On a short timeline- urgent need advice

[Anonymous]

Dell Financial has sold my debt to MCM. MCM contacted me today and said they are reccommending my account to an attourney in my state and this is a courtesy call to settle the debt. They have offered to consider the debt paid in full for 50% of the total owed. HOWEVER, DELL FINANCIAL is still reporting this debt every month as late even though the status says "Account chared off/ written off.". MCM is not even showing up on my credit report yet. MCM said they will list the account paid in full but that they have no control over what dell is reporting. MCM says that they've only owned the debt since early February. How can I get Dell to report this paid in full, or at least stop reporting it. What leverage do I have with Dell if I pay MCM? MCM says I need to pay today for this offer to be valid. I want Dell to report this paid in full, not MCM. Pleaase help me, I dont know what to do.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Dell Financial has sold my debt to MCM. MCM contacted me today and said they are reccommending my account to an attourney in my state and this is a courtesy call to settle the debt. They have offered to consider the debt paid in full for 50% of the total owed. HOWEVER, DELL FINANCIAL is still reporting this debt every month as late even though the status says "Account chared off/ written off.". MCM is not even showing up on my credit report yet. MCM said they will list the account paid in full but that they have no control over what dell is reporting. MCM says that they've only owned the debt since early February. How can I get Dell to report this paid in full, or at least stop reporting it. What leverage do I have with Dell if I pay MCM? MCM says I need to pay today for this offer to be valid. I want Dell to report this paid in full, not MCM. Pleaase help me, I dont know what to do.

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Becca,

Can you give us a little more info about the debt?

• When was the DoFD on the Dell account. This would be the date (month and year) that you fell behind in your payments and never again became current.
• How, exactly (copy & paste the tradeline, if you can, minus any personally identifying information) does the tradeline from Dell report?
• Did you make *any* payments, after defaulting, to Dell, or any other collection agency?
• How much is the debt for? Can you afford to PIF?
• What is the applicable statute of limitations (SOL) for this debt?

While we wait for the additional info--

Did MCM contact you by phone? If so, they have five days to send you a dunning notice. I wouldn't fret too much over a telephone threat to refer you to an attorney if you don't settle for 50% today. The idea is to make you feel as though there's no time, and no options. You've got time. Even if they decided to sue you, you've got time. And, if you pay them 50% without a written agreement that it was settled in full & that they can't turn around and sell the balance due to another collection agency... well, they'll likely keep collecting, or sell the remaining balance.

You'll need to DV the CA (in writing, CMRR). Get everything in writing. If they provide the proof required, and you don't dispute the validity of the debt, I'd go right for the PFD negotiations.  Even if you offer less than the balance due, you'll want that to be settled in full, and ideally, paid in exchange for a deletion.

[Anonymous]

Thank you so much for responding!! Here is the info you asked for:

When was the DoFD on the Dell account. This would be the date (month and year) that you fell behind in your payments and never again became curren

Date opened: 6/2004

Reported since: 7/2004

Date of status: 1/2009

Recent balance $1907 as of 10/2010

Charge off as of June 2010 to August 2010, Apr 2010, Feb 2010, Jan 2010, Jul 2009, April 2009, Feb 2009, Jan 2009

150 days past due as of Dec 2008

120 days past due as of Nov 2008, Nov 2007

90 days past due as of Oct 2008, Oct 2007

60 days past due as of Sep 2008, Sept 2007

• How, exactly (copy & paste the tradeline, if you can, minus any personally identifying information) does the tradeline from Dell report?

Status: Account charged off. $1907 written off, $265 pas due as of Aug 2010

Status details: This account is scheduled to continue on record until Jun 2015

• Did you make *any* payments, after defaulting, to Dell, or any other collection agency?

Not that I know of

• How much is the debt for? Can you afford to PIF?

MCM wants $967 to list "paid in full"

No, I could not afford to pay the full balance. MCM says the balance owed is $1934.76

• What is the applicable statute of limitations (SOL) for this debt?

Status details: This account is scheduled to continue on record until Jun 2015

MCM contacted me by phone today. They faxed me the settlement agreement in the amount $967.38 due on 3/4/11. After recieving final payment we will consider the account paid in full and the three major credit reporting agencies will be updated accordingly.

They mailed me a DV in early Februrary, the debt is mine, although Dell shows 1907 on my credit report and MCM shows 1934.76. We're trying to buy a house and I want this resolved as soon as possible. I will pay the 50% but not the full balance. I'm mostly concerned with how Dell is going to report this, and if they will keep reporting it as late with the same status as above. I want Dell to repot it "paid in full" as well.  MCM isnt on my credit report as of today, and the rep wasnt 100% that it would ever show up. I dont want to hurt my score more, I'm trying to help it. I will do whatever I need to do to help my score. I'm currently at 598 and i'm just trying to get to a point where I will be approved for a mortgage.

[203bravo]

It appears as if Dell still owns the account - if you pay it then dell will report as paid settled for lesser amount if you settle.  Even if you pay the full account balance the account will continue to show as a charge off.

A couple of things to think about here -

1 - you may be able to deal with Dell (the bank) directly and get this resolved with a PFD letter

2 - have you already started working with a mortgage lender?  If so you may want to see how they recommend you handle it.. Many will accept the paid for less option, but may require you to pay this during the closing process and not now.

Some that have specific experience with Dell may be able to offer better advice.

[Anonymous]

I called Dell to see if I could work with them directly and he said that he needed to transfer me to the collections department and also gave me the phone number for them. It's the same phone number as MCM. So what do I do now?!

[203bravo]

That is a very common problem once the account is with a  CA. -- I would again refer to your mortgage lender to find out exactly what direction they would need you to take.

[LIGHTNIN]

becca773,    What is your states SOL?   OR What state do you live in?

If you dont know, your States Statutes of Limitations you can google it. Let us know.

[Anonymous]

I originally applied for the creidt cards in IL and the SOL is 5 years. I'm currently living in WI and the SOL is 6 years. Does anyone know which SOL I would use? I went ahead and paid this collection account for 50% of the balance, but they are reporting as paid in full. I'm still not sure what's going to happen with the OC because as of yesterday they were still reporting it as past due every month. I called the OC before I paid the CA and they said that the CA will tell them when it's paid and the OC will then list is as paid. She wouldnt give it to me in writing- so I hope they keep their word. If that would stop reporting late every month that should boost my score a little. But on the flipside, the CA has never shown on my report, so now if they do show up, that's probably going to hurt me, even though its paid. So who knows. I'm at 598 as of yesterday, I just want to get to 630 so I can get approved for a mortgage. This is probably going to delay me. Thanks to everyone for their help with this, it's appreciated. By the way, MCM (midland credit management) is awful to deal wtih. I got screamed at, threatened, and then hung up on for asking simple questions.