Pay for delete on settled account?

Anonymous · ‎10-26-2016

Is it true that once an account has been settled as charged off you cannot request a pay for delete? I just talked to Discover who told me I can’t pay a debt that has already been settled. I don’t remember who the collection company (it was from 3 yrs. ago) was so I don't know how to contact them. Any tips?

RobertEG · ‎10-26-2016

The term "settled" as normally used in credit means that the creditor agreed to accept less than the full amount of the debt as satisfaction of the debt.

A debt that has been satisfied is no longer owed, and thus one cannot offer to pay a debt that is no longer owed, with or without any additional contngency of credit report deletion (PFD).

It is unclear in the post as to what is meant by "settled as charged off", as a charge off is unrelated to whether or not a debt has been paid, either in full or settled for less.

I assume what was meant is that it was settled after the creditor had reported a charge off?

After a debt is discharged, the consumer can still pursue good will requests asking for deletion of any derogatory reporting, or even of the entire account.

Anonymous · ‎10-26-2016

My credit report just said "charge off" for that account. Discover told me it was settled. From what I remember, we paid less than owed on that one. My stepdad stole my identity while I was in college and defaulted on 2 credit cards, I didn't hear about it for a year and a half when I got a collections call, no one taught me about checking my credit report until after that. I had to take out additional student loans to settle the accounts, but didn't have enough to cover both. One was paid in full and one I think we settled for half. I was told by the college lawyer that I couldn't do anything about my damaged credit unless I prosecuted my step dad, which there was no way I was going to do.

The person I talked to at Discover didn't give a lot of hope for a good will request, she flat out said Discover didn't do pay for delete. If I wanted to pursue good will, would I contact Discover, or would I have to contact the collections agency? How do I find out who the collections agency was? I don't remember.

Also for the other account, I paid in full so I could do a good will request. Would I contact the credit company for that, or the collections agency?

Anonymous · ‎10-27-2016

@Anonymous wrote:
My credit report just said "charge off" for that account. Discover told me it was settled. From what I remember, we paid less than owed on that one. My stepdad stole my identity while I was in college and defaulted on 2 credit cards, I didn't hear about it for a year and a half when I got a collections call, no one taught me about checking my credit report until after that. I had to take out additional student loans to settle the accounts, but didn't have enough to cover both. One was paid in full and one I think we settled for half. I was told by the college lawyer that I couldn't do anything about my damaged credit unless I prosecuted my step dad, which there was no way I was going to do.

The person I talked to at Discover didn't give a lot of hope for a good will request, she flat out said Discover didn't do pay for delete. If I wanted to pursue good will, would I contact Discover, or would I have to contact the collections agency? How do I find out who the collections agency was? I don't remember.

Also for the other account, I paid in full so I could do a good will request. Would I contact the credit company for that, or the collections agency?

The college lawyer is full of it. You do not "prosecute" anyone. You merely report ID Theft. The police and DA investigate and prosecute as they see fit.

I continually find myself amazed at the number of folks here that willingly tolerate criminal behavior by family members....

Anonymous · ‎10-27-2016

My step dad has always been my best friend and the man who raised me. He made a stupid decision when he was jobless and couldn't make the bills and didn't humble himself to ask for help. I gave him what is called grace and mercy, the same thing Jesus gives me every day for my stupid decisions. I filed a dispute on my credit report, if they don't give the situation mercy, oh well, but I didn't want to subject my family to police investigations.

Anonymous · ‎10-27-2016

@Anonymous wrote:
My step dad has always been my best friend and the man who raised me. He made a stupid decision when he was jobless and couldn't make the bills and didn't humble himself to ask for help. I gave him what is called grace and mercy, the same thing Jesus gives me every day for my stupid decisions. I filed a dispute on my credit report, if they don't give the situation mercy, oh well, but I didn't want to subject my family to police investigations.

I get forgiveness when the person is genuinely repentant - I have no problem with that. OTOH, if someone I really cared about and was close to, wronged me in such a manner, I would loving ask them to own up to their mistakes and help clear my name.

FWIW, if the event occurred more than 3-4 years ago there is about 0.0001 % chance of any prosecution taking place. I suggest looking into FCRA 605B to get this cleared.

Anonymous · ‎10-27-2016

@Anonymous wrote:

The person I talked to at Discover didn't give a lot of hope for a good will request, she flat out said Discover didn't do pay for delete. If I wanted to pursue good will, would I contact Discover, or would I have to contact the collections agency? How do I find out who the collections agency was? I don't remember.

Also for the other account, I paid in full so I could do a good will request. Would I contact the credit company for that, or the collections agency?

Contact whomever is reporting to the CRAs. If Discover is reporting it (probably) then try them. If the collection is still reporting, contact them too. Each would have to handle their own item.

Contact info should be on your credit report, though if you go the saturation method you'll need to find a lot more addresses. That's not hard.

You can try for GW to any of them on your report. Just know where you stand, it's a request and nothing more they owe you nothing. Fraud may be a different story, but you wouldn't GW if pursuing a fraud scenario. Also, just because one rep flat out says they don't do that, don't count on that as gospel. If they can, they have. So they can again, and that's the hope you have to keep alive.

It's good to learn that PFD won't work after it's been settled, too, that was my next step in desparation was to offer a bribe to delete my bad info.

Anonymous · ‎10-27-2016

Norman, yes he was repentant, even cried as he asked forgiveness. I would only consider that if there was no chace of jail time, fines, or a criminal record for him, which would destroy my mom. If he doesn't take care of her then I would have to so it would be shooting myself in the foot. I just want it to be cleared from my report.

Anonymous · ‎11-02-2016

@Anonymous wrote:
Norman, yes he was repentant, even cried as he asked forgiveness. I would only consider that if there was no chace of jail time, fines, or a criminal record for him, which would destroy my mom. If he doesn't take care of her then I would have to so it would be shooting myself in the foot. I just want it to be cleared from my report.

Well, obviously this is something one would have to weigh all the pro's and con's of. I just kind of get frustrated sometimes at the number of people that just seem to let this sort of thing slide just because "they are family".

I apologize if it sounded like I came on a bit stong.

Anonymous · ‎11-02-2016

@Anonymous wrote:
Norman, yes he was repentant, even cried as he asked forgiveness. I would only consider that if there was no chace of jail time, fines, or a criminal record for him, which would destroy my mom. If he doesn't take care of her then I would have to so it would be shooting myself in the foot. I just want it to be cleared from my report.

BTW - you might look into the SOL for this sort of thing in your state. If its been long enough that the SOL is past then he cannot be prosecuted at all.