topic Re: Is it worth doing a settlement without deletion? in Rebuilding Your Credit

Is it worth doing a settlement without deletion?

buttercup415 — Mon, 15 May 2017 19:56:41 GMT

I am trying to get a straight foward answer on this as I have looked and asked but get varying answers that aren't clear.

My situation is I have multple credit accounts that are now CLOSED.

Majority are still with the original creditor (Paypal, Amazon, Kohls etc)

I am getting letters from the ORIGINAL creditors for collections. SOME of the letters, specifically Synchrony Letters will have a different collection agency number on Synchrony Bank letter head. Which leaves me confused on whether to send a DV letter.

I have called the few that are with collection agencies and they have made it clear PFD is not an option!

I have called orignal creditors and they say it is NOT AN OPTION!

So meanwhile my credit score is at a record low. Every time I take a breath it's getting lower despite me salvaging the other credit accounts and catching up on payments now that I have some income again.

Some of my creditors and CA accounts are offering settlements but NO DELETION. I have a very tight budget and trying to move asap. Should I just pay off a few of the ones I can afford to do or is there another option?

THANK YOU!

Re: Is it worth doing a settlement without deletion?

Anonymous — Mon, 15 May 2017 20:04:38 GMT

Paying off a collection that isn't reporting a balance is not going to raise your scores at all. If it reports a balance, it will only affect your utilization scores but have zero effect on the derogatory score effect.

Paying off a collection SHOULD prevent a lawsuit from that creditor, but some creditors won't sue for small amounts.

Some creditors WILL PFD if you ask enough times. I've never seen an OC offer PFD but that's just my experience.

Re: Is it worth doing a settlement without deletion?

rmduhon — Mon, 15 May 2017 20:09:13 GMT

It's worth paying or settling even without deletion as it will prevent further damage to your scores in the form of becoming collections or even judgments if the accounts are still within SOL. You can always do a GW campaign afterwards.

Re: Is it worth doing a settlement without deletion?

Anonymous — Mon, 15 May 2017 22:12:17 GMT

Twice now I paid collections and they ended up deleting them, so you never know!

Re: Is it worth doing a settlement without deletion?

iamdetermined — Mon, 15 May 2017 23:51:38 GMT

I've been told the same thing in the past 2 months directly from the CA's. They flat out refused, so I did the dumb thing since disputed both. I received a notification from Transunion today - they deleted 2 paid collections!! I say it's worth a shot

FYI: First Premier and Upstate Collections were the creditors.

Re: Is it worth doing a settlement without deletion?

Anonymous — Tue, 16 May 2017 01:47:34 GMT

@iamdetermined, what did you say in your dispute?

Re: Is it worth doing a settlement without deletion?

RobertEG — Tue, 16 May 2017 01:56:51 GMT

There are many reasons for discharging a debt other than attempting to obtain credit report deletion.

It, for examples, removes any issue of civil action, and might be an underwriting requirment for a loan approval, regardless of whether still showing in your credit report.

Additionally, if a debt collector has not yet reported, it may preclude the addition of a collection to your credit report.

You can always choose to atttempt to wait for expiration of SOL and/or credit report exclusion, and thus rely upon a delinquent debt not being subject of civil action or capable of being discovered by a simple pull of your credit report.

Whether it is worth it is purely a personal decision.

Re: Is it worth doing a settlement without deletion?

Sandman771 — Tue, 16 May 2017 13:49:30 GMT

I recieved a letter from a debt collection agency (forgot to bring it to work with me) but the account is a charged off Cap One CC. It is showing charged off on my bureau, but not as a collection account. Should i go ahead and accept the settlemtn offer, then would it appear as a collection or should I try PFD?