Opting out?

[tbone74]

Could someone explain the benefit of opting out?  And...are charge offs and collection accounts that are PIF considered 'good standing'.

Thanks in advance!

[Anonymous]

Opting out is AWESOME. In fact, unless you dig junk mail and crappy credit card offers, I can't see a reason NOT to.

Mainly though, the bennie is that the CRAs can no longer sell your info to CAs. CRAs are sneaky buggers who notify CAs (who pay them) that you're cleaning up your credit. So even if a CA hasn't hit your CRs yet ... they COULD once they know it's worth their while (AKA, find out that your cleaning up your credit).

CAs aren't stupid. They know that if you're cleaning up your credit, you're more than likely going to be seeking NEW credit soon -- maybe a mortgage? maybe an auto loan? -- and they know that you're more likely to pay THEM off to please whatever lender is looking at your file.

We opted DH out about a month or so before we went mortgage shopping. I really think that if we hadn't, some CA out there, long, long, long forgotten, would have popped up right before closing. I really do.

[Anonymous]

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@tbone74 wrote:
And...are charge offs and collection accounts that are PIF considered 'good standing'.

Thanks in advance!

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Sorry ... missed that last question.

NO, collections and charge-offs are NEVER in good standing -- paid or unpaid. FICO sees them as EXACTLY the same.

That said, an old charge-off, if it's the oldest thing on your CRs *does* contribute to your length of credit history (AKA Average Age of Accounts). And if you *have* to have a charge-off, I figure, its better off paid than unpaid -- especially under human eyes (manual review) or if those charge-offs are figuring into your utilization (since charge-offs are seen as "maxxed out credit cards" by FICO).

[AndySoCal]

Opting out is a good thing to do. I did this several years ago and have never  regretted it. What opting out does is stops the bureau(s) from selling your credit profile  for potential credit or insurance offers.  If you get an offer for a credit card in the mail  as part of the offer they explain how to opt out and what you are opting out of. Opting out will stop these types of offers in time. Not having these credit card offers in my mailbox has been great. Collection agencies are not affected by this. Collection agencies have their own acccount(s) with the credit bureaus and can pull credit report(s) on anyone they are trying to collect on. Here is a link for more info

https://www.optoutprescreen.com/?rf=t

[Anonymous]

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@AndySoCal wrote:

Opting out is a good thing to do. I did this several years ago and have never  regretted it. What opting out does is stops the bureau(s) from selling your credit profile  for potential credit or insurance offers.  If you get an offer for a credit card in the mail  as part of the offer they explain how to opt out and what you are opting out of. Opting out will stop these types of offers in time. Not having these credit card offers in my mailbox has been great. Collection agencies are not affected by this. Collection agencies have their own acccount(s) with the credit bureaus and can pull credit report(s) on anyone they are trying to collect on. Here is a link for more info

https://www.optoutprescreen.com/?rf=t

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True, but from what I understand (from reliable sources here), while it doesn't stop the average CA from checking up on you on their volition, it DOES stop the CRAs from tipping CAs off about your credit rebuilding activities.

All I know is that since we opted out, no CAs have pinged our CRs since. And trust me, prior to that, when we first began rebuilding, there were a *LOT* of pings.

[Anonymous]

Just a quick note I recently opted out with Juniper and they closed my account stating I requested a change in terms.  Just a word of warning. dP

[AndySoCal]

My opting out is in reference to prescreen offers. IE those credit card offers in the mail. Click on the lin provided in my response. The other opting out is when a creditor changes the terms of the acocunt and you do not agree to those terms Then the creditor will close the account. We talking about two completely different things

Collect agencies have their own account with the bureau(s). They can pull reports from the bureau on any one they trying to collect on. The collection ageny pays the bureau time they pull the report. This is far different than the prescreen credit card offers that come in the mail.  Which opting out are we talking about?

[Anonymous]

Yeah I used the opt out letter from the recovering from Medical debt forum.  This is exactly what I sent.

1. I am asserting my rights under the Financial Services Modernization Act and the Fair Credit Reporting Act to "opt out" of the following two uses of my personal information:
a. You do not have permission to disclose personally identifiable information with your non-affiliated third-party companies or individuals.
b. You do not have permission to disclose my creditworthiness to any affiliate.

2. I am further instructing you:
a. Do not disclose any of my transaction and experience information to any affiliate of yours.
b. Do not disclose any information about me in connection with marketing agreements between you and any other company.

3. Please respond to me in writing stating that you will comply with these instructions. If I have not received a letter within thirty days specifically denying my instructions, I will assume your records have been noted to comply with this letter.

I am mailing this in a sealed envelope, and I am NOT including my social security number. I believe my name and account number identify me sufficiently.

Then they closed my account.

[AndySoCal]

What is covered in the letter you sent was what would be typically disclosed a privacy policy. The privacy policy discloses how a company uses your personal information. I get privacy policies sent to me from companies who I have accounts with.  This is different type of opting out than the other two I have described. I have opted out of certain provisions of couple policies sent to me. The compnay never closed the account as a result of it. Have you ever gotten a privacy policy from Jupiter?  You would have to ask Jupiter why they closed the account I have no idea.  For whatever ever its worth there are special provisions in the FACT ACT and FCRA about medical debt.