Interesting question.
You ask,
Someone told me today to request PFD's on old collections only and to let the new ones get old before requesting a PFD?? I am not sure if I agree with this. She said CA are more willing to settle on old debts rather than new ones. Any thoughts?
In my opinion, I dont agree. That advise ignores legal implications.
It is not all about just credit reporting, and waiting for things to "drop" from your credit report.
it is also about their legal ability, at any time, to bring legal action against you to seek a court judgment for payment of the debt.
Let me take two examples. One, a fairly recent CA, and the other, and older CA.
To make any assessment of the threat of the two CAs, you must first determine your legal ability to contest any action they might bring.
That requires prior knowledge of your state statute of limitations on your ability to make an SOL defense should they intitiate legal action.
To PFD an older CA is to tell them that you are not yet willing to just pay. So if your SOL has not expired, that may prompt them to bring legal action against you,thus avoiding any SOL defense you could offer. Then you are in court. You simply dont know what the CA will do. Know your SOL before you take this course.
You may just be awakening the giant.
Sure, older CAs may be more receptive to settling, but may be more receptive to legal action. You just dont know........
To PFD a younger CA has less liklihood of spooking them into immediaite legal action, but until you know your SOL, I would not take the advice of older vs younger PFDs to a CA as the best course of action.
