Old stuff popping up....how to go about settling?

[Anonymous]

OK, I'm new here so please imbibe me with your knowledge!! This is long, my apologies!

About 3 years back, I actively started taking control of my credit that I had royally screwed up with credit cards in college. In addition, I didn't know that my student loans had come into repayment (I was still in school) and I almost defaulted on 50K before I was granted a deferral...eek! So, I made settlements with my Victoria's Secret, Radio Shack and Maurices cards. Even though I know settlements aren't the greatest, those were the only options I had. But I also had 2 CC's through my bank that never showed up on my CR and I never recieved paperwork/ collections notices on, so those weren't included in my settlements back then.

Fast forward 3 years, and I am doing pretty well for myself. Last year I got my first CC to start rebuilding (trying to buy a house!), was granted a CC through my local CU about 4 months back and I am a PIF customer (didn't even want the cards, to tell you the truth!made me nervous ) . Then, I started getting calls from a Riddle and Associates for some accounts that I had just had removed from my CR's because they weren't mine, and I sent them a letter stating such. Then another surprise for me; I got an early morning wakeup call on my work cell phone from another "law firm" asking for $2200 on my old WaMu card. Citibank was apparently the credit issuer and I happen to have consolidated federal student loans with them that I pay on time every month, so its no surprise they found me, I guess! I settled for the final balance on the card which was $1298 after I verified that it was my debt.

So here's my question....I know that I have at least one other WaMu card, same circumstances but only a $400 CL out there somewhere. I also have a few phone bills popping up on some of my CR's: AT&T for $1040 (although I'm 90% positive I made payments through a CA and paid that one off while in college, I'm about to dispute) and also a Verizon for around $800. Both of these would have gone delinquent around 2003, but the Verizon was reaged and reported in 2007 on my EQ. How would I go about sending out settlement offers and what is the best % to offer? The Wamu I could probably pay in full, and I would like to deal with the OC's if possible. I should hopefully be getting a bonus next month and I'm not doing a huge Christmas, so I'd like to just pay these off as a present to myself, especially because I'm sure things will get worse when they realize I can pay them, and I'm not going to feel like I'm being hunted again.

And a second question...I've just recently heard about the 1099 and the claiming of settlements as income....I didn't do this with my settlements 3 years ago, but this settlement was pretty substantial. Do I wait for them to send me something or what should I be looking for when tax time comes?

Thank you so much!

[Anonymous]

Hi Ms. Tara,

First, welcome to myfico!  There is so much info and knowledge here, and I'll assume I speak for all when I say the more the merrier!

I don't have a ton of experience with this stuff, but did my rounds w/ CA's 5-6 years ago.  Mods, please correct and chastise me if I'm wrong, but I don't think you'd be able to deal with the OC's once they've gone to collection unless there was a question of validity to the original charge.  It's against the law for more than one company to collect on the same debt. 

Second, I'm curious as to why the Verizon account was reaged.

And third, my wife had a run-in with a CA a couple of years ago on a hospital bill she was never supposed to get.  I called and they said they'd only take a PIF which was $4,000!  Oh...we did have the 'option' of splitting it into two payments for a $79 service charge.  I told them I was on a fixed income and that there was no way we could do either.  I did have access to a no-interest loan through the military for emergencies, but not for that amount.  She settled it for $2200 over the phone, I got the loan and paid it off.  So, you may try simply calling.

Again, I'm no expert, but hope this helps.  Welcome again, and happy holidays.

[Anonymous]

Thank you OBXFrank! Every little bit helps.

I think there is renewed interest in my accounts since I've been lucky enough to be doing well financially and owing to the fact that I've recently been granted new credit. Some CA probably reaged Verizon because I'll be getting a call from them anyday now....ugh. I'm hoping I can still work with Verizon directly though, because I've done that with Comcast before on an unpaid $40 charge. I'm not sure if the service providers work differently than CCC's.

I've already had a great time reading the boards and gleaned tons of info....I'm so glad that I could conquer this stage in my life sooner rather than learn the hard way after applying for a mortgage!

Happy holidays to you too!

[haulingthescoreup]

The CRA's sell info to the CA's on consumers whose scores have been rising. Charming, no?

[Anonymous]

*GASP*!!! Seriously? That is sooooo shady....I would have never thought that, but everything is coming clear to me now. Which also explains how the CA's got my WORK cell phone # that I used on my fraud alerts. Those....those....buttheads!

[haulingthescoreup]

I have to keep reminding myself, I am not the CRA's customer, it's the creditors and CA's who are their customers. We're these annoying little creatures that they have to listen to (occasionally) because of those pesky laws and stuff.

It explains a lot of the sloppiness and * shrugness * when we try to get a CRA to clean things up. They don't feel any particular sense of obligation to us, other than what they are supposed to do by law.

And really, I am NOT one of the more cynical people on this forum. I just think that it's important that we all keep in mind where we fit on the credit food chain!