What to do with Status: Charged off or Bad Debt/Collection

[payingoffdebt001]

I noticed my TU & EQ have different status on my auto loan repo from 2009.  Looks like the way EQ has it written is the more favorable way, how could I get the others to change the status to the same as EQ?  Here is how they list:

EQ:  (FAVORABLE)

STATUS: Bad Debt/Collection

Description:  *Charged off Account

                         *Auto

TU

STATUS: Charged Off as Bad debt

Description:  *Profit & Loss write Off 

I know the EQ is more favorable because when I go to the Simulator of the two, EQ list zero balance on the section of  past due debt where as TU list the 15,000 balance as being past due.

When I add a new CC to simulator for the two:

EQ bumps me up

TU Lowers my score

I'm sure its because on TU this New CC will ADD to my debt and EQ is not listing the balance of 15,000 .  The only difference I see in the way the two are reporting is the Status & Description.

Question:  How can I get TU to also list the status & Description the same as what EQ has?

[guiness56]

They both mean the exact same thing.  Neither is more favorable than the other, as they are both negative accounts.

One CRA is reporting the balance the other is not.  It has nothing to do with the status and description.

[payingoffdebt001]

oh, okay..but both have the same Balance on my report, I just though maybe it was the status that was making the difference since it was the only tihng different.

[guiness56]

Profit and loss write off is the same thing as a charge off.  They mean the same thing.

Both may be reporting a balance but only one CRA is including it in your calculations.  Why one does and the other doesn't, I have no clue.

[payingoffdebt001]

Thanks Guiness56! 

[RobertEG]

There is a distinction between a charge-off and a collection-related reporting to the CRA.

Charge-offs are internal bookeeping measures taken by a credtior when they wish to declare the debt as uncollectible, which then permits them to write off the bad debt on their taxes. A creditor is permitted to report their act of charge-off to the CRAs.  Charge-offs have nothing to do with collections, although many creditors regaularly refer a debt to a debt collector after doing a charge-off.  It may be a warning of a collection.

Collection related activities are separate.  Whether or not a credtior has done a charge-off, they can choose to refer the unpaid debt for collection.  The creditor reports this to the CRA by way of a reporting code called a collection referral.  A collection referral is not, in and of itself, a collection.  It is notice that they have assigned or sold the debt to a debt collector.  The debt collector than has the option of reporting their collection activity to a CRA.  If they do, then the collection referral becomes an actual collection account in your CR, and additionally affects your credit score.

If EQ is reporting a charge-off and collection referral, that would indicate that the credtior reported both a charge-off and collection referral to a CRA.  That may be an indication that a collection may soon be reported.

If, after doing a charge-off, and the OC therafter reports a $0 balance on their account, that usually means that they did more than refer the debt to a debt collector.  It indicates that they sold the debt to the debt collector, and thus can no longer accept any payment on the debt.  The reporting of a $0 balance by an OC when the debt, in fact,remains unpaid is not necessarily good news.  It means you can no longer deal with the OC regarding payment of the debt.

If TU reported only a charge-off, then that would suggest that the creditor did not post their collection referral to TU.