Help with charge off/collection account...

[Anonymous]

I have a charged off account reporting twice on my credit report, the first is the OC, Citifinancial and there has been no activity on this account since it was turned over to collections, also under Citifinancial, and I had settled with them for a partial amount, which amounted to me paying $424 a month for twelve months with the last payment being made March 21, 2012. There is not a name of any collections company anywhere on my report but this essentially looks like two very derogatory accounts on my credit report. I had been told, via phone and WAY before I knew anything about credit repair that this would help me out on my credit report and avoid a lawsuit. The current collections account has updated for March showing my payment but it still shows there is a balance even though I settled... Nothing but the updated amount on the OC remarks have chanced but both look like there is a past due balance, even though it should show as settled. One is less than a thousand and the other of close to two thousand.. What should I do?

[js0319]

When you settle accounts it can take some time for all of the parties that report to update 100% of the information. When I settled on an account about 3 weeks ago, they updated my payment immediately on my CR, but my balance is showing the remainder after I paid. Apparently, it takes a little longer for the balance to report as $0 when you settle. They are quick to update partial information, and slow to update the changes as a whole.

In FICO score terms, if the account was factored into your revolving accounts, you could see a score increase once this takes effect. Just keep an eye out for it in the meantime, as I have been told it can take anywhere from 30-90 days for it to update properly.

[Anonymous]

I really wish I had been prepared for the collection call and I even requested them to put this in writing but the guy was very persuasive and told me if I didn't settle that minutemi would face a lawsuit. Now I have a charge off and a collection and both are standing in the way of home ownership...

[proudnavymom]

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@Anonymous wrote:
I have a charged off account reporting twice on my credit report, the first is the OC, Citifinancial and there has been no activity on this account since it was turned over to collections, also under Citifinancial, and I had settled with them for a partial amount, which amounted to me paying $424 a month for twelve months with the last payment being made March 21, 2012. There is not a name of any collections company anywhere on my report but this essentially looks like two very derogatory accounts on my credit report. I had been told, via phone and WAY before I knew anything about credit repair that this would help me out on my credit report and avoid a lawsuit. The current collections account has updated for March showing my payment but it still shows there is a balance even though I settled... Nothing but the updated amount on the OC remarks have chanced but both look like there is a past due balance, even though it should show as settled. One is less than a thousand and the other of close to two thousand.. What should I do?

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I just recently settled a couple of accounts.  They were really quick to update it to what I paid and removing that from the balance, but it was still showing a balance due.  The next month when they updated though, it did show a 0 balance.  

[Anonymous]

Was that with the CA and the OC??

[proudnavymom]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Was that with the CA and the OC??

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It was the CA's.  The OC's were not reporting.

[Anonymous]

Did anything change at all on what the OC was reporting? Does it show you still have a balance? Did you see a score bump?

[proudnavymom]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Did anything change at all on what the OC was reporting? Does it show you still have a balance? Did you see a score bump?

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If this was directed at me, the OC was not reporting, only the CA's.  It is now showing a 0 balance.  One of them is reporting settled for less than the full balance or something like that.  On the other one, I reached a verbal agreement with them that they would report it simply as a paid collection, not settled for a lesser amount.  I was kind of nervous about that one since there was not a written agreement, but they did hold up the agreement.  I know it doesn't make any difference in the FICO scoring whether a collection is paid or not or whether it is settled for a lesser amount or PIF, it is scored the same way, but I just thought if someone made a manual review of my CR it would look better for it to simply say "paid collection" instead of "paid, settled for a lesser amount".  I may have seen a small jump...my TU score has gone up about 12 points in 3 months, but I have quite a few CO's and collections on my credit report at this time, so I really don't expect a big jump until the last one is removed or I only have a few left.  

[RobertEG]

Any party who has reported information to a CRA assumes the requirement under FCRA 623(b) to promptly update their reporting to maintain its accuracy.

"Promptly" is subjective.

Once you consider their failure to update as having passed the "prompt" stage, you can simply send them a direct dispute under FCRA 623(a)(8), disputing the completeness and accuracy of their reporting.  That puts them under a 30-day period.  I dont recommend jumping into a direct dispute, but if it becomes egregious, that will impose a deadline for compliance.