Hi,
First of all, this forum has been a wealth of info for me for years, but I've never needed to sign in or post anything. So thanks for that. I have a couple accounts that I have questions about, hoping someone can help me out with it.
I have two charged off accounts, one from HSBC ($1127) and one from Capital One ($965). My credit score is 580 
The HSBC account was a Guitar Center account that I defaulted on in 4/09. It was transferred to a CA called Vion Holdings LLC. I pulled my credit report in 11/11, found Vion on there and gave them a call. They said that they bought the debt from HSBC, but were not collecting on it, they had outsourced the collecting to Vision Financial Corp. I called Vision that day, and asked them for my account info. They said that they had gotten the account that day (!!!) and had no info on the account other than the account number. I thought this was a bit odd, so I DV'd them right away, CMRR, and never heard a reply, no calls, no nothing. They never even sent the initial dunning letter, which I assume is because they got my DV before they had the chance to send a dunning letter. I totally forgot about it. Then recently I decided that I wanted to clean all this up, so I called Vision again two days ago. They told me that they got my DV, and did not send a reply or a dunning letter because I requested written communication only. I'm not sure what to do. When I was on the phone, they offered a settlement of $600 which is roughly half the debt, but I told them I was just calling to inquire about my account. I send them a PFD two days ago, CMRR, waiting to hear back. The weird thing is that Vision is collecting, but they're not on my CR, it's HSBC reporting the charge off, and Vion Holdings LLC reporting the collections account.
The Cap One card was defaulted on 7/08. The limit on this card was $300, and because they are reporting that limit, and the $965 that is currently owed, I think my credit score is down because I'm so way over the limit. It was passed around from lawyer to lawyer and eventually they tried to sue me got a judgment, their process server messed up, so I had it vacated. The attorney sent it back to Capital One and it's been sitting there, 0.00% interest, so I haven't paid it. I logged into the solutions.capitalone.com site, and I can pay it in full, but I want this to fall off my credit report. I'm concerned that if I PIF, it will re-age the account and it will take another 7 years to fall off. Not sure what to do with that either. I think that if I pay it, my utilization will go dramatically, so that would benefit me, I suppose.
Thanks for any and all advice.
Hello, and welcome to the forums. Looks like you've been lurking for a bit and have picked up some information. Good for you. Now why they didn't contact you back, you probably put that you wanted communication by mail only. It doesn't really work that way. You can tell them not to call you at work, but you can't exclude phone conversations and go only with mail. They received that as a cease and desist letter and would not contact you.
Hopefully that PFD will come through and you can get this one over with.
No, a PIF will not reset the CRTP. Just make sure when dealing with the creditors you never acknowledge the account was yours, never sign anything setting up payments, etc. I've always said, I don't remember this to be mine, but just to get rid of this... etc.
July 2013 score: EQ FICO 819, TU08 778, EX "806 lender pull 07/26/2013
Goal Score: All Scores 760+, Newest goal 800+
Take the myFICO Fitness Challenge
Current scores after adding $81K in CLs and 2 new cars since July 2013
EQ:809 TU 777 EX 790 Now it's just garden time!
June 2017 update: All scores over 820, just pure gardening now.
@noneedlessnoise wrote:Shogun, thanks for your reply.
Here is the actual wording of the DV I sent Vision:
"Dear Sir or Madam:
I dispute that this debt is mine and demand you validate it by producing the contract, card member agreement and documentation showing you purchased this debt properly. Do not contact me by telephone about this debt; I will only discuss it in writing. You have 30 days to validate this debt, if you do not, remove it from my credit reports for all three bureaus, do not contact me in any way about this debt again, and do not sell or give this debt to any other agency."
Not sure if that gives me leverage or not, but as I said, they have not attempted to collect on it. The guy on the phone told me that ordinarily they will send accounts like mine back to the creditor, because they will not collect on it. I sent them a PFD, but I'm confused as to who it should go to, since the account on my CR is Vion, not Vision Financial.
If I PIF CapOne, I'm able to just sign into their website and just pay it electronically. Is there any downside to this? Or should I just send them a cashier's check or something?
OK.. for a simple DV, they don't have to produce all that. They don't have to show contracts, signatures, nothing.
When you put do not contact me, this is a cease and desist.
With Cap1 you could pay it electronically, it would be the same. Still a trail of the payment can be made. You can print screen the payment and authorization number.
July 2013 score: EQ FICO 819, TU08 778, EX "806 lender pull 07/26/2013
Goal Score: All Scores 760+, Newest goal 800+
Take the myFICO Fitness Challenge
Current scores after adding $81K in CLs and 2 new cars since July 2013
EQ:809 TU 777 EX 790 Now it's just garden time!
June 2017 update: All scores over 820, just pure gardening now.
@noneedlessnoise wrote:Yeah I read through that, I was just wondering if anyone had suggestions, the list is really long!
Credit monitoring services are talked about in the board..Understanding FICO scoring.
You may want to post your question there.
It is going to depend on, if you are looking at a certain price range or the type of service offered.
There are many different opinions of people here on the subject of CMS. Take your time, do your research.
July 2013 score: EQ FICO 819, TU08 778, EX "806 lender pull 07/26/2013
Goal Score: All Scores 760+, Newest goal 800+
Take the myFICO Fitness Challenge
Current scores after adding $81K in CLs and 2 new cars since July 2013
EQ:809 TU 777 EX 790 Now it's just garden time!
June 2017 update: All scores over 820, just pure gardening now.