how to fix a charged off acct??

[Anonymous]

keeping this as short as possible...

I had a dispute a few yrs ago with my (ex)bank over fees on an checking overdraft acct.   I fnally got the rep on the phone to agree that if I paid off the balance, they would remove fees.  I sent in full balance (minus fees), but they never removed fees.  Instead, more fees were added.

In the end the fees totaled a little over $200 which I didn't pay and subsequently got on my credit report (I actually forgot about it until a collections agency called).

Now I've been working at the same place for over 8 yrs and make over $300k.  I have no debt outside of my mortgage and auto lease (pymnts have never been late).  My cc are paid in full every month (mostly amex, probably ~60k/yr).

What do i do to get this stupid "little" thing off my credit?  From what collections told me, they can't do anything to remove that blemmish.  I still haven't paid because not only should i not have to pay those fees, but it doesn't sound like paying will help.... 

Any suggestions to clear this up?

Thanks for the help!!!

btw, I just applied for a $30k auto loan (from penfed) where I would put down $25k, and got rejected because they didn't like the charged off account on my record....  Hard to believe a $200 issue would matter more to a creditor than my income and large payment history.  Plus I'm putting down a huge down payment!  

[LIGHTNIN]

Welcome to the forums,

What you may want to do, is called a PFD Letter. It's a written agreement between you and the CA (collection agency).

Agreeing that you will pay and the CA will agree to delete this item from your CR (credit report).

Some CA's will agree and others do not.

But you need to get this agreement in your hand first before paying.

Why you ask, because if you pay without or before you get the written agreement, you will lose your leverage to get them to delete.

What State do you live in?    Is the CA the only one reporting this debt?  Or is the Bank reporting too?

On your CR, does it show a date of removal?  And do you know the DoFD (date of first default)?

You may want to read What Steps Do I Take?Do I DV?PFD?, if you haven't already.

[RobertEG]

If the charge-off was taken by the OC, then the debt collector cannot agree to deletion of credit reporting done by the OC.

You wouild have to either dispute the CO as being inaccurate in substance, in which case the dispute would go to the OC, or ask the OC for GW removal.  GW wont happen while the debt remains unpaid.

Resolution of the accuracy of their charge-off must be pursued with the OC, not the debt collector.

My biggest concern would be to prevent the debt collector from reporting their collection to your CR.  You can use a modified form of PFD, and offer the pay the debt collector in exchange for their agreement not to report their collection to a CRA.