No credit card required
Browse credit cards from a variety of issuers to see if there's a better card for you.
I gave the long story of how my mother got into trouble here:
She has a Kohls charge on her Experian report that is listed as first reported in Aug 2010 with a "date of status" of Sep 2012. The Experian report indicates that it comes off in Jan 2019. (I believe it's on other reports, but Experian is the only updated one I have at the moment.)
This was her credit card that an unscrupulous family member got a hold of and ran up on her. The family member then never paid it and my mother never paid it, since it wasn't her charges. (Yes, dumb, I know.)
We've previously disputed the debt as the card had no debt on it before the family member got a hold of it.
My mother is in AZ and while the SOL may be 3 years, it may also be 6 years due to a recent change. As a result, I'm very conservative about what I'm doing on this as I do not want to encourage Kohls to sue her.
She received a letter from Credit Control, LLC basically offering to settle the debt. The exact language is:
"Sometime difficult situations arise that can cause financial hardship. We want to help you resolve your account and we are authorized to offer you the below affordable options for you to pay off this account.
1. Pay 50% in one payment
2. Pay 50% in 3 payments
3. Pay 50% in 6 payments
... standard debt collector language ..."
This is the newest debt on her Experian report, so I'd like to do a PFD, or at least have it marked as PIF. I'm contemplating writing back Credit Control and offering them $250 for a PFD. Is that a good strategy or am I just going to encourage a more aggressive approach?
Helpful Son
I received the exact same letter this week from Credit Conrol for a Kohls account. Since the debt is past statute of limitations for me (NC = 3 years), I am planning on sending a DV letter with that the SOL reminder.
Autobot, I would do the same, except Kohls already has a derog on my mother's credit report. I'd like to stem the bleeding, so to speak, but I'm not sure if that's the right move.If this were older or the only derog, I'd likely do the same as you.
Bumping to the top in the hopes that others will have some thoughts.
If they can still use the courts to get a judgment I would not be offering a PFD for less than their offer of 50%, if it is past SOL then you can offer PFD for whatever you want without the threat of a lawsuit. If Kohls or their CA are updating monthly I would advise sending PFD at 50% and if they reject such I would still settle to stop the monthly updating it keeps the Fico score from recovering.
http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Rebuilding-Your-Credit/PFD-Q-amp-A-Examples-and-PFD-Success-Stories/...
http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Rebuilding-Your-Credit/PFD-Example-Letter/td-p/4519
While its not entirely clear to me when the statute of limitations began to run, it does seem that it would be no earlier than July 2011 and no later than January 2012, based upon the date the debt comes off the credit report. Since she's still within the SOL period, it seems like I should let sleeping dogs lie.
Update: I wrote the PFD letter and got no response whatsoever. Credit Control has sent another dunning letter, simliar to the last. Since we may still be within the SOL on this, I don't plan on communicating further.