Settling with American Coradius

[Anonymous]

Hey guys- I have a quick question for you guys- I currently owe 16k to USAA and it has since been charged off as of 2014- I was up to debt with this one and a cap one 1k bill just barely making it by because of a job change (reduced salary) and $900 car payment- So I was in an accident and that paid the car off and enough for me to buy another car cash- I paid the cap one off and now just have the 16k on USAA-  In addition I had a sports car which I sold and paid off my entire 16k home equity and put 12k in the bank- American coradius called and offered me 8,3xx on the USAA collection with 2k on the 31st of this month and 533.xx each month to finish out an entire year-  Because I have money in the bank now and trying to get qualified on another mortgage would I be better off to call them tomorrow and offer a one time settlement amount for like 5K.....I'm trying to get my credit from the 587 area past 620 and I believe it may be the one big thing holding me back...  I can either pay it in cash or put it on my home equity and because I don't have the car payment and insurance is down considerably ....  Or could I go around and just call USAA - when I talked to them before they acted like it was a good deal to pay the colllection company

[Anonymous]

Well I didn't hear anything from you guys- So I made the call about 30 min ago and they asked me what I could do- i made the comment of  $5,300 cash and they put me on hold for a few minutes and came back and said that would work- Frustrating knowing now I might have been able to go lower but also wanted to get it taken care of and paid.....   Hopefully this will boost my credit past into the 600- these were my only two negatives CO on USAA for 15k and CO on Cap one for 1k....  Any insight on my score now???

[IOBA]

I'm sorry no one has responded yet.  (I was traveling and off line.)

You should get something in writing from the collection company before making any payment.  What's worked for me (on behalf of other people) is to require the letter, the CA says no, and I explain that the money is being loaned by a family member who put the condition on the loan.  It's worked every time.

I don't know the what the immediate effect will be on your credit.  Evidentually, the credit score will increase becuase the collection will be marked as paid in full.  

[Anonymous]

So I have received a letter stating that USAA has accepted my settlement for $5,300 in regards to my account and has a new balance of $0.00..   Do I need to send this letter off to the credit bureaus or will they automatically update it???