@Anonymous wrote:
So in the case where a Charged off credit card is ALSO assigned to collections, who would I deal with? The original credit card company, or the collections company? I understand what you're saying with the Statute of limitations.... these accounts are quickly approaching California statute of limitations, although we just moved to oregon, I'm not sure if the stature of limitations is based on the state where we originally established these accounts ( california ) or can it cross state lines & haunt us for another 2 years ? ( oregon stature of limitations is 6 years I believe )
Also, when you say partial payment, would settling the debt as you stated, for a lesser amount, count as a partial payment & mess with the SOL?
I have money to settle these, albeit, not for the full amount, but I could certainly do like 25%, & if that would eliminate the entire amount of reported debt for the utilization score, it would probably be worth it to me. We want to buy a home.
How do I go about this? Can I work out a settlement without ackowledging the debt and messing with the SOLs?
As I understand it, if the account was actually "sold" to a collection agent versus "assigned" to a collection agent, then the original creditor would show a zero balance and the collection agent would show the balance including all the fees and interest. If the account has merely been assigned to an agent for collection, both will show an amount due.
If there is a collection, you have to deal with the collection company regardless if they are agent or owner of the debt. Good news is collection agents buy these for very little moneh and are usually much easier to get steep discounts from.
When I say don't reset the SOL by making a partial payment, I mean don't send them $100 or something to keep them off your back for awhile, Thats messes it all up and resets the clock.
If you actually settle the debt for a discount, there is no debt to be subject to SOL any longer.
You might want to consider hiring a consumer lawyer to help you settle these accounts. They would know what they are doing.
That said, people do settle their own accounts. You can put in disclaimers about not admitting the debt is yours.
I would pick these off one at a time. Try to settle for 10 cents on the dollar and they offer 50 cents and you find somwhere between 20 cents and 30 cents.
Some people say "look, I have a bunch of collections and I only have (some small amount of money). I am interested in using my money to settle my debt completely, so that is the collection I'm going to pay.
I would so extensive research before doing this on my own, on this site and the other credit site. There are sample letters, etc. There are likely some ebooks on Amazon-- just run them by the board before assuming they are good advice.
Also, be sure to say you also want a PFD or pay for delete so the collection comes off when you pay the settlement amount. Most will say no, but some obscure collection companies will say yes. Regardless, after the fact you can ask the collection agents to give you a goodwill deletion even if they said no to PFD.
Most original credtors will not agree to delete the original chargeoff. Once recent exception is Capital One has been agreeing to delete their original accounts when people have settled with the collection agencies.
