Issue With Settlement

Anonymous · ‎10-04-2018

I settled with a creditor. I paid the settlement amount that we agreed on and I was told over the phone that they would be taking the rest out in my tax return. The paperwork I have from the settlement agreement laters states nothing about this being on my credit report still, and nothing about money being taken out of my tax return. I also noticed on my credit report this issue still shows up as a negative, but says recent balance not reported, and the status says paid in settlement. Cash amount written off. What can I do to get this shown correctly on my credit report?

Anonymous · ‎10-04-2018

A lender is under no obligation to remove an account just because it's paid or settled. Lenders are instructed not to remove accounts for these reasons, though some will agree if it's part of the settlement agreement to which they agreed.

A settled account, although legally no longer oustanding, is still a derogoratory item because the lender took a lost from you, and you were, in fact, behind on it.

My advice would be to start a massive a GW (Good Will) campaign to have the lender remove the negative account from your reports.

Anonymous · ‎10-04-2018

In fact, I was not behind on it. But that's another story for another time. With that said, what's the best way to go about writing a goodwill letter to the lender to see about getting this changed?

Anonymous · ‎10-04-2018

@Anonymous wrote:
In fact, I was not behind on it. But that's another story for another time. With that said, what's the best way to go about writing a goodwill letter to the lender to see about getting this changed?

Sorry about that; I thought you were.

Perhaps you could file a dispute through the credit bureaus, but if that fails, file a dispute through the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Anonymous · ‎10-04-2018

@Anonymous wrote:
In fact, I was not behind on it. But that's another story for another time. With that said, what's the best way to go about writing a goodwill letter to the lender to see about getting this changed?

A good will letter is good for getting an account removed. As I said in my third post, file a dispute through the credit bureaus or the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Anonymous · ‎10-04-2018

Thank you for your advice and will do.

Anonymous · ‎10-04-2018

@Anonymous wrote:
In fact, I was not behind on it. But that's another story for another time. With that said, what's the best way to go about writing a goodwill letter to the lender to see about getting this changed?

No, that's a part of the discussion now. If you were never behind on payments and they reported you as delinquent, that can very easily become a FCRA violation and you would have the right to sue them. Nothing makes a creditor more amenable to removing a TL than getting sued over the TL.

What is the mising part of this story? Why did the lender agree to settle a debt for lerss than the full amount if you were never behind on payments?