Synchrony Issue - Mortgage Broker Wants Solution

[Seablazer31]

Hi All,

As the subject says, I have a Synchrony issue that is old that our mortgage broker is really harping on as he had issues with one bank and wants to try and head this off now.

Some background, this was a card that fell out during Covid, and is now slated to be removed from all the CRA's 11/2026, so one more year to go. The debt being reported is $1,043, which is correct, and I have made a multiple amounts of attempts to pay this off in the past 14 months and can not get any sane person at Synchrony to provide assistance. They all state that this debt was taken as a Profit and Loss write off and that a 1099-C was issued in 2024. Not only have I never received the 1099-C, the IRS transcripts do not show a 1099-C every being filed, and when I ask for a duplicate to be sent, they claim they can't do that.

The second issue is that they say I can make a "goodwill" payment via check (I do not want to have to go get a check and would prefer to just pay over the phone so I know the payment was made), but they are under no obligation to remove the balance from the reports, and that I would be making this payment at will.

So, the pickle is that the broker wants this to be reduced to zero, and while I'd love to just pay it off, I'm EXTREMELY hesistant to make a payment, and one of two things happen; they don't lower the owed amount to $0.00 and/or they re-age the account and I'm stuck with this on my reports for another 7 years.

I just need some advice; would you pay this off and risk the re-aging, OR would you just make the concious decision to forego the mortgage process until next November when this falls off.

At this point, my scores are EQ-644, TU-661, EX-659. Utilization is 2.9% ($500/$17,100), two leases, and no late payments reported for nearly 25 months. Our income is good for NY standards ($200k+), so the fact that this is causing issues is starting to rattle me.  

So any advice that can be offered would be great!

[cashorcharge]

Welcome to the forum.  Sorry I can't answer your question...though if you don't find the answers you need here...you may want to move this post to "Mortage Loans" as that thread has many questions similar to this with readers well versed in this area.  Good luck

[ForwardLooking]

How is this showing on your credit report?  Is it being reported as an unpaid charge-off?  I recently bought a house and had no issues getting a mortgage (and an awesome rate to boot) with an old unpaid charge-off on my report with a balance a lot larger than yours.  Like you, it was not scheduled to fall off until next year.  You may want to find another broker that can help you navigate the system better.

For reference, this is the link to the Fannie Mae section that explicitily states charge-offs do not have to be paid to get a mortgage.  The same is true for both conventional and FHA loans. See the first bullet point that excludes charge-offs.

DU Credit Report Analysis | Fannie Mae

"Accounts that are reported as past due (not reported as collection accounts) must be brought current. Medical collection accounts are excluded from the limits below and are not required to be paid in full at or prior to closing.

• For one-unit, principal residence properties, borrowers are not required to pay off outstanding collections or non-mortgage charge-offs—regardless of the amount."