2 Derogatories left - paid one to OC today and didn't even contact CA - what next?

[Anonymous]

Most of the baddies from 2010 and 2011 have now aged off my CK report. They were mostly medical debt.

Two collections accounts left are both from Energy companies. One is with Consumers Energy from February 2012, and the other is from 2014 with DTE Energy.

I finally contacted DTE billing/collections and paid the balance in full. I didn't even acknowledge or call the collection agency that sent me letters a couple years back. What should I do now that I paid the Original Creditor (DTE) in full? I want to have the collection account removed.

Also, what about the only one left there from 2012? Should I wait until 2019 so that it falls off, is paying it now just going to do almost nothing for my score?

I also have a *PRIVATE* student loan that is very complicated and was charged off November 2013, and was allegedly "opened" August 2008. How long until this is not on the report?

[RobertEG]

Paying the debt to the creditor is not basis for requiring deletion of the collection.

The proper procedure is to now contact the debt collector and request their good-will deletion.

You could have offered a PFD to the debt collector, but that is no longer an option with the debt now being paid.

The exclusion date for a reported charge-off on a private student loan is no later than 7 years plus 180 days from the DOFD.

The CRAs routinely exclude at approx 7 years from DOFD.

What is the reported DOFD?

[rmduhon]

GW letters to the CA are the only thing you can do now that the OC has been paid.

[Anonymous]

So what would be the best way to deal with this? I just cancelled payment to the Original Creditor.

[medicgrrl]

You paid it and then did a stop payment on it?  

[Anonymous]

Why did you cancel payment?  Is it because you want to ask for PFD?  PFD does not have to be agreed to by the creditor.  I would think that if they realize that you cancelled payment, they might be less willing to agree to it.  I don't know.   I am just speculating.  

[RobertEG]

A PFD would now go to the debt collector, not the creditor.

Hopefully, they will grant the GW deletion.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I disputed yesterdays payment made to the Original Creditor (DTE Energy in Michigan).

So now I must deal with the collection agency (CA) on this one, and propose a Pay-for-Delete. I'll have to review some recent threads here about that process, but basically I just call up the collection agency and request a PFD? Most likely can't get it in writing I hear, so a verbal agreement on the phone (1 party record law here) will work?

[Anonymous]

Why would you have done that?

You could have easily requested validation from the collection agency and since you paid the debt or you could have called back and asked DTE to withdraw the collection from the agency.

That would have been the right thing to do would have been called DTE and asked them to withdraw the collection from the agency and they likely would have done it.

[Anonymous]

But people here (above) have said that all that I'd be able to do is request GW and hope that the CA has "good will" towards me. I don't see that turning out very well, especially if there is no incentive for them to do anything if I've already paid.

I'm still waiting on the dispute resolution though. If it doesn't go through and the money is gone and in the OC's hands and the debt is paid, what should I do? So far I've been given a few different answers:

1.) Write a good will letter to the Collection Agency and *hope* they find some good will for me and delete the collection record from my Credit Report.

2.) Request that the Original Creditor recall the debt from the Collection Agency. I've been told here that they won't do this since the debt has already been paid.

3.) Call CA and request a Pay for Delete after payment dispute is resolved (in my favor).

Which one?