What if I just stop paying everything and let it go to collections then PFD later?

[Anonymous]

That's why I chose not to pay it in full. I am hoping that BOA sees that closed account and it's high interest as an opportunity to make some money so maybe, JUST maybe, they will see my letter, take the time to look at the account and say "You know, let's do this guy a solid cause he is willing to keep paying us on a closed account and we are going to make some nice money off the interest".

That is my hope anyway.

[the_jan_b]

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@Anonymous wrote:

That's why I chose not to pay it in full. I am hoping that BOA sees that closed account and it's high interest as an opportunity to make some money so maybe, JUST maybe, they will see my letter, take the time to look at the account and say "You know, let's do this guy a solid cause he is willing to keep paying us on a closed account and we are going to make some nice money off the interest".

That is my hope anyway.

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Keeping my fingers crossed for you... 

[Anonymous]

Just ran across this thread and read the whole epic saga... What has the result been so far? Any luck?

EDIT: I particularly enjoyed the part where you decided to do the right thing despite your frustration with BofA.

[Anonymous]

Sadly nothing good. I have sent goodwill letters now for quite awhile and have gotten no response. I have called multiple times asking about it and each person told me there was no such thing as goodwill deletions and no bank has the capability of erasing/forgiving lates reported to the agency once they have already done so.

I've made triple the payment now for exactly 1 year and BOA doesn't care at all.

What a joke.

[Anonymous]

How has the year or so of good payments affected your score? Is it still totally clobbered?

[arlibguy]

My two cents:

I wouldn't hope for any goodwill from Bank of America.

If you have the money to pay off the debt, pay it off. At least you'll save some on interest.

Do you happen to have the name or ID number  of the representative who told you the lates wouldn't be reported when they called for a payment? Just wondering. I've learned the hard way to get names and/or ID numbers for representatives, especially when they claim promises.

[CreditScholar]

I'm going to be VERY blunt here:

Pay off the rest, get over it and move on. If you have to, don't bank with them in the future and just let it pass.

BofA did the right thing in that you didn't hold up your end of the bargain. There's no reason to blame them when (1) you are considering deliberately not paying them even though you racked up the charges AND (2) you have the cash. It's not their problem what happened with your job, you owe them money and are being irresponsible about it. It's as simple as that. Once you had the 90 day late, you can't expect to say "sorry here's the money "and have it be all better. It doesn't work that way, and there are consequences for your actions. Don't expect any sympathy from BofA because they don't owe you any.

[Anonymous]

YIKES! Does that qualify as Friendly and supportive?

[Anonymous]

No, in a lot of ways he is right. He was maybe a bit too blunt for the sensitive types, but I can take it. At the end of the day it unfortunately comes down to this: I'll pay off the debt in full and never do business with BofA again.

Now IMO it didn't have to be that way. Over 6 years of paying the bill on time and another year after the payment lapse should count for something, but sadly it doesn't. The reality is another 6 years of paying the closed account wouldn't mean jack squat to BofA either. I mean my credit score will have improved so they would probably offer me another card but not out of a sense of loyalty or forgiveness, they would offer it just like another creditor would.

He is right in that it was my fault the payment went 90 days late. I accept that wrong and the only thing I wanted was to make it right. BofA technically doesn't owe me anything BUT I was willing to do whatever it took to repair the relationship. This past year I have spoken with them numerous times and told them I was willing to do whatever they wanted in order to forgive this mistake that was mine. Double payments, triple, half of the total now, anything. I pursued them to repair the damage I caused and the benefit would have been for both myself and BofA. My credit is improved and they have a happy customer gladly paying them monthly.

But after a year I am burnt out and BofA doesn't seem to give a damn about working with me. My mistake was not paying it in full this time last year because I would have saved a ton in interest and my attempt to get in their good graces again failed anyway.

So they will get their full payment today and I will just never have dealings with them again. It is what it is. I guess they have no choice but to be very firm and not bend rules or be flexible. I was a fool to think otherwise.

[CreditScholar]

I'm glad you took my message for what it was because I wasn't trying to be mean. I was just stating the that the situation is what it is, and even if it's ugly step back, look at it from an objective perspective, learn from it and move on. I see it as no different to what happens when good friends get into a really big argument. Sometimes things are ok the next day, but other times if it's really bad it can end a friendship. You can try to apologize until you're blue in the face and make amends, but sometimes even that doesn't work. It takes two people to form a friendship. The best thing you can do then is to just back off, let things cool off, and then maybe in the future if you both want to you might have a relationship again. If this happens between good friends, why can't it happen with a creditor (who is definitely not your friend)? It's the same thing really.