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Should I attempt to settle a five year old credit card collection?

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User1072839
Valued Member

Should I attempt to settle a five year old credit card collection?

I have a collections account on my reports that up until now I was trying to ride the 7.5 years out. I am currently at 5 years. This collections account is different than two other CAs I have. This one reports the unpaid balance every month like it's open, but the status shows as closed. It shows every month up to and including this one as "charged off" on my Experian report. It is with Portfolio Recovery and to my surprise, I've seen that some people are saying recently that they have had some suceess with them. Should I try to settle this account for less and ask for PFD? 

 

As always, thanks for any and all direction on this. 

Message 1 of 18
17 REPLIES 17
HighAchiever
Established Contributor

Re: Should I attempt to settle a five year old credit card collection?

That would depend on your personal circumstances. Keep in mind that in general, unless you get a pay for delete deal, the 7yrs to 7.5yrs clock will reset and start over from the date of last activity. Some others will soon be along to give more advise, so make sure you read all responses first, before making a decision and good luck!!!   Smiley Happy

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Message 2 of 18
User1072839
Valued Member

Re: Should I attempt to settle a five year old credit card collection?

Thanks for responding. When you say last activity, does that mean contacting them, or making any payments to them?


@HighAchiever wrote:

That would depend on your personal circumstances. Keep in mind that in general, unless you get a pay for delete deal, the 7yrs to 7.5yrs clock will reset and start over from the date of last activity. Some others will soon be along to give more advise, so make sure you read all responses first, before making a decision and good luck!!!   Smiley Happy


 

Message 3 of 18
tparks5961
Regular Contributor

Re: Should I attempt to settle a five year old credit card collection?

Yes, portfolio recovery will PFD.

 

Pay it ASAP. As soon as I heard of the policy, I paid it off quickly before they reverted back to the old policy.. PFD is frowned upon but the Credit bureaus,  If they are forced to stop the practice, you're stuck.

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Message 4 of 18
HighAchiever
Established Contributor

Re: Should I attempt to settle a five year old credit card collection?

Usually, if you make any payments, that's when the clock resets. I'm not sure if they can update the file due to a verbal promise or anything like that...   Smiley Happy

“Most people work just hard enough not to get fired and get paid just enough not to quit.”
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Message 5 of 18
User1072839
Valued Member

Re: Should I attempt to settle a five year old credit card collection?


@tparks5961 wrote:

Yes, portfolio recovery will PFD.

 

Pay it ASAP. As soon as I heard of the policy, I paid it off quickly before they reverted back to the old policy.. PFD is frowned upon but the Credit bureaus,  If they are forced to stop the practice, you're stuck.


Thanks for the post. Did you pay in full or settle with them?

Message 6 of 18
simplegirl
Valued Contributor

Re: Should I attempt to settle a five year old credit card collection?


@User1072839 wrote:

@tparks5961 wrote:

Yes, portfolio recovery will PFD.

 

Pay it ASAP. As soon as I heard of the policy, I paid it off quickly before they reverted back to the old policy.. PFD is frowned upon but the Credit bureaus,  If they are forced to stop the practice, you're stuck.


Thanks for the post. Did you pay in full or settle with them?


I settled and they deleted 30 days afterwards and I didn’t even ask about a deletion. And the 7.5 year reporting cannot be restarted.








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Message 7 of 18
satio
Frequent Contributor

Re: Should I attempt to settle a five year old credit card collection?


@simplegirl wrote:

@User1072839 wrote:

@tparks5961 wrote:

Yes, portfolio recovery will PFD.

 

Pay it ASAP. As soon as I heard of the policy, I paid it off quickly before they reverted back to the old policy.. PFD is frowned upon but the Credit bureaus,  If they are forced to stop the practice, you're stuck.


Thanks for the post. Did you pay in full or settle with them?


I settled and they deleted 30 days afterwards and I didn’t even ask about a deletion. And the 7.5 year reporting cannot be restarted.


I can confirm the same thing.

 

I settled @ 50% of total due and within 30 days the tradeline was completely removed.



Message 8 of 18
HighAchiever
Established Contributor

Re: Should I attempt to settle a five year old credit card collection?

There you have it... I think you should act on this sooner rather than later! If they will delete the trade line, your scores will go up! 😎
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Message 9 of 18
Remedios
Credit Mentor

Re: Should I attempt to settle a five year old credit card collection?


@HighAchiever wrote:

That would depend on your personal circumstances. Keep in mind that in general, unless you get a pay for delete deal, the 7yrs to 7.5yrs clock will reset and start over from the date of last activity. Some others will soon be along to give more advise, so make sure you read all responses first, before making a decision and good luck!!!   Smiley Happy


 

 Reporting clock does not restart with activity. It's based on DOFD and only on DOFD. 

Derogatory account will be removed no longer than 7.5 years from DOFD, usually at 7 year mark. Payments have nothing to do with this. 

 

 

Message 10 of 18
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