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Portfolio Recovery Associates New Policy Deleting Collections Accounts is REAL!!!

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Anonymous
Not applicable

Portfolio Recovery Associates New Policy Deleting Collections Accounts is REAL!!!

As of October 2018, PRA now deletes paid trade lines from credit reports and this is accurate I can attest. I wanted to share the details and data points experienced throughout this process.

 

Prior to settling with PRA my credit reports all reported three collections from PRA. These three collections were put on my CR's on 4/2016, whereas all three were Cap One Card charge-offs from 2012.

 

 

I settled all three PRA accounts initially totaling $1,957.00 on 11/8/18. I negotiated a one-time lump sum installment of $800.00 for all three. I accomplished this by calling PRA and conveying the impression of a settlement for all three accounts. I was doubtful at first, as PRA wanted to settle for 80%, finally after 45 minutes a discounted rate of 41% was achieved. $800.oo to settle $1,957.00 sounded too good to be true so I did record the conversation. Once they made the modifications over the phone to my PRA account, I paid online the agreed upon amount the same day via their web portal.

 

The funds were drafted from my bank on 11/13/18. The new policy states after 30 days of the funds posting to your PRA account, PRA will request all three credit bureaus to delete the collection accounts. It took 13 days for the funds to show as posted on the online PRA website portal. As I was told by PRA customer service its generally 10 business after the money debited from an account to reflect as posted.

 

On 11/23/18 I received all three letters from PRA saying these accounts have been settled for less than full and are satisfied; within 30 days the request for deletions will be initiated.

 

On 11/28/18 I received an alert from Transunion all three collection accounts have been paid and closed; remarks did state the accounts were settled for less than full; 6 point CS increase.  On 12/14/18 I was finally alerted the settled accounts were deleted, and a 44 point CS increase.

 

On 11/26/18 I received an alert from Equifax all three collection accounts have been paid and closed; remarks did state the accounts settled for less than full; no point score increase. The report still shows as paid and closed as of 12/16 and haven’t been deleted.

 

On 11/17/18 I received an alert from Experian all three collection accounts have been paid and closed; remarks did state the accounts settled for less than full; 2 point score increase due to these three accounts not reporting as FTP any longer.  On 12/12/18 I was finally alerted the accounts were deleted, and there was an 18 point increase.

 

All of these data points are using FICO 8 scores, not Vantage scores.

 

I have been rebuilding for over a year, I must say having these collections accounts removed have been the most valuable tactic so far. Less then a year ago I couldn't get approved for a secured Citi Card. Now I have a Discover IT, Cap One Quick Silver (upgraded from platinum), Amex Blue Cash Preferred, Amex Gold, and a Credit One. The initial limits and current limits have interesting variances, but I have a complex profile. (I did have all these credit accounts prior to the deletion of these collections.

 

Lastly, I must add I have been receiving great pre-approval offers and all sorts of new credit opportunities during the last few days.

 

If anyone has questions feel free to ask or comment.

 

Hope this information helps.

11 REPLIES 11
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Portfolio Recovery Associates New Policy Deleting Collections Accounts is REAL!!!

I settled with them as well last month. My payment cleared on 11/22 but when they reported the information a week later it still showed the account open with a balance of 203. This was accurate information as I did settle for less but I went ahead and disputed it anyways with all 3 CA's. Experian closed the dispute and removed the tradeline on 12/13 and TransUnion closed the dispute and removed it on 12/14. I did get an e-mail from CK stating a change had been made to my Equaifx report but CK hasn't updated since the 13 but my next 3b will be pulled on the 19th so I'm hoping it is gone but PRA is following through with their offer to remove the tradelines. I owed them 726 and settled for 523. I offered 400 but the manager said he wouldn't go any lower. I did try for 500 but he wouldn't budge. I did owe the money so I felt it was a fair tradeoff.

Message 2 of 12
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Portfolio Recovery Associates New Policy Deleting Collections Accounts is REAL!!!

Wow that was fast for you, nice work. I felt the same way, I owed the money and  if I had to pay in full I would had. They needed to get off my report one way or another.  They were doing some serious harm. I am thinking about disputing the Equifax since it hasn't been removed yet but I will give it to the end of the week. I was told by Equifax that disputing it could potentially delay the removal 30 days, and officially I was told by the Equifax rep the credit agencies aren't required to remove the paid collection since its now "valid". I think my best option is to wait it out.

 

What type of score increases did you see?

Message 3 of 12
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Portfolio Recovery Associates New Policy Deleting Collections Accounts is REAL!!!

My TU FICO 8 went up 11 points and my Experian FICO 8 went up 22 points but I also had another negative come off Experian too which lowered my utilization so how much of that 22 was from the PRA removal I don't know. As for Equifax I'm waiting them out too as they are really slow to update reports but for all I know it has been removed via the dispute. If they remove it before my next 3b is reported on the 19th I will let you know.

Message 4 of 12
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Portfolio Recovery Associates New Policy Deleting Collections Accounts is REAL!!!

Great, thanks for the info. I am interested to see what happens with Equifax

Message 5 of 12
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Portfolio Recovery Associates New Policy Deleting Collections Accounts is REAL!!!

Hi, thanks for all this info. I have collection account with them and want to get rid of it. How did you orchestrate pay for delete with PRA?
Message 6 of 12
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Portfolio Recovery Associates New Policy Deleting Collections Accounts is REAL!!!

Hi, thanks for the info. Do you have any updates on PRA removing the account from your credit report?
Message 7 of 12
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Portfolio Recovery Associates New Policy Deleting Collections Accounts is REAL!!!

All gone
Message 8 of 12
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Portfolio Recovery Associates New Policy Deleting Collections Accounts is REAL!!!

Ok do they deleted the original creditors account as well or just PRA accounts because they bought the accounts??
Message 9 of 12
FireMedic1
Community Leader
Mega Contributor

Re: Portfolio Recovery Associates New Policy Deleting Collections Accounts is REAL!!!

Welcome. Just their own accounts. You can try the GW letters to the OC depending on who it is.


Message 10 of 12
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