Charged off accounts or collections: Which to pay first for largest score boost?

[Anonymous]

1) I currently have 3 charged off accounts and 7 items in collection.  Which should I address first for the largest credit score boost?  The charge offs are 2 years old (all three) and the collections range from 6 months to 3 years old.

2) Two of my collections accounts are duplicates of the charged off accounts (same debt, but OC different from CA).  Who would I address the PFD to?  If I am successful in PFD or settling, do I just send the correspondance to the other creditor to also eliminate?  Ex.  If I settle with the CA, do I then send that info to the OC to remove as well?

[FireMedic1]

Welcome to the forums! If you could list who they are. There might be a few collections that pay for delete.  That would help a lot to get you on track with the gang in here. Thanks!

[Remedios]

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@Anonymous wrote:

1) I currently have 3 charged off accounts and 7 items in collection.  Which should I address first for the largest credit score boost?  The charge offs are 2 years old (all three) and the collections range from 6 months to 3 years old.

2) Two of my collections accounts are duplicates of the charged off accounts (same debt, but OC different from CA).  Who would I address the PFD to?  If I am successful in PFD or settling, do I just send the correspondance to the other creditor to also eliminate?  Ex.  If I settle with the CA, do I then send that info to the OC to remove as well?

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Till you address all 3 COs and 7 collections, there wont be much in terms of scoring improvement. 

Those are not duplicates, but correct and separate reporting on same account. CO addresses worst delinquent status, and collection account is a continuation of an attempt to collect on that same debt. When an account is in CO status, that does not mean debt went away, and if CA is collecting on behalf of OC, both will be reporting. 

There are very few success stories on removals of original TLs that resulted in CO. 

Depending on which collection agency they are using, you might be able to get PFD on some of those collections. 

Feel free to list all COs/collections  and the amounts owed on them. 

[Anonymous]

Comenity Bank: Pier 1 (OC)= "Closed" acct DOFD Aug 2017  $468

Portfolio Recovery Associates= "Collection acct" First reported Feb 2018 $517

Credit One Bank (OC)= "Closed. $635 written off" DOFD Apr 2017 $635

Resurgent/LVNV Funding= "Collection acct" First reported Nov 2017 $ 635

Fingerhut (OC)= "Closed. $981 written off" DOFD Jul 2017 $981

Jefferson Capitol= "Collecion acct" First reported Jan 2018 $981

First Premier (OC)= "Paid, closed. $431 written off" DOFD Jun 2017 $431

Helvey & Associates= "Collection acct" First reported Oct 2018 $256

Credit Collection SVCS I= "Collection acct" Opened Mar 2019 $317

Credit Management= "Collection acct" First report May 2016 $400

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Comenity Bank: Pier 1 (OC)= "Closed" acct DOFD Aug 2017  $468

Portfolio Recovery Associates= "Collection acct" First reported Feb 2018 $517

Credit One Bank (OC)= "Closed. $635 written off" DOFD Apr 2017 $635

Resurgent/LVNV Funding= "Collection acct" First reported Nov 2017 $ 635

Fingerhut (OC)= "Closed. $981 written off" DOFD Jul 2017 $981

Jefferson Capitol= "Collecion acct" First reported Jan 2018 $981

First Premier (OC)= "Paid, closed. $431 written off" DOFD Jun 2017 $431

Helvey & Associates= "Collection acct" First reported Oct 2018 $256

Credit Collection SVCS I= "Collection acct" Opened Mar 2019 $317

Credit Management= "Collection acct" First report May 2016 $400

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I am no pro and wil only speak on what I know for sure and suggest for the rest.

Portfolio recovery -They do accept PFD even for settling the account 

LVNV and fingerhut are the devil - I chose to deal with them last, Theyre both still on my report but paid in full.

You should call the collection agencies, Check if they offer PFDs settle for an amount that works for both of you and get the ones that you can off of your report. The others that will not accept PFD double check with the form to ensure folks haven't had luck approaching it differently if all else fails pay them so they can stop reporting.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for the info.  It sounds like that's a good place to start.

[RobertEG]

Once an account becomes delinquent (and taking/reporting of a charge-off is one form of delinquency, representing a seriously delinquent acount that is not reasonably expected to be paid), it is then common for the creditor to either obtan services of a debt collector by assigning collection authority, or to sell the delinquent debt to a debt collector, thus achieving some immediate offset of the debt.

In either case, once a debt collector obtains collection authority, they can then immediately report a collection to the CRAs.

They are not required to contact or notify the consumer prior to reporting their collection to the CRAs.

Thus, a debt that has been charged-off but not yet assigned or sold to a debt collector would normally be a priority for payment in order to avoid the addition of a collection to your credit report.

Of course, other factors enter into the determination of which to pay, such as the SOL status of the debt, and whether or not a PFD will be accepted, but in general terms, payment of a debt that has been charged-off but not yet referred for collection or sold would avoid a collection, and thus additional scoring damage.

It is not simply the issue of obtaining a boost, it is also one or avoiding negative additions that can reduce your score.

[Anonymous]

Thank you.  That makes a lot of sense.  All of my OC's already have CA reporting as well, unfortuately.  I have been getting bills for things that haven't shown up on my credit report.  I guess it would make sense to take care of those before they hit my report.

[gdale6]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Thank you.  That makes a lot of sense.  All of my OC's already have CA reporting as well, unfortuately.  I have been getting bills for things that haven't shown up on my credit report.  I guess it would make sense to take care of those before they hit my report.

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Yes anything not reporting you want to take care of first. Make a deal with them full payment for it not reporting then you want to work on the ones that are updating monthly to get them to stop and last the ones that are not updating. Now for the ones that may not have updated in awhile its going to drop your Fico unless you get the PFD. Most of the time OCs wont PFD unless its in the last year of being able to report and even then its hard to get. PFDs are geared towards CAs.