you just send a debt validation letter and if they cannot prove it's your debt, then have your credit report fixed that way?

As Rock_of_Love stated, you should be able to pay pennies on the dollar IF you decide to pay off the amount you owe. If it's years old, you're not paying *anything* to a creditor, just supporting a junk debt collector who purchased the debt from either the original creditor or another junk debt collector.

 

[trillionaire]

Date: 6/11/2009 5:39:07 PM
Author: MC
Once the debt is charged off, isn''t that when it''s no longer with the creditor? How old is the debt? If it''s years old, can''t you just send a debt validation letter and if they cannot prove it''s your debt, then have your credit report fixed that way?

As Rock_of_Love stated, you should be able to pay pennies on the dollar IF you decide to pay off the amount you owe. If it''s years old, you''re not paying *anything* to a creditor, just supporting a junk debt collector who purchased the debt from either the original creditor or another junk debt collector.

this is a good point. Ideally, you can pay the OC. If they have sent it to an CA, then you may end up with multiple listings on your credit report for the same debt. You can try to see if you can get the CA to get the OC to stop reporting once they are paid, but that can be harder, and you would need to include that in your Pay to Delete request. You can also pay the CA after the pay for delete is accepted, and then dispute any remaining things on your report about a month later. After agencies have been paid, they are less likely to file the necessary paperwork to validate the debt. You can do this every few months until they give up, really depends on your stamina and tenacity.