topic Re: DP on deleted collections account in Rebuilding Your Credit

DP on deleted collections account

Pizzarina_Sbarro — Wed, 29 Apr 2020 02:16:15 GMT

I paid a collections account with Midland Funding ($150) and they deleted it off my report one week after it was paid. The original creditor was Synchrony bank which hasn't appeared anywhere on my credit report for a while (I used to see it under 'closed accounts') so I'm not sure if the chargeoff is still reflected in my score somehow. The point increase was pretty modest, I believe some of the impact was blunted due to other 'baddies' I have (late payments on a student loan). My starting scores were 660-667 and below are the point increases by bureau with no other changes in my credit report:

Experian: +6

Equifax: +9

Transunion: +8

I was hoping for a higher increase (I like seeing the numbers go up!) but the non-score benefits make up for that. A collections account appears to be a nonstarter for many of the cards that I want, and now that roadblock is gone. Here are some anecdotal observations on differences in approvals and prequals with/without a collections account on my report:

AmEx: I'm now pre-qualified for Gold and Green card which did not show up 7-10 days ago.
Apple: They actually explicitly state that collections accounts are a no-no for their underwriting policies. I still decided to try last week anyways since it's a SP, but opted out when I got asked for my ID (I've read elsewhere on this forum that it's usually a sign that you're a borderline or they found something odd). I tried again today after I learned the collections account was gone. The result was that I was not asked for my ID and it breezed right through to approved status.
Chase: Also notable is that I applied for two Chase cards. One pulled from Experian only and was immediately approved - I believe this is because I had disputed the collections account with Experian in the past and it didn't show up as a collections account (but did show up as in my total debt?) The other card application pulled from all three bureaus and I got rejected. During recon, the CSR in the lending services agreed to submit my app for reconsideration after I said that I had paid the account.

Glad it's over and done with. On to the next baddie!

Re: DP on deleted collections account

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Apr 2020 02:32:37 GMT

Congrats on having the CA come off your CRs!

Was this your only reporting CA?

Re: DP on deleted collections account

AllZero — Wed, 29 Apr 2020 02:53:04 GMT

Congratulations on your success!

Re: DP on deleted collections account

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Apr 2020 03:09:56 GMT

Congrats! Just out of curiosity, was your CO with synchrony older? When did it disappear off your report?

Re: DP on deleted collections account

Pizzarina_Sbarro — Wed, 29 Apr 2020 03:18:54 GMT

Thanks, guys! To answer your questions:

Yes, it was the only collections account on my report.

My Synchrony CO was nearly ~5 years old. I'm not totally sure when it disappeared off, maybe within the past 6-12 months or so?

Re: DP on deleted collections account

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Apr 2020 03:22:48 GMT

@Pizzarina_Sbarro wrote:
Thanks, guys! To answer your questions:

Yes, it was the only collections account on my report.

My Synchrony CO was nearly ~5 years old. I'm not totally sure when it disappeared off, maybe within the past 6-12 months or so?

Well that is really awesome since you don't even have the CO reporting!

Give the scores a little time. I find they don't always reflect immediately with the updates. As I am sure you already know, as the lates continue to age off your scores should also greatly improve.

Congrats again!

Re: DP on deleted collections account

gdale6 — Wed, 29 Apr 2020 12:53:59 GMT

Sweet success, enjoy!

Re: DP on deleted collections account

nmk94 — Wed, 29 Apr 2020 13:20:53 GMT

Congratulations! Could I ask: by what method did you pay Midland? Credit card? Check? Looking to take care of something with them myself.

Re: DP on deleted collections account

FireMedic1 — Wed, 29 Apr 2020 14:19:48 GMT

@nmk94 wrote:
Congratulations! Could I ask: by what method did you pay Midland? Credit card? Check? Looking to take care of something with them myself.

Never give a CA your checking account info. CC will be fine. If you dont want to go that route. Money Order from USPS has tracking.

Re: DP on deleted collections account

nmk94 — Wed, 29 Apr 2020 14:24:44 GMT

@FireMedic1 wrote:
@nmk94 wrote:
Congratulations! Could I ask: by what method did you pay Midland? Credit card? Check? Looking to take care of something with them myself.
Never give a CA your checking account info. CC will be fine. If you dont want to go that route. Money Order from USPS has tracking.

Thanks!

Re: DP on deleted collections account

Pizzarina_Sbarro — Wed, 29 Apr 2020 16:09:30 GMT

I paid with credit card via their online system. They didn't send a receipt, but I wanted to pay electronically so I would have a PDF of the payment/balance page when I was doing Chase recon, in case I needed to 'prove' that I paid it. The online system is easy to navigate and you can chat with their CSRs for basic questions, but for more complicated things you have to call for an account manager. It will also show you if you have any discounts available for your colections account (I didn't). The online system also makes the documents/proof associated with the collections account viewable, such as monthly account statements and the chargeoff letter. This might be helpful if you were thinking of disputing the account (there were some things that didn't quite add up on mine) and want to know what they have to support the collections amount/ownership.

Another DP on the settlement is that Midland doesn't appear to offer substantial discounts for some collections account, even when the account is several years old. I think it's because my total was somewhat low, ~$150. After I politely disagreed with the total, they offered a $20 discount. I said that I only wanted to pay half and they said no and it looked like we wouldn't be able to settle the account. They called my bluff real good - later that day I sheepishly logged back onto their website and decided to just pay the whole thing in full to get it over with.

@nmk94 wrote:
Congratulations! Could I ask: by what method did you pay Midland? Credit card? Check? Looking to take care of something with them myself.

Re: DP on deleted collections account

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Apr 2020 19:05:54 GMT

Congratulations! Hope you have further success!

Re: DP on deleted collections account

nmk94 — Wed, 29 Apr 2020 23:03:01 GMT

Thanks @Pizzarina_Sbarro ! Super useful information!

Re: DP on deleted collections account

SweetCreditObsession — Sat, 02 May 2020 06:56:02 GMT

Thanks for that information and congratulations on the approvals.😀

Re: DP on deleted collections account

Red1Blue — Sat, 02 May 2020 11:39:54 GMT

Synchrony cleaned up all the credit reports and removed the trade lines they sold to collection agencies. Most likely it was even removed from your Credit report before the collection was reported. You can search the forum and you'll find more information.