topic Re: Where is the real leverage with PFD??????? in General Credit Topics

Where is the real leverage with PFD???????

Anonymous — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 20:15:29 GMT

Im new to this and not up on the whole ting but can someone explain where the real power behind a PFD lies.........the CA already knows your willing and able to pay the account and even if they do not delete they can turn it over for judgement which means at one point in your life you will pay the debt..........am i not understanding this ? seems to me that all they need to do is sit tight and wait and continue making peoples lives hell until the SOL which can be years.........can someone explain this to me please?

Re: Where is the real leverage with PFD???????

atlastontheroad — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 20:23:13 GMT

It all depends upon what you are focused on accomplishing.

Waiting it out is an option.

For me, paying debts that are mine is a way of being. For me, and speaking solely for me, it's the right thing to do. It's a karma thing.

Except for Midland.

atlast....

Re: Where is the real leverage with PFD???????

sh9730 — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 20:26:47 GMT

Yes, the OP makes good points. Your leverage is MUCH higher on an already out of SOL debt. BUT, even for debts within SOL, there is a cost involved with them taking you to court, and then the costs to actually collect on the judgement....so it can be a win/win, BUT as you say, when the CA has other options, its not quite as attractive to them.

Re: Where is the real leverage with PFD???????

Anonymous — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 20:28:41 GMT

Do not get me wrong, Im not looking to walk away form anything and am trying to d the right thing including paying off the debt, Im just trying to understand where the power is with the PFD.......the longer i think about it and examine it the more I think there really is no power and am totally shocked it works at all..........just my thoughts, hopefully someone proves me wrong because id sure love to PFD some negs

Re: Where is the real leverage with PFD???????

Anonymous — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 20:31:22 GMT

My one and only objective with any of this is to clean up the debt while also removing as much neg. reporting as possible and move forward, I have learned my lessons and am in a different spot in life now but this is the gift that keeps on giving

Re: Where is the real leverage with PFD???????

Anonymous — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 20:35:02 GMT

jbtj wrote:
Im new to this and not up on the whole ting but can someone explain where the real power behind a PFD lies.........the CA already knows your willing and able to pay the account and even if they do not delete they can turn it over for judgement which means at one point in your life you will pay the debt..........am i not understanding this ? seems to me that all they need to do is sit tight and wait and continue making peoples lives hell until the SOL which can be years.........can someone explain this to me please?

A lot has to do with the person and what they are trying to do. Getting any collection off your CR is good.

Most OCs do not assign or sell a debt for months or years after the DOFD. A CA can not change the dates which means SOL (unless payment is made) remains the same. In order to get a judgment for a past debt SOL is used as defense. IF SOL is 3 years and a CA files a lawsuit 4 years after DOFD....your defense against the judgment is past SOL.

When SOL is past you have a better chance of a PFD because they can not file suit & win.

Any reporting on a collection kills your scores!!!!!

Re: Where is the real leverage with PFD???????

ChuckG — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 20:39:09 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
My one and only objective with any of this is to clean up the debt while also removing as much neg. reporting as possible and move forward, I have learned my lessons and am in a different spot in life now but this is the gift that keeps on giving

I think that is the objective of pretty much everyone on this site.

As for why a CA would accept a PFD, I think the main reason is that a dollar in the hand is worth 2 in the bush kind of thing. Not only is it money to pump back into their business, but it's also another successfully collected debt for their resume.

Some people ask, why WOULDN'T they accpet a PFD? what interest is it of theirs that your credit stays screwed? Well quite a bit I would think... CA's make their money off of people with bad credit, and just because they get their money, if they improve your score enough, you might not pay off the other CA you owe, and they are hurting their whole industry. Plus, the lower your score is, the higher your rates are, and the more likely you are to have another charged off account that they can make gobs of money from... it is in their best interest to keep us all in the credit score crapper, but when it comes down to it, sometimes they will accept a PFD just to pay some bills, get the account off their books and start devoting resources to another account. Plus I think the % of informed consumers who read up on this site and actually attempt these sorts of settlements is relatively small.

just my $.02

Re: Where is the real leverage with PFD???????

Anonymous — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 20:45:45 GMT

Hey Chuck.........TY for the reply and input, I noticed your CS #'s on your post.....wow huge moves in short time, care to share some ideas with a newbie trying to do the same thing? Thanks again

Re: Where is the real leverage with PFD???????

Anonymous — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 21:29:52 GMT

Bear in mind that when you call a collection agency--or one calls you--the person you are talking to is trained (in most cases) to be rude and to say "no" to any outside-the-box solution like a PFD. The first thing to do is to ask for a supervisor. If they express any willingness to do a PFD, ask to communicate in writing. Verbal agreements, while technically binding, are difficult to prove much less enforce.

Re: Where is the real leverage with PFD???????

ChuckG — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 21:35:35 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Hey Chuck.........TY for the reply and input, I noticed your CS #'s on your post.....wow huge moves in short time, care to share some ideas with a newbie trying to do the same thing? Thanks again

Thanks JBtj, I'm still a newbie myself and there are a lot of people here who could give you better advice than I could. With my own situation, there was a fair amount of inaccurate information that I had to challenge before it was deleted. I also paid off a few CA's before finding this site, before I knew what a DV or a PFD was, so those things helped but not perhaps as much as they could have if I'd done them the right way. I also added 3 high fee, low limit credit cards, which aren't the most economical things in the world, but as I needed to have some current revolving credit on my account, they seemed to help quite a bit.

I've still got a ways to go, $10,021 in old debts to be exact. Up until this point I had been putting about $2k/mo into my old debts, but that's on hiatus now due to the fact that I have to hire an attorney for a personal matter, but I hope to be back on schedule in a couple months.

Anyway, my advice is read read read... lots of good info here. The most important thing I learned is to never deal with a CA over the phone... they seem to be very understanding people when they finally get you on the phone if you sound like you're willing to pay, but they will screw you if they can... do everything via certified mail.

Re: Where is the real leverage with PFD???????

Anonymous — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 21:42:36 GMT

jbtj wrote:
Do not get me wrong, Im not looking to walk away form anything and am trying to d the right thing including paying off the debt, Im just trying to understand where the power is with the PFD.......the longer i think about it and examine it the more I think there really is no power and am totally shocked it works at all..........just my thoughts, hopefully someone proves me wrong because id sure love to PFD some negs

Keep in mind that the CA isn't the original organization that you owed the debt to. In many cases, they purchase your debt for 12 - 15 cents for each dollar owed. That $1000 they keep harrassing you for only cost them $150. Throwing 500 at them still provides them a nice return on their investment.

With that said, the only reason they report to the CRAs is to extort you into paying them. So if you are in a position to pay, and have a willingness to pay, then they have accomplished their goal. If you pay, they should be willing to remove the negative as the original point of putting it on your report is to give it more power than it would have otherwise.

It is a strong arm move, make no mistake about it. But it costs them little to nothing to take it off your report, and if a debt is SOL, then that is in essence the only way they will get paid. Ultimately, a win/win for all involved. They get some money, you remove the negatives from your credit report. Life is beautiful.