Finally have enough money

[Anonymous]

I finally have enough money to start paying off old old debt, but not really sure to begin.  I know that I have several accounts, but none of them are on credit reports that I can pull and all of been sold and resold so many times that I have no idea who has the accounts at this point.  I have very little original paperwork .  How do I go about finding what these accounts are?  Most of them have a DOFD of 1999-2001, so they are pretty old.  The only one I know of for sure is actually still on my credit report that I can pull, but it is showing up as a positive, so I am just leaving it alone.  How can pay these debts back without killing my score which is in the 750 range?

[mauve]

You are beyond the date where it will affect your credit score.  The debt still exists, and you may be legally obligated to pay it (it depends on what state you live in),  If you want to pay them, I'd contact the original creditor and I would never consider paying them to a CA.  Ever. If the OC will not take payment, I would leave the debt completely alone. You've served your time.

[Anonymous]

I know the feeling well...I have just paid off all of my credit cards (4 are at 0 and one I owe $10.00)  My credit took a nose dive in Jan. I was so close to the 700 club and although I was making payments to Verizon they sent my account to collections, I paid of the bill in full to the collection agency will I see a change in my credit score with this new collection account...Verizon said they could not take my payment...I am so discouraged I have been working like crazy on this since October of 2010 and only 3 points from the 700's Jan killed my score, I was hoping to start house hunting again this spring...now it is another 6 months of waiting?? Any words of wisdom

[Anonymous]

The only reason I ask is because I read somewhere else in a post that if you have a debt that has fallen off it doesnt ever "officially" leave your credit report.  I am right in thinking that under certain conditions people can still see the debt you have?  I think I remember reading that if you apply for more than $150,000 or a house, the loan officer will see that debt and you will have to take care of it anyway.  Now, I am not applying for a loan or a house or anything, but I dont want these debts to be in the way if I happen to.  By the way, I am a military dependent, so we live in different states and places every two-three years.  Right now, I am in Hawaii which is fairly consumer friendly.  Also, all of the debts I had were credit cards.

[Anonymous]

Thanks so much for the reply!!!  I had a bankruptcy over 3 years ago, and some of the collection agencies are still trying to come after payment!!!  How nuts is that?  Once it goes through court it is illegal for them to do this...but they still post on my credit report as a collection, I spent alot of time last night filling out disputes online and opt out of the screening  process...I have a credit repair company working on removing the baddies and I just paid off a load of debt, Verizon nailed me for an old bill but I was making payments to them, told them I had to change the due day of the bill because my husband started a new job and they sent me to collections in Jan.  When I was reviewing my report my debt to credit ratio was high, one card was over the limit, so I think that also contributed to my point loss last month...I haven't been late or missed a payment in a year until Verizon posted the 120 day delinquency on my CR...it sucks because I have to start all over again!!!  I am waiting to see how things go these next few weeks and I will check my score again...I hope the disputes don't mess up my points too!!!  I did get a preapproval for a loan in Nov for 140,000 dollars I was so happy and in Jan everything went downhill.  yeah, it could be a good thing this happened because I would feel even worse if I was in the underwritting process trying to close on a house!!!!

Now what I did do was notify the CA that the balance on the credit report was inaccurate, it was because I did pay off the debt, but it will take Verizon at leas 60 days before they reccieve the information and then they have 30 days to report it to the CA, I wasn't going to have them waste that much of my time so I filed a dispute to speed up the process...we will see if it works...

[mauve]

Yes, they can see it if you're doing a loan over 150,000 - but all the posts I've seen on these boards that mention that caveat usually also say that they've never seen it actually happen.  Maybe I just haven't run into the right one.  Basically, even if you get a loan for more than 150k, it's unlikely to come into play.  If you want to right your old wrongs, by all means, pay the OCs in question.  I just wouldn't personally pay a CA for a past debt after the normal CRTP. 

[RobertEG]

There is a distinction between being in your credit report and being in your credit file.  All information reported by the OC or debt collector will remain in your credit file unless specifically detleted by the reporting party.  "Deletion" only refers to the ability of the CRA to extract certain negative items of information stored in your credit file, and report them in a CR that they issue aftet the so-called "drop-off dates."

If your SOL has expired, you would no longer be legally obligated to pay the debt, and if the credit reporting period has expired, the negative infrormation will, normally, no longer appear in your CR. 

If you still wish to pay the debts after expiration of those periods, prioritzation would be a personal matter, and not a credit reporting or SOL issue.

[Anonymous]

So as a personal matter, is there any way for me to see my credit file? I think I might be able to find some of the info off of old credit reports, but we move a lot and honestly I am not sure what old records I have past five years ago. 

[Anonymous]

By the way, thank you for your responses.

[RobertEG]

No, you cannot get a full copy of your credit file. Commericial consumer credit reports are all, in different levels of detail, just summaries of what are considered to be the most relevant data items for consumers. Your actual credit file is in Metro 2 code format, and even if you were able to get it, you would need a detailed understanding of each item and what the coding numbers mean. For example, a typical payment history profile would jsut read something like: "001012001000112333." Harldy understandable to the layman, but it is a coding of prior delinquencies, with each code representing one prior month. On the positive side, if there is any specific item of information in your credit file that does not appear in your credit report, such as the reported DOFD, you can file a request with the CRA to get it. See FCRA 609(a). Such requests requrie payment of a fee of $10.50 under FCRA 612(f).