2 Accounts Listed in CO Status

[daisyduke]

HI Everyone,

I just got my credit report and it's terrible. I have not looked at it for two years. Due to some unfortunate circumstances,I am behind on payments and now that I am able to make payments on the two credit card companies, is there any way to negotiate with them directly a payment plan to remove the Charge Off Status that is listed on all 3 CRA's?

The first card is Premier Bank and when i tried to call them earlier today they told me my account was with Pinnace, a CA. I am thinking about sending a letter to them about payment in lieu of removing the charge off status.

The other company is Aspire and they are terrible with their fees and didn't want to work with me before. But i have to pay them if I want to get my credit back up to where it should be.

Please let me know if there might be a good route to take to get the CO status off of my credit report.  I am willing to repay the charges, even though the interest rates and late fees are very high now.

Thx for your time.

[guiness56]

Before you do anything you need to know the DOFD and the SOL of these accounts.  You also need to know if the OC still owns the debt or sold it to the CA.

Can you list what is on your CR concerning these accounts, leaving out personal information?

[daisyduke]

the accoutn went into CO on Feb 2008. it was 120 past due on Jan of 2008

[daisyduke]

Thanks for your response.

Looks like for First Premier the account wasn't sold to a CA, but when i called First Premier they said to call the CA. I won't do that.  According to experian, they didn't sell it. they listed it as a charge off. its not a big amount, it's only  $296...but I would like to make good on my debt and clear it up. the SOL is four years in PA.   the date of first deliquency was 30 days past due in Oct of 2005 but i got on track for a while.

[guiness56]

It could be listed as a CO and still be sold to a CA.  Is FP listing the balance as zero?

I am guessing it is still within SOL since you said you got on track and paid for a while. 

[daisyduke]

FP lists the balance at 296. not zero...should i try to contact FP and make a payment in Full in exchange for removing the charge off status? do you think it's worth a shot? i don't want a bill collector coming after me for such a teeny amount of money....this was silly in the first place for that amount

[guiness56]

I have never dealt with FP but it would not hurt.  It is a fairly recent CO so maybe they would agree to reopen the account if you PIF.  They may just update as a paid CO.  That would not help your score.

They do still own the account so try to deal with them directly.

I would send them a letter asking for their consideration to either remove the account or update to current in good standing if you PIF

Message Edited by guiness56 on 04-18-2009 07:23 PM

[daisyduke]

 Thanks for your help. I will give it a go, send the to First PRemier, offer to PIF for a delete or pays as agreed status. I don't know which one i would have better luck asking. But we will see how it goes.  It's tiny amount and I'm not sure if paying it off will make my score increase THAT much.  I have a 98 verizon unpaid bill on my account that I don't believe is true, I disputed it but because of the amount, I can't imagine it would weigh a whole lot in my score.

How important is the collection amount with respects to FICO score. Say I have an oustanding balance of $1300 with a credit limit of $1500 and it went into collections. Wouldn't the higher amount due weigh more if paid off (get a higher FICO score once paid versus paying Verizon the measly 98 which I don't think I am responsible for....anyway... Thanks again for your help and advice.

[guiness56]

What is the DOFD of the Verizon bill? 

Collections, paid or unpaid, are looked at the same by FICO, which is bad.  So paying one will not help you.

Message Edited by guiness56 on 04-18-2009 07:47 PM

[daisyduke]

Verizon reported it in June of 2003. Probably doesn't have much impact. the balance on Equifax is listed as $0.