Is it worth paying off a debt that doesn't appear on your credit report

[mcdanielak]

Funny how once I start trying to repair my credit, I get notices left and right about debts I owe. A couple of themni don't recognize at all. I am requesting validation on all of them. My question is that I have 2 credit agencies wanting money but they don't appear on my credit report. One wants $11,000 and the other wants $2,000. If they aren't showing on my CR and are 4 years old, is it worth it to pay them off? I would prefer to pay off debts actively reflecting on my credit report now which brings me to my next question. Is it better to make payments or pay in full if they won't delete? I am going to send my PFD letters next week but if they say no, is there a benefit in paying in full on one or paying down several? 

[Anonymous]

i would be interested in hearing from one of the senior contributing members here.

When i was in your shoes i did just that - focused solely on debts where the vendor was reporting to the agencies.

the risk there is that for some reason these vendors start reporting later...unexpectedly.

so if you're trying to time a purchase (car/home/etc) and that vendor reports unexpectedly you might not have time to get your score where you want it

[mcdanielak]

Nothing time sensitive at this point. Just want to repair my credit and begin working on my husband's credit. We've had a very rough couple of years. Lost a job. Moved across the country. Kid got cancer. Lost income to take care of kid. Moved back across the country....now that our son is almost done with treatment, we are trying to rebuild the credit that got screwed when we los tour jobs and couldn't pay any of our bills. 

[Anonymous]

As long as you don't care that they can appear on your credit files at anytime if they are within allowable reporting.

Just because they are not reporting today doesn't mean when you wake up tomorrow morning they won't be reporting.

If the debt is yours, settle or pay it.

[Anonymous]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

i would be interested in hearing from one of the senior contributing members here.

When i was in your shoes i did just that - focused solely on debts where the vendor was reporting to the agencies.

the risk there is that for some reason these vendors start reporting later...unexpectedly.

so if you're trying to time a purchase (car/home/etc) and that vendor reports unexpectedly you might not have time to get your score where you want it

---

Absolutely! Credit report exclusion is 7.5 years from DOFD. So a debt that is not reporting can at anytime.

A creditor can start reporting 2 weeks before exclusion if they choose.

They are watching you. When they see your starting to build your file and maybe they even see some mortgage inquiries. Then they will wack you with a collection.

Be aware....

[mcdanielak]

Good to know. I wasn't sure how this worked and I want to do what is best for my credit. I will just list all of the debt I am aware of and start working up from the smallest amount. Get them paid (hopefully for deletion) and then start tackling the larger debts on there. Thanks for the advice.