Need advice!

[Anonymous]

Hi! I'm new to credit recovery and I'm looking for some advice. My wife and I are trying to build a house and will be applying for a mortgage soon. I currently have 3 accounts in collection. All 3 are old credit cards. We reside in Florida.

Account 1: $927 with 12/2005 as date of 1st delinquent with Midland Funding.
Account 2: $3,286 with 03/2006 as date of 1st delinquent with LVNV Funding.
Account 3: $12,196 with 6/2003* as date of 1st delinquent with Asset Acceptance.

There are two issues I need advice on.

1. Due to these items my Credit Score with Equifax is 598, which is low for a mortgage loan. If I pay (Full Amount or Settlement) I think my credit will go down further due to the date of activity on the collection changing to recent. Am I better off applying for a mortgage with these items on the report or paying them off first? Should I try PFD letters?

2. Account 3 with Asset Acceptance should have been gone from my in 2010 but in my ignorance I messed up. I was served Notice to Appear in court with them in 2008. I didn't know that the SOL was up on the debt and made 1 payment to them to stop the court date. If I would have taken the time to visit this site I could have went to court and had it dismissed. How should I handle this situation?

Any help is greatly appreciated! Thank you do much!

[Anonymous]

Also, the original debt for account 3 was only $3200.
$9000 in fees has been added since 2003!

[llecs]

1) I'd work on taking care of them now. Your lender will probably require you to pay them. I'd try PFDs and if accepted, they'll delete. Also be sure to pull all 3 reports, just not EQ.

2) On Account #3, exactly what is reporting? The CA? A judgment? If the DOFD is truly in 2003, nothing can reset DOFD and nothing can cause it to report beyond 2010. A judgment can report, but not the CA. SOL is separate and apart from reporting. You could still be within SOL. YMMV.

[Anonymous]

The CA is reporting on Account 3 (Asset Acceptance). There was no judgement. The collection in the report states that the date of last activity is 02/08. That is when I sent $200 to stop them from going to court. Should this be off my reports?

[Shogun]

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@Anonymous wrote:
The CA is reporting on Account 3 (Asset Acceptance). There was no judgement. The collection in the report states that the date of last activity is 02/08. That is when I sent $200 to stop them from going to court. Should this be off my reports?

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The DOLA doesn't factor into the time for reporting.  The DOFD has the distinction of starting the clock.  Did you sign to a new agreement when you sent them the payment?  If not then I would look into the DOFD then the SOL of your your state.  This could in fact be a Zombie debt but I would research it before making that decision.

[llecs]

If you haven't done so pull your credit reports directly from the CRAs or annualcreditreport.com. Look at your EQ report and you should see the DOFD listed. Double check to see if it shows 2003. Also look at the drop off dates for TU and EX. You can guage their DOFD based on those drop off dates.

Date of last activity doesn't matter with regards to the length of reporting, as doesn't your payment.

Yes, if a DOFD shows of 2003, it can't report.

ETA...slow typer.

[Anonymous]

I haven't signed anything, just sent a payment in 2/2008 to stop the court date. I just sent a check. The DOFD is listed as 6/2003 with the original creditor, Citibank. The SOL in Florida is 4 years for Credit Cards. What type of research should I do? I apologize for all the questions and thank you to everyone for the responses and help!

[Shogun]

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@Anonymous wrote:
I haven't signed anything, just sent a payment in 2/2008 to stop the court date. I just sent a check. The DOFD is listed as 6/2003 with the original creditor, Citibank. The SOL in Florida is 4 years for Credit Cards. What type of research should I do? I apologize for all the questions and thank you to everyone for the responses and help!

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Is this still showing up on your CR?   It's well past the 7 years +180 days and should have fallen off naturally.  It's also outside the SOL and judging by this it is a zombie debt.   

[Anonymous]

The EQ report shows 02/2008 as the DOFD for Asset Acceptance. It does not have the OC on that report. TU has the OC (Citibank) with the 6/2003 date.

[Anonymous]

I am just worried that I did something in 2008 to somehow renew the debt. I do not remember signing anything though. It was all done over the phone.