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National Credit Adjusters refusing to agree to PFD and refuses to communicate via email

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mja1970
Valued Member

National Credit Adjusters refusing to agree to PFD and refuses to communicate via email

Okay, I've run into a tough one and I need some advice on how to proceed.  I've been in the process of cleaning up the 5 old collection accounts that were on my credit report.  I reached out to all 5 collectors via email and 4 of them were actually very nice and pleasant to converse with and were more than happy to settle the accounts for much less than the original debt and had absolutely no problems communicating via email.  All of them assured me that the accounts would be deleted from my reports within 30 days once paid in full.  Great news.  This is going to help my credit tremendously in preparation for our new home purchase that my wife and I are planning on next spring.

 

HOWEVER, I am now dealing with the last of the 5 collections accounts, which is with National Credit Adjusters, who are proving to be not nearly as easy to work with as the other 4 collection agenices were.  It's a relatively small collection.  The amount owed on this account is $456 and my goal was to negotiate a settlement for about half that amount in exchange for deletion.  Just like the other 4 collection agenices, I emailed National Credit Adjusters a couple of days ago asking if they will agree to settle for a lesser amount in exchange for deletion and I just heard back from them today.  This is what they said:

 

"Unfortunately, we are unable to discuss any payments or settlements by email. Please contact an NCA Account Manager at 800-286-5427 for any questions. Someone will be happy to assist you.

 

"If you wish to resolve this account without speaking to an NCA Account Manager, please go online to www.ncaks.com and enter your NCA Reference Number.  This online service is available 24 hours a day.  Once final payment has been applied to the account and cleared, National Credit Adjusters will update to the three major credit reporting agencies that the account is Paid in Full within 30-45 days.  According to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) we are required to report accurately and, therefore we do not do deletions."

 

This is an entirely different response than I received from the other 4 collection agenices, who were all super nice and prepared to work with me via email.  They all 100% agreed to PFD and assured me that the collections would be deleted from my credit reports within 30 days of payment being received.  Why is National Credit Adjusters being so difficult???  These debt collectors buy these old debts for literally pennies on the dollar, so you would think they would be more cooperative when someone wants to settle and pay.  They don't make a single dime if I don't pay them.  I just don't see why they will not agree to PFD like the others did or why they won't discuss settlements via email like the others did.  I responded and informed them that I only communicate with debt collectors in writing for my own protection and that if they refuse to agree to a PFD, they won't be getting a single penny out of me.

 

So, what would you do?  Since I was able to settle for very low amounts on 4 of my 5 collections and get PFD for those 4, would you just forget about this one with National Credit Adjusters and be happy with the success with the 4 other collections?  Honestly, this particular $456 collection is not having a huge impact on my scores.  It has been hanging out on my credit reports for about 3-1/2 to 4 years now.   However, I really would love to knock out ALL of these collections to have squeaky clean reports that are free of any collection accounts.  Should I continue being persistent and stand firm in telling them that if they will not agree to discuss a settlement in writing and if they refuse to agree to PFD, they will not get any $$ from me?  I have plenty of time and I'm prepared to play hardball with these people if I need to.  

 

Any advice on how to proceed with this would be greatly appreciated!

Message 1 of 12
11 REPLIES 11
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: National Credit Adjusters refusing to agree to PFD and refuses to communicate via email


@mja1970 wrote:

Okay, I've run into a tough one and I need some advice on how to proceed.  I've been in the process of cleaning up the 5 old collection accounts that were on my credit report.  I reached out to all 5 collectors via email and 4 of them were actually very nice and pleasant to converse with and were more than happy to settle the accounts for much less than the original debt and had absolutely no problems communicating via email.  All of them assured me that the accounts would be deleted from my reports within 30 days once paid in full.  Great news.  This is going to help my credit tremendously in preparation for our new home purchase that my wife and I are planning on next spring.

 

HOWEVER, I am now dealing with the last of the 5 collections accounts, which is with National Credit Adjusters, who are proving to be not nearly as easy to work with as the other 4 collection agenices were.  It's a relatively small collection.  The amount owed on this account is $456 and my goal was to negotiate a settlement for about half that amount in exchange for deletion.  Just like the other 4 collection agenices, I emailed National Credit Adjusters a couple of days ago asking if they will agree to settle for a lesser amount in exchange for deletion and I just heard back from them today.  This is what they said:

 

"Unfortunately, we are unable to discuss any payments or settlements by email. Please contact an NCA Account Manager at 800-286-5427 for any questions. Someone will be happy to assist you.

 

"If you wish to resolve this account without speaking to an NCA Account Manager, please go online to www.ncaks.com and enter your NCA Reference Number.  This online service is available 24 hours a day.  Once final payment has been applied to the account and cleared, National Credit Adjusters will update to the three major credit reporting agencies that the account is Paid in Full within 30-45 days.  According to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) we are required to report accurately and, therefore we do not do deletions."

 

This is an entirely different response than I received from the other 4 collection agenices, who were all super nice and prepared to work with me via email.  They all 100% agreed to PFD and assured me that the collections would be deleted from my credit reports within 30 days of payment being received.  Why is National Credit Adjusters being so difficult???  These debt collectors buy these old debts for literally pennies on the dollar, so you would think they would be more cooperative when someone wants to settle and pay.  They don't make a single dime if I don't pay them.  I just don't see why they will not agree to PFD like the others did or why they won't discuss settlements via email like the others did.  I responded and informed them that I only communicate with debt collectors in writing for my own protection and that if they refuse to agree to a PFD, they won't be getting a single penny out of me.

 

So, what would you do?  Since I was able to settle for very low amounts on 4 of my 5 collections and get PFD for those 4, would you just forget about this one with National Credit Adjusters and be happy with the success with the 4 other collections?  Honestly, this particular $456 collection is not having a huge impact on my scores.  It has been hanging out on my credit reports for about 3-1/2 to 4 years now.   However, I really would love to knock out ALL of these collections to have squeaky clean reports that are free of any collection accounts.  Should I continue being persistent and stand firm in telling them that if they will not agree to discuss a settlement in writing and if they refuse to agree to PFD, they will not get any $$ from me?  I have plenty of time and I'm prepared to play hardball with these people if I need to.  

 

Any advice on how to proceed with this would be greatly appreciated!


NCA will under no circumstances do PFD, sorry. They are not required to offer it, but many CAs do because they know they are more likely to be paid, but NCA is not one of them. You can play hardball all you want. They will not PFD for paying in full (definitely not for paying less) and not even for paying more, they just will not PFD.

 

Also, you will not get the biggest score boost until all CAs are removed from your CRs. If you have waited them out this long, you can either settle for less and be marked "paid" and wait for it to age off or just not pay them and wait for it age off.

Message 2 of 12
mja1970
Valued Member

Re: National Credit Adjusters refusing to agree to PFD and refuses to communicate via email

Wow.  That is really lousy.  Well, I guess I'm not paying this one if they continue to refuse PFD.  It would be totally useless to waste my hard earned money to pay them because just them simply reporting it as paid is not really going to make any difference in my credit scores at all.  I'm still not going to let them off the hook that easily and plan on emailing them again to insist that if they want to get a single dime out of me, they will agree to a PFD.  I'm a very persistent person.  I guess we'll see what happens!  At least my scores should be going  up a good bit once these other 4 higher impact collections are deleted in the next month, so I guess I was somewhat successful.  

Message 3 of 12
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: National Credit Adjusters refusing to agree to PFD and refuses to communicate via email


@mja1970 wrote:

Wow.  That is really lousy.  Well, I guess I'm not paying this one if they continue to refuse PFD.  It would be totally useless to waste my hard earned money to pay them because just them simply reporting it as paid is not really going to make any difference in my credit scores at all.  I'm still not going to let them off the hook that easily and plan on emailing them again to insist that if they want to get a single dime out of me, they will agree to a PFD.  I'm a very persistent person.  I guess we'll see what happens!  At least my scores should be going  up a good bit once these other 4 higher impact collections are deleted in the next month, so I guess I was somewhat successful.  


You may gain some points from paying/settling the others, but don't expect too big of a jumo until the last one comes off. I hope I am wrong for your sake, but for both me and my SO, that was not the case at all. I started with well over a doz CAs and I gained little to no points for each CA coming off the reports. I am still waiting another 1-2 months to be CA free (aging off - decided to wait out the ones that refused PFD), but my SO got the big jump when his last one came off his CRs.

 

He also had a NCA CA, but they came off his reports without cause and have not come back. We did not dispute and it was not 7 years yet and I am so grateful because I know how bad they are to deal with. I also had a NCA and I tried relentlessly to get PFD and I waited them out and they aged off my CRs.

Message 4 of 12
mja1970
Valued Member

Re: National Credit Adjusters refusing to agree to PFD and refuses to communicate via email

With all due respect, I beg to differ.  We just got 3 collections removed from my wife's credit reports and she still has 2 remaining and her score jumped 62 points just with the removal of these 3 adverse accounts.  Everyone's credit profile is different and it all depends on how high of an impact the collection accounts are having on your scores, and 2 of the 4 I settled were having a very high impact on mine.

Message 5 of 12
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: National Credit Adjusters refusing to agree to PFD and refuses to communicate via email


@mja1970 wrote:

With all due respect, I beg to differ.  We just got 3 collections removed from my wife's credit reports and she still has 2 remaining and her score jumped 62 points just with the removal of these 3 adverse accounts....


Like I said, I hope for you it works out for you, but it did not for me or my SO. It did not matter how big or how small the amounts were. Were these your fico scores or Vantage scores? And they were collection accounts only and not tied to charge offs? And lastly, how many CAs are remaining on your wife's CRs?

Message 6 of 12
mja1970
Valued Member

Re: National Credit Adjusters refusing to agree to PFD and refuses to communicate via email

No, these are not Vantage scores.  I don't even look at Vantage because that's not what lenders use.  These are FICO scores.  Like I said in my post, my wife still has 2 remaining collection accounts and she had a 62-point jump with removal of the 3 of them.  

Message 7 of 12
blindambition
Senior Contributor

Re: National Credit Adjusters refusing to agree to PFD and refuses to communicate via email


@mja1970 wrote:

Wow.  That is really lousy.  Well, I guess I'm not paying this one if they continue to refuse PFD.  It would be totally useless to waste my hard earned money to pay them because just them simply reporting it as paid is not really going to make any difference in my credit scores at all.  I'm still not going to let them off the hook that easily and plan on emailing them again to insist that if they want to get a single dime out of me, they will agree to a PFD.  I'm a very persistent person.  I guess we'll see what happens!  At least my scores should be going  up a good bit once these other 4 higher impact collections are deleted in the next month, so I guess I was somewhat successful.  


PFD is actually fairly recent with CA, in regards to removal, they are under no obligation to remove. PFD is actually a violation to guidelines, so many won't be caught agreeing in email. Some CA place in FAQ's on website.

As for paying, that's YOUR debt, but your prerogative whether or not to pay. They can report legally for 7 years+180 days from DoFD. However, the CA who owns debt can practice collection measures until end of time, or until satisfied.

Message 8 of 12
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: National Credit Adjusters refusing to agree to PFD and refuses to communicate via email


@mja1970 wrote:

No, these are not Vantage scores.  I don't even look at Vantage because that's not what lenders use.  These are FICO scores.  Like I said in my post, my wife still has 2 remaining collection accounts and she had a 62-point jump with removal of the 3 of them.  


That is pretty lucky! Most don't get too many points without being tied to also reporting COs. Fingers crossed you have the same result. Let us know!

Message 9 of 12
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: National Credit Adjusters refusing to agree to PFD and refuses to communicate via email


@blindambition wrote:

@mja1970 wrote:

Wow.  That is really lousy.  Well, I guess I'm not paying this one if they continue to refuse PFD.  It would be totally useless to waste my hard earned money to pay them because just them simply reporting it as paid is not really going to make any difference in my credit scores at all.  I'm still not going to let them off the hook that easily and plan on emailing them again to insist that if they want to get a single dime out of me, they will agree to a PFD.  I'm a very persistent person.  I guess we'll see what happens!  At least my scores should be going  up a good bit once these other 4 higher impact collections are deleted in the next month, so I guess I was somewhat successful.  


PFD is actually fairly recent with CA, in regards to removal, they are under no obligation to remove. PFD is actually a violation to guidelines, so many won't be caught agreeing in email. Some CA place in FAQ's on website.

As for paying, that's YOUR debt, but your prerogative whether or not to pay. They can report legally for 7 years+180 days from DoFD. However, the CA who owns debt can practice collection measures until end of time, or until satisfied.


+1, most do not place PFD in writing. Some larger CAs have it as a matter of written policy (so no writing needed) and others will or will not put it in writing, but still will absolutely follow through with the PFD. Then you get places like NCA and Transwirld that are 100% inflexible. I believe NCA used to do PFD many, many years ago, but got into some hot water over it, and now will not budge on it.

 

OP, maybe paying will gain you points since you have been lucky so far with increases and while they may not PFD, it will be paid. Depending on the type of mortgage lender you work with, they may oray not allow outstanding debts to remain unpaid  (whether or not they PFD will be irrelevant), so also keep that in consideration when shopping around and make sure and ask before you get too deep if you will most definitely be unwilling to pay if they do not offer PFD.

Message 10 of 12
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