Charge Offs - Should I settle?

[BrokeStudent2010]

Hi all,

I am new here and this is my first post.

I have some "charge offs" on my credit report and several accounts "closed by credit grantor".  One of my charge offs is a paid charge off. I have an established relationship with two collection agencies that I pay monthly payments to for my charged off accounts. Is that bad? Now, I have recently come into some money and am thinking about paying the charged off accounts. Please help me with the following questions.

• 1. What is the best strategy to help my score?
• 2. Should I just try to settle these accounts?
• 3, Are there letters I should send to the collection agencies?
• 4. Can I get the original creditor to change the status reported on my credit report even though I am now dealing with the collection agency?
• 5. What is the difference between a charge off, paid charge off, and closed by credit grantor?

Thank you in advance for your help.

[guiness56]

Hi and welcome to the forums.

What is the DoFD of these accounts?  Other than the 2 accounts you are paying to the CA, what is the SOL?

1. What is the best strategy to help my score?  Just paying off a CO and a collection will not improve your score.  The accounts would need to be removed.

2. Should I just try to settle these accounts?  You can try to settle. Be careful of the wording of the letter and get everything in writing before giving money.

3, Are there letters I should send to the collection agencies? You can look for an example PFD letter on the forums.

4. Can I get the original creditor to change the status reported on my credit report even though I am now dealing with the collection agency? Status changed to what?  Legally, they only have to report paid collection or CO.  Also, keep in mind that whatever arrangements you may make with the CA will not affect the OC account and vice versa.

5. What is the difference between a charge off, paid charge off, and closed by credit grantor? A CO is an accounting term that means the OC does not believe it will ever get the money the consumer owes them.  It is a tax write off.   Account closed by credit grantor means they closed your account but not necessarily because of the CO.  Late payments will cause them to close it. 

[BrokeStudent2010]

Thanks for your advice so far.

I don't know if I have the DOFD for all accounts, because I am not sure what that means even after looking it up under the abbreviations.

What i do have is below:

Account 1, Charged Off

• Closed July 2008,
• DOLA  is current I guess because I am paying the CA. However, I noticed that my TransUnion CR has a DOLA  of April 2010, and my Equifax CR DOLA is July 2008. Why is that?

Account 2, Charged Off - status questionable

• Equifax lists this as charged off
• TransUnion lists this as closed by credit grantor
• DOLA Feb 2009
• Date Closed November 2008

So, as you can see I am well aways off from hitting the SOL in either account.

Regarding my question about getting the status changed - I meant can I work with the OC to get the status reflected on my CR to say Paid As Agreed, or something more favorable than Charged Off or Profit and Loss Write Off? I am not talking about working with the CA to get this changed on my CR. It is my undersanding that the CA does not determine what is ultimately reported on your CR from the OC. Only the OC can change that. What luck do people have with working with the OC after an account has gone to collections?

Thanks again for the help.