Collection question. Please help!

[viitalbk]

Hello all!

I am desperately trying to increase my score.  I admit I really messed up my credit when I was younger, no excuses.  However I am tryng to repair it now and I have a question about collections.  Some of my collections will be coming off my account next year ( 7 years) will that be permently deleted?  Also the ones I have open are small under 400$ ( 5 in total) and I want to pay them off, and see if I can call each agency and request a letter stating that I have paid and to be removed from my credit score.  Assuming two outcomes, one (IF THEY SAY YES AND SEND A LETTER AND IT REMOVES FROM SCORE, will my score bounce up?) or two assuming I do pay it, will it still show as a red flag or paid?  I know it won't come off after 7 years but will it bump my score up?  

Thanks for your time !

[korunner]

always ask for a pay for delete when offering to pay. and yes, after 7 years they come off UNLESS you start making payments on them. i believe that re-ages the account. others with more experience will weigh in hopefully

[RobertEG]

Collections are excluded from normal credit reports no later than 7 years plus 180 days from the DOFD on the OC account.

As to whether or not this is "permanent"  depends upon what you mean.

The CRAs are prevented under the FCRA from continuing to include a collection in your normal credit report after 7 years plus 180 days.

The collection is not acutally deleted from your credit file.

The distinction is clearer when you consider the provision of section 605(b), which permists otherwise excluded information to still be included in credit reports under certain situations, such as an inquiry from a creditor with whom you are seeking credit in the amunt of $150K or more.

If not still in your file, that exemption would be meaningless, as deletion would prevent such inclusion.

As for deletion of collections based on payment, the proper procedure is NOT to get a letter from the debt collector stating paid, and then sending it to the CRA to request deletion.

The CRAs have a reporting policy instructing debt collectors not to delete based on payment of the debt.  Thus, getting a letter from them relating to deletion based on payment would not be persuasive to a CRA, as it is contrary to their policy.

The recommeded procedure is to request the debt collector to simply report its deletion, either in response to a GW requst if paid, or a PFD request if still unpaid.

The debt collector simply reports deletion with no need to provide a reason to the CRA, so the CRA policy against such deletions does not become an issue.

[abbafan]

---

RobertEG wrote:

Collections are excluded from normal credit reports no later than 7 years plus 180 days from the DOFD on the OC account.

As to whether or not this is "permanent"  depends upon what you mean.

The CRAs are prevented under the FCRA from continuing to include a collection in your normal credit report after 7 years plus 180 days.

The collection is not acutally deleted from your credit file.

The distinction is clearer when you consider the provision of section 605(b), which permists otherwise excluded information to still be included in credit reports under certain situations, such as an inquiry from a creditor with whom you are seeking credit in the amunt of $150K or more.

If not still in your file, that exemption would be meaningless, as deletion would prevent such inclusion.

As for deletion of collections based on payment, the proper procedure is NOT to get a letter from the debt collector stating paid, and then sending it to the CRA to request deletion.

The CRAs have a reporting policy instructing debt collectors not to delete based on payment of the debt.  Thus, getting a letter from them relating to deletion based on payment would not be persuasive to a CRA, as it is contrary to their policy.

The recommeded procedure is to request the debt collector to simply report its deletion, either in response to a GW requst if paid, or a PFD request if still unpaid.

The debt collector simply reports deletion with no need to provide a reason to the CRA, so the CRA policy against such deletions does not become an issue.

Robert,

when you say "credit in the amount of $150k or more" does this also imply a mortgage for a house?

Also, can a debt collecter might as well be the original creditor if the OC is still reporting instead of a collection agency? For example, my old Macy's account is now managed by some collection agency. However, it's still reported by Macy's, not by the agency. Do I send the gw letter to the agency or directly to Macy's asking them to remove the tradeline? 

[RobertEG]

Yes, if you are seeking a mortgage in the amount of $150K or more, they can request a full-file credit report if they state that their inquiry pertains to a request for credit of that amount. It is not common for parties to request a full-file report, but is permissible.

As for reporting, an OC reports the amount of debt that is currently owed them, while a debt colletor reports the amount they are authori\ed to attempt to collect.  Both can thus simultaneously report on the same debt, as their reporting represents different things.  If the OC sells the debt, then they must immediately update their reporting to reflect $0 debt owed to them, which makes the amount reported by the debt collector both the amount they are authoized to collect upon and the amount they own.

Any request for deleetion of reporting must go to the party who reported, as only they are authorized to delete their own reporting.  If only the OC is reporting, any GW or PFD would go to them.