charge off account questions

[trc1962]

After MUCH work and many medical collections paid for and removed I have only 2 charge offs to deal with. One is for $725 to JC Penney and one is to US Bank for 1200. Both are from 2012 and I need to deal with them in the best way possible. Want to try and purchase a home in 12 months and want the least damage on my report and wonder if a payment plan would hurt my report a lot? I really can't pay them in full right now as I need some money in savings for emergencies. My scores have improved to low to mid 600's and don't want to trash that. Any advice is appreciated.

[trc1962]

I should add that an attorney company has contacted me about the JC Penney account and said any payment plans or other would go through JC Penney as they (attorney company) do not report to the credit agencies. Just more information to add so my question is accurate.

[gdale6]

When did they last update?

[RobertEG]

Payment plans can be dangerous.  Not that you should not enter into one, but if you do, make sure you can continue with the payments.

If you then become delinquent, that can be a new cause of action even if the SOL on the original default has passed.

It would also depend upon the underwriting requirements of a mortgage lendor, such as whether being under a payment plan is adequae, or whether they insist on discharge of the delinquent debt.  It is hard to generalize.

[trc1962]

According to the credit report  the JC Penney one was last reported on 4/5/2015 and the last payment received was 2/1/2012. Is that what you meant by last reported? Thanks

[trc1962]

I could try to PFD both these accounts but the danger is that if they know you can scratch up the cash they will often serve you to get the money asap. Maybe I should speak to a couple of lenders and see what they suggest? The PFD did not work too well with me for my collection accounts, but paying them and then good willing them over and over did help. I appreciate the comments. I got very good at understanding and working with collections but the charge offs are a new one to tackle.

[gdale6]

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@trc1962 wrote:

According to the credit report  the JC Penney one was last reported on 4/5/2015 and the last payment received was 2/1/2012. Is that what you meant by last reported? Thanks

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This is the date I was after, your Fico has already taken the hit for the CO, so you are free to approach it in any manner you wish, I would start with the PFD. OCs are hard to get this from but you want this to stop updating ASAP so your Fico score can recover, it never can if they keep updating it every month. You can even settle without the PFD and move to GW letters as you have suggested yourself. Good luck

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Rebuilding-Your-Credit/PFD-Q-amp-A-Examples-and-PFD-Success-Stories/...

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Rebuilding-Your-Credit/PFD-Example-Letter/td-p/4519