Charge off question

Anonymous · ‎04-25-2007

I am new to the board and apologize in advance if this has been asked a million times already.

I have 2 charge off accounts that were turned over to collections. Can the original creditor and the collection agency both be listed at once? I know that is it a part of my history, but it makes it look like I'm in twice as much, as the amount owed is listed twice. These date back to around 2001 so they should be falling off soon.

However one was bought again. I'm sure they can do this legally, but should they all approach the same seven year mark (since its all one account) or is the second CA allowed to start from the date they purchased it, in affect causing me 7 more years of bad credit.

I'm mainly concerned because I have just bought a house and a car (within a month SO NOT PLANNED) and hope to refi the house in three yrs(after the prepayment penalty ends) and the car in 6mo-1yr. I want to have the best CS the next time around.

Also, this is more of a vent than a question.. I can not figure out for the life of me why other people have 700 CS with bankruptcy and my CS ranges from 580-605 b/c of two charge offs

Anonymous · ‎04-25-2007

I see that another post was quite similar but would love more feedback thanks

Anonymous · ‎04-25-2007

yes i believe they can both be on your report and your clock on those starts from date of delinquency as i understand. but they will probably try to re-age it. so you will need to keep an eye on that and dispute it if they do. Also your scores are affected by more than just the 2 charge offs, also thrown in there is credit card utilization, length of history, new accounts being opened etc etc. Im no credit Guru but that is my understanding hope that helps a little.

Anonymous · ‎04-26-2007

@Anonymous wrote:
Also, this is more of a vent than a question.. I can not figure out for the life of me why other people have 700 CS with bankruptcy and my CS ranges from 580-605 b/c of two charge offs

I'm in exactly the same boat. I think this is unfair too...especially considering that once a charge-off gets onto your credit rating, it might as well be chiseled in neutronium: paying it won't help your FICO one bit, and collection agencies would rather rub your nose in your mistakes for seven years than take a payment (thereby making a substantial profit) and delete the listing from your credit report.

From what I can see, the credit scoring system operates very much on inertia. And here was my credit history:

1986 to 1989: Refused credit cards until 1990. Did not want to borrow money from anyone. No credit history.

1990 to 1993: Bad years--I was a babe in the woods, charged up way more than I could afford, got charge-offs and a repo.

1994 to 1995: Probably had a FICO in the 475 to 550 range. Couldn't qualify for squat on the rare occasions I tried to qualify for anything.

1996 to 2002: Swore off of credit entirely out of sheer frustration and a desire to not repeat the mistakes of the past. A noble idea, but my credit report was probably down to two tradelines, both inactive. By the end of the Nineties my CR would have fit on an index card, and to me that was too much. No news is good news, right. Wrong. Because:

2002 to 2005: Got my knee skinned in a divorce...about $950 in charge-offs total. Dropped my FICO like a stone. Why? See the previous entry: I hadn't bothered to build up POSITIVE credit history. To me, credit=evil. FICO=Antichrist. Well, maybe not that bad, but you get the idea. So I got a credit report all right: ALL bad.

2006: 1996 all over again. Got tired of my FICO following me around everywhere and once again decided to swear off credit...

But then I did my homework, found this forum and others, and realized that if back in the Nineties I'd taken the time to build a positive credit history, the charge-offs wouldn't have been nearly as destructive. Heck, I might have had enough of a credit limit on my credit cards to use the cards to settle the debt BEFORE it charged off, avoiding them entirely. I could likely have a FICO around 775 to 790 today instead of in the high 500s to mid 600s.

Anonymous · ‎04-26-2007

Having a good credit history already does not help when the charge-off's start appearing on your credit reports. My Mom is living proof of that. She had good credit. Had paid off several autos, loans, etc. She became ill and couldn't work anymore. She had a heart attack and cancer while she had absolutely no income or insurance. She didn't qualify for any assistance because she made very good money the year before she became ill and they base your eligibility for assistance on your previous year's income. Now she is left with her credit report in shambles due to the numerous medical collections from 2-3 years ago during her illnesses. Even with her many positive TL's on her CR's, no one would be willing to give her a CL of $1 because it has tanked her scores so bad (low to mid 500's). So for her, the charge-off's have been very destructive to her otherwise good credit history. It's sad really because now even though she has income, it wouldn't even come close to touching these darn medical bills.

Anonymous · ‎04-26-2007

Yes, the OC and the CA can both appear--but only the current CA and only ever CA that's ever had the account. They can only appear for 7-1/2 years from the DOFD--that's usually the date the account went 120 days late. Doesn't matter how many times the OC sells it to another CA.

What state are you in? I ask because of the SOL. Once they're past SOL, you can be a little more cavalier, and even tell 'em FOAD.

smallfry · ‎04-27-2007

FOAD. That's a new one on me. I got a pretty good idea what you mean though. LOL.

Anonymous · ‎04-27-2007

I think it's "off and die" but I can't for the life of me figure out what the f stands for.

creditedit · ‎04-28-2007

I guess that is what keeping my head "barely" above the water, because I have several positive accounts. Just recently I refied my car and got C1 to lower my APR on both of my cc with them. I received a cc from HSBC, with 0% APR for 6 months, I transferred one of my C1 cc to that, I plan to pay it off w/in the 6 months. When I do pay it off, should I keep it open?

Anonymous · ‎04-28-2007

Fly Off And Die. But, feel free to substitute words that start with the same letters.