I have a 2010 Corolla that was charged off but never repossessed. I contacted Toyota and they said they would not accept payment directly and I must pay their "business partner" which is a debt collection agency. I called the debt collector and paid off the Toyota in full, about $800 and was told the debt collector will contact Toyota and have them send me the title to the car. Getting the title is why I finally paid. But they also said Toyota may report the account paid in full to the three agencies.
Here's my problem: This account was originally reported to the three bureaus as a closed and charged off account by Toyota Financial more than six years ago. It hurt my credit score for years. But this past year, the charge off disappeared from all three reports on its own, just due to the length of time, and I now have no derogatory marks on my credit reports.
My concern is, if Toyota reports receiving payment in full for what was a charged off and "closed" account, is it going to show up on my credit reports again as a charge off? It may show a "fully paid" charge off but if it is still an old charge off coming back to my reports, I'm worried that will hurt me.
I have the address you are supposed to write in to dispute credit report items with Toyota. The customer service line said they can't even look at it yet because they need to get notified by the debt collector about the payment first.
Would it be smart to pre-emptively send a letter to TFS Credit Disputes saying, "hey, I finally paid you guys and the account is paid in full as you will soon see, but can you please not report this payment to the bureaus?"
Is there any world where they would just do me a solid and not report the payment in full? If I ask nicely, lol? Or am I overthinking this and will nothing show up on my credit reports again anyway because it's an old charge off that already fell off on its own?
Just trying to get my act together and feeling annoyed that doing the right thing and paying someone might actually come back to hurt me. But it's also the only way I could get the title, so I decided to just bite the bullet and hope for the best. Anyone have any insight on what I can expect or advice on what to do?
