Unusual Situation-To remove car loan from reports, is this the best thing for me?

[Anonymous]

Hi Everyone,

Thank you in advance for any and all help!

So I have a bit of an unusual situation, and I want to know how best to handle it in terms of my credit score.

I have a car loan on my reports that has been charged off with a derogatory remark. I'll give relevant info while trying to be brief:

I am the co-owner (not primary) on this car. During the Great Recession after losing my job I realized I could not keep it anymore because the payments were just too high. They would not allow me to refinance or turn in and settle because I was not the primary owner. I was able to tenuously hold on to it for a year or so afterward by making payments here and there, but eventually I had no choice but to stop making payments on it. They never came and got the car though so I've had it sitting in my driveway for years. Since before the charge off and after the charge off I've been trying to pay/settle with them, but no one will work with me (that's when I even get the chance to talk to someone).

Paying them is not the issue. I've been trying to give them money for years.

I'm in a better financial situation now and so I've hired an attorney and we are suing them. I told him that I wanted the account deleted from all reports as a condition of settlement (or an agreement not to validate or verify any dispute so they can be removed that way too). Looking over my reports now, I'm thinking that may be a mistake. My AAoA is 7-something years with this account, and without it, it would be a couple of months.

My questions are (in terms of my credit score-which I've been working hard to raise)-is it better to have this derogatory account removed? Can it be modified to just "Paid" with the derogatory info removed-and would that be better?

Thanks again!

[RobertEG]

What is your basis for suing them?

That would appear to be the key in regard to any demands you are making on them regarding credit reporting.

It is unclear as to what dastardly act they commited that warrants civil action on your part, or as leverage to force compliance with your credti reporting conditions.

As for your terms regarding their agreement not to respond to any dispute, if I were in their shoes, I would not agree to such a stipulation.

The FCRA requires a furnisher, upon being forwarded a dispute, to investigate and reply back to the CRA.  You are thus asking them to agree not to comply with a statutory requirment.  That would most likely not be an enforceable contract provision.  They can agree to delete the derog, but cannot agree, in my opinion,  to subvert the dispute process as a means to have the CRA delete based on lack of a statutorily required response.  It appears to be a verifiable debt?

If the debt was defaulted years ago, what is the reported DOFD?

The reported CO has a credit report exclusion date of no later than 7 years plus 180 days from the reported DOFD.

Once the CO is excluded from your scoring, it would be benefical not to have the entire account deleted, as it would remove it from AAoA.

[Anonymous]

What is your basis for suing them?

That would appear to be the key in regard to any demands you are making on them regarding credit reporting.

It is unclear as to what dastardly act they commited that warrants civil action on your part, or as leverage to force compliance with your credti reporting conditions.

Before the debt was charged off I

A) Would get no response whatsoever

or

B) Was told I could not settle and turn in or refinance (when a person would actually talk to me)

Then the debt was charged off (3 years ago). I tried repeatedly after that but again, no contact. They won't even respond to my attorney. Had they allowed me to settle and turn in, or refinance, the charge-off would have been avoided and they would have gotten their money.

So that is why I am suing them. I've been trying to resolve this for ~5 years. I never implied that I don't owe the debt. In fact, I've been begging them to take my money for years. Why should I have a charge-off sitting on my credit when it could have been avoided being put on there in the first place? Why should I have a charged-off balanced account that reports every month, sitting on my credit when I've been trying to pay them for years? There was some stuff going on behind the scenes at their company, which is why my attorney suspects the game of hot potato, but that's not my fault. I have a right to be able to correct/fix things and not have it repeatedly negatively affect me.

As for your terms regarding their agreement not to respond to any dispute, if I were in their shoes, I would not agree to such a stipulation.

The FCRA requires a furnisher, upon being forwarded a dispute, to investigate and reply back to the CRA.  You are thus asking them to agree not to comply with a statutory requirment.  That would most likely not be an enforceable contract provision.  They can agree to delete the derog, but cannot agree, in my opinion,  to subvert the dispute process as a means to have the CRA delete based on lack of a statutorily required response.

I'll have them delete then. It will drop my AAoA but my credit "story" will be better.

Thanks for your input. I appreciate it!

[Anonymous]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

What is your basis for suing them?

That would appear to be the key in regard to any demands you are making on them regarding credit reporting.

It is unclear as to what dastardly act they commited that warrants civil action on your part, or as leverage to force compliance with your credti reporting conditions.

Before the debt was charged off I

A) Would get no response whatsoever

or

B) Was told I could not settle and turn in or refinance (when a person would actually talk to me)

Then the debt was charged off (3 years ago). I tried repeatedly after that but again, no contact. They won't even respond to my attorney. Had they allowed me to settle and turn in, or refinance, the charge-off would have been avoided and they would have gotten their money.

So that is why I am suing them. I've been trying to resolve this for ~5 years. I never implied that I don't owe the debt. In fact, I've been begging them to take my money for years. Why should I have a charge-off sitting on my credit when it could have been avoided being put on there in the first place? Why should I have a charged-off balanced account that reports every month, sitting on my credit when I've been trying to pay them for years? There was some stuff going on behind the scenes at their company, which is why my attorney suspects the game of hot potato, but that's not my fault. I have a right to be able to correct/fix things and not have it repeatedly negatively affect me.

As for your terms regarding their agreement not to respond to any dispute, if I were in their shoes, I would not agree to such a stipulation.

The FCRA requires a furnisher, upon being forwarded a dispute, to investigate and reply back to the CRA.  You are thus asking them to agree not to comply with a statutory requirment.  That would most likely not be an enforceable contract provision.  They can agree to delete the derog, but cannot agree, in my opinion,  to subvert the dispute process as a means to have the CRA delete based on lack of a statutorily required response.

I'll have them delete then. It will drop my AAoA but my credit "story" will be better.

Thanks for your input. I appreciate it!

---

I would ask them to remove all derogs from the account and leave it in place.

[Anonymous]

I believe that payment history weighs a bit heavier than AAoA when it comes to FICO scoring

If the creditor offers to settle out of court then your attorney could draft a settlement letter that includes the removal of derogatory information from your credit report

[Anonymous]

Hi Ahmed,

Thanks for your input. So, they're being stubborn, and I'm being stubborn. While I DO have a basis for a lawsuit, I've been thinking I don't really have the time or the inclination to do that. I just want it over with. What if I settle and let them just update it to "settled"? This was charged off in 2012 and while having it say "settled" isn't ideal, I'd rather have the $0 balance and move on quickly with more money in my pocket, especially since I need to buy a new car soon. Will this impact my score and report very negatively?

I've worked really hard and this is the last derogatory thing on my CR. This derog would still be there, but it will at least be settled and at $0. My financing rate won't be ideal when I go to buy because all of my other credit is new and this will still be on there in some form-but I'm willing (and have the money) to wait a bit with a higher % then refinance.

Also, if anyone knows what to do with the car since it's still in my driveway, I'd appreciate any advice on that too!

Thanks!

Edit: changed nay to any

[crrredit]

Who has the title?

[Anonymous]

They do.

I was going to ask for the title as part of the deal but I don't care. It hasn't been driven in years and is in such horrible shape they'd probably get $500 at auction, so they can do whatever they want. I was going to fix it up (needs about 1500-2k worth of work), but I hate the thing and want it gone.

[RobertEG]

I assume that by stating you sent offers to "settle," you mean you offered less than the full amount of the asserted debt?

[Anonymous]

No, they are the ones who when contacted by my attorney-offered to settle for less. I have no problem settling for less, especially because I've had to incur attorney's fees due to this.

I had a lot of great stuff happen this past weekend/end of last week and I decided I don't want any negativity in my life-and if that means letting them "win" then that's fine by me. I want it behind me more than I want to be right.

That aside, the car's been sitting in the driveway for years, looking like a prop from The Walking Dead and it needs to be gone.

Anyway, I just wanted to know if dropping it and settling would have a huge impact on my "credit story" since the derog's been there for 3-something years.