Advice on Charge Offs

[Shadeestill]

I haven't posted in a long time because I've been quietly gardening. My scores have been stuck in the mid600s for awhile. I was digging into my reports to see if I could figure out why. I realized I have 4 charge offs that were never paid. I thought they had been closed and sent to collections but are still actively reporting with the OC.

They are:

First Premier- $694

Flurish (payday loan) - $959

American First Finance-  $692

American First Finance- $1295

I tried to call and settle the first two today. First Premier was "closed" despite the recording saying they were open until 10pm CT. Flurish refuses to discuss settlement. Its PIF only. Right now, I have enough to settle those two for 50%.

I need these accounts paid and closed so they can start aging. I'd like to buy a home mid 2023.

I'm tempted to try the two American First Finance accounts. That will stop two accounts now. I can still pay First Premier this Friday when I get paid if they'll take 50%. It will be at least 6 weeks before I have enough to pay the Flurish if they will not negotiate. I could put that on a credit card and have it paid off within 2 months but I'm not sure if that is a good option.

Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated.

[Anonymous]

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@Shadeestill wrote:

I haven't posted in a long time because I've been quietly gardening. My scores have been stuck in the mid600s for awhile. I was digging into my reports to see if I could figure out why. I realized I have 4 charge offs that were never paid. I thought they had been closed and sent to collections but are still actively reporting with the OC.

They are:

First Premier- $694

Flurish (payday loan) - $959

American First Finance-  $692

American First Finance- $1295

I tried to call and settle the first two today. First Premier was "closed" despite the recording saying they were open until 10pm CT. Flurish refuses to discuss settlement. Its PIF only. Right now, I have enough to settle those two for 50%.

I need these accounts paid and closed so they can start aging. I'd like to buy a home mid 2023.

I'm tempted to try the two American First Finance accounts. That will stop two accounts now. I can still pay First Premier this Friday when I get paid if they'll take 50%. It will be at least 6 weeks before I have enough to pay the Flurish if they will not negotiate. I could put that on a credit card and have it paid off within 2 months but I'm not sure if that is a good option.

Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated.

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How old are these COs?

If they are fairly new, there may little room to negotiate a settlement. And there are definitely no collection accounts associated with them?

[Shadeestill]

They are all from October/November 2016. However they ARE nearing the SOL in California, which is why I'd like to get them resolved.

There are no indications of any collection agencies. I have no collections on any of my reports and the balances are all still listed with the OC.

[Anonymous]

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@Shadeestill wrote:

They are all from October/November 2016. However they ARE nearing the SOL in California, which is why I'd like to get them resolved.

There are no indications of any collection agencies. I have no collections on any of my reports and the balances are all still listed with the OC.

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Since they are nearing the SOL, I would think you have some wiggle room to negotiate a settlement if you do so when you speak to them. Take it up the food chain if you must. I have asked to speak with the supervisor, manager, director, etc., if necessary to get results.

Be prepared to pay or set up a payment plan (that you follow through with), as acknowledging the debt, making payment, making partial payment, or agreeing to a payment arangement resets the SOL to sue which may leave you little room to negotiate in the future. Not all creditors may take that path, but just a warning.

I feel like when you offer to pay in one lump sum that is where you get the biggest savings when settling. Perhaps work through them one at a time so you can get the most savings amd just be done with them.

I know payday loans can be the worst. I had to PIF a debt that was over 6 years old and well outside the SOL if I was going to deal with them. Different payday loan company than you are dealing with, but they are all equally slimy IMO/IME.

OCs also rarely, if ever, offer PFD, but you can always ask. Otherwise when you pay them, they can start aging away until they drop off naturally.

Once paid (in full or settled) and updated on your CRs, I would definitely work on the GW method. Some have had luck with FP, I am not sure about the others, but I would invest a little time searching the forum for those specific creditors to see if others have had luck with GW. If not, all you have is time between now and when it ages off your CRs, so I would try anyway!

Sounds like your plan of buying a home in 2023 should be around the time they drop off, anyway, so that should put you in a good place at that point.

Meaning, if you settle and they place the remark "settled for less than the full balance", it will not matter to the UW because it should be dropped off your CRs by then.

Perhaps you could also negotiate a PIF remark as part of your settlement when you speak to them. Definitely try for PFD, if not PIF remark, or at worst just settling/PIF. Then they will be dealt with and you can move forward. 

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

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@Shadeestill wrote:

I haven't posted in a long time because I've been quietly gardening. My scores have been stuck in the mid600s for awhile. I was digging into my reports to see if I could figure out why. I realized I have 4 charge offs that were never paid. I thought they had been closed and sent to collections but are still actively reporting with the OC.

They are:

First Premier- $694

Flurish (payday loan) - $959

American First Finance-  $692

American First Finance- $1295

I tried to call and settle the first two today. First Premier was "closed" despite the recording saying they were open until 10pm CT. Flurish refuses to discuss settlement. Its PIF only. Right now, I have enough to settle those two for 50%.

I need these accounts paid and closed so they can start aging. I'd like to buy a home mid 2023.

I'm tempted to try the two American First Finance accounts. That will stop two accounts now. I can still pay First Premier this Friday when I get paid if they'll take 50%. It will be at least 6 weeks before I have enough to pay the Flurish if they will not negotiate. I could put that on a credit card and have it paid off within 2 months but I'm not sure if that is a good option.

Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated.

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You should move fast on paying these off before they move into collections. (then, your scores will get crushed).  It has been my experience/and understanding that most OC will not accept settlements.  In your plan, be prepared to pay in full, but don't over-committ with any of them.  When you call make sure you have your plan/offer in order.

Do not satisfy these charge offs with a credit card.

[Shadeestill]

Thanks for the advice guys.

I finally got through to First Premier. I settled this one for 50% and paid it while I was on the phone.

I spoke with two managers on the payday loan. No settlement. They do not settle period. Some research online seems to back this up. I got an email the day after I called with my loan agreement attached reminding me to pay before further collection activity is taken. I'm going to pay this one on Friday and be done with it. I poked the bear so I need to put it to bed.

I should be able to pay the other two off by this time next month. All of these payments are cutting into what I can pay towards paying down my CC utilization, but that is a temporary hit that will rebound once they are paid down. Those four reporting as open charge offs every month are killing me.

[Shadeestill]

OH! I did notice the First Premier was reporting different data across my 3Bs. The dates of last activity and close date are different on each report. There is also some data missing from my TU and EX that is on my EQ. Once the payment posts and the account shows closed, I will file a dispute for this. I have noticed some others on the board had the same issue and ended up with a delete.