Collection and charge off.. what should I do?

[Anonymous]

I have a collection from October 2011 that is on my credit report. It's $436. I would like to buy a house/condo within the next year so how should I tackle this? It's from my old apartment complex. 

I also have an auto loan that shows as a charge off. Last year, a credit agency sent me a letter to pay $500 to settle but I never responded. The date of this item is April  2010. What should/can I do about these two items. I'm in NC.. how does the SOL work in my state. Thanks!

[Sunshine222]

My vote would be to try a pay for delete.  From what I see, the SOL in NC is 3 years.  Meaning that you cannot be sued for these debts after three years have passed, which will apply to both of them by the end of this month.  However, they will still stay on your reports for 7 years and I think they may interfere with you getting a house.  If you can't get a pay for delete, I'd try to pay in full for the smaller collection and settle for the car.  While it won't make your credit score go up, I think it would look better to lenders that you paid them.

i guess another option is you could ask a mortgage lender and see what they say.  

Is your credit otherwise good?  Do you have a fair amount of money for a down payment?  I'm thinking if both of those are true it would lessen the damage from these bad marks.

[Anonymous]

My transunion score is 624 according to CK and my Equifax score (myfico) shows a score of 627. And my Experian score is 608 according to their website on 8/26 (it could be higher because I just received a 10 points increase from Credit Karma).

Im hoping to have $10k saved by this time next year.. maybe sooner. Im either going to rent for a year and buy a car if needed. Or buy a $70k condo.

[Anonymous]

Always start off with a DV to the CA. You never know what documentation they may or may not have. If it comes back validated, come back with a PFD offer - expect to hear objections and refusals with statements like "we are required to report accurately by law, blah blah blah" - the answer to that is that, yes, they are required to "report accurately", but they are NOT "required to report"

Another reason often given by the CA for denying a PFD is that "we are contractually obligated to report by the CRA's". I would answer that with "Really? and how much do the CRA's *PAY* you for reporting?...Nothing? ...Oh, you pay THEM for the privelidge of reporting? I see..."

You may or may not get anywhere with such an argument, I dunno...  

[Anonymous]

Thanks Norman. It's worth a try.

[RobertEG]

Starting with a DV may not necessarily always be the best first step.  It depends upon whether you can wait for response at their option.

If you send a (presumable timely) DV, it places the debt collector under a cease collection bar until such time as they choose to validate.

There is no time limit in which they must respond or provide the requested validation.

As long as they are under a cease collection bar, they cannot respond to any PFD request/offer, as that is continued action to collect on the debt.

So you are in limbo.

If you are expecting documentation or "proof" as part of any validation, you may be sorely disappointed.,

They need not provide documentation in support of their statement of validation.

If you recognize the debt as valid and wish to pursue payment options, then sending a DV might not be the best step.