topic Re: Should I take them up? in Rebuilding Your Credit

Should I take them up?

leesa88 — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 18:57:25 GMT

Last week I sent a PFD Email to a CA for a charged off Macy's card. They wrote me back asking me if I had my account # which I gave them, then I didn't hear anything.

I started to kick myself for contacting them because the CA doesnt show on my CR's... just the actual Charged Off Account.

Today I got a settlement letter offering the show the account as satisfied and closed for 50% of what I owe..

I feel like this is a great deal, but will doing this re-age the account? If you were me would you take them up on the offer or should I re-send it to them asking for a pfd again?

Re: Should I take them up?

JohnPTEX — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 19:00:06 GMT

Satisfied and closed does not necessarily mean that they will not report it as "paid settlement" or some other form - I would make absultely sure that the don't plan to ever report to the CRAs before I paid them anything and then get it in writing

Re: Should I take them up?

pizzadude — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 19:00:23 GMT

@leesa88 wrote:
Last week I sent a PFD Email to a CA for a charged off Macy's card. They wrote me back asking me if I had my account # which I gave them, then I didn't hear anything.

I started to kick myself for contacting them because the CA doesnt show on my CR's... just the actual Charged Off Account.

Today I got a settlement letter offering the show the account as satisfied and closed for 50% of what I owe..

I feel like this is a great deal, but will doing this re-age the account? If you were me would you take them up on the offer or should I re-send it to them asking for a pfd again?

They are probably referring to the Collection account ~ meaning that they will likely report it to the CRAs after you pay.

CAs can't alter the status of the OC account ~ only Macy's can update their own tradeline.

I would keep on negotiating, get them to agree NOT to report in exchange for payment ~ that is what you want.

Re: Should I take them up?

js0319 — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 19:00:47 GMT

Regardless, the account still needs to be paid. I would take the settlement, and once it has been processed I will begin the GW process.

Re: Should I take them up?

leesa88 — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 20:07:07 GMT

Thanks for the replies.. I do want to pay the account, but a PFD would be preferrable. Mostly Im afraid that Im opening a can of worms and it re-ages. I hope to buy a home in the next year and know that this needs to be paid off

Im gonna send them a letter reiterating the settlement offer they provided, and advising them I will accept the settlement for a PFD.. doesnt hurt to try I guess.

Keeping my fingers crossed!!

Re: Should I take them up?

RobertEG — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 20:15:19 GMT

You can probably do a bit better than "satisfied and closed."

The reported status code for any account which is deemed by the creditor/debt collector to have been satisfied is "Paid."

A paid status indicates satisfaction of the debt, regardless of the amount that was accepted. So they are doing no favor by reporting "paid." That is a requirement.

Reporting "closed" is also a requirement for the debt collector once there is no longer a debt under collection.

The problem with their offer is not with what it says, it is with what it does not say.

When you satisfy a debt for less than the full amount, they can additionally report a special comment code of "paid for less." That will separately live in your CR, and is in and of itself a negative comment, as it indicates to others reviewing your CR that, in the past, you have failed to fully satisfy debt incurrred. Some on the site have even opined that FICO scores that negative comment, although I cant speak definatively on that. Regardless, it is a comment to be avoided.

I would counter at least with the offer that they also agree not to additionally report any comment related to having paid for less.

Re: Should I take them up?

Anonymous — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 20:17:35 GMT

@leesa88 wrote:

Today I got a settlement letter offering the show the account as satisfied and closed for 50% of what I owe..

I feel like this is a great deal, but will doing this re-age the account? If you were me would you take them up on the offer or should I re-send it to them asking for a pfd again?

It's not really a great deal, from the scoring perspective.

What this reads to me is as this: "Right now your account is CO, if you pay 50% of what you owe, we will change it to 'Paid as Agreed'"

Essentially, your FICO score won't change for this, but it WILL show up as PAID as per their agreement.

If what you are looking for is for it to just say PAID, then the settlement is there.

But if this is something that could actually affect your middle score come mortgage time, you might want to keep trying the PFD.

Re: Should I take them up?

Anonymous — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 06:26:42 GMT

DO NOT PAY UNLESS THEY TELL YOU IN WRITING THAT THEY WILL NOT REPORT ANYTHING TO THE CREDIT BUREAUS!

Write them a letter saying that you will pay $XXX.XX if they agree to never report your account, tradeline, or settlement to any of the 3 credit bureaus.

If they never report it, they will never have to enter anything negative about it. If you pay without this, they will mark it as "PAID LESS THAN FULL BALANCE".