Trying to get back on track-would appreciate some guidance

[Gidgetmom]

Congratulations, Bouncing!  Nice work!

Once you settle with the CA on your Barclays....maybe start a goodwill campaign with Barclays to get them to remove their info.  I don't have any experience with Barclays, but have had some success with goodwill letters with other creditors.

[medicgrrl]

Congrats on your successes so far!

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the support! 

I'm getting ready to fire off the settlement offer-getting a hold of these guys by phone has been impossible. You would think they would be wanting to get this going but apparently not. Would the below letter be sufficient? Any advisement will be greatly appreciated.

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To Whom It May Concern,

I have been requesting via phone for settlement confirmation from your collection agency in regards to the above file with no success. My first phone conversation with your company resulted in a settlement amount of $1,064.76 and I was told that a confirmation letter would be mailed to me along with instructions for payment. That confirmation never arrived. My second attempt was with a different representative named Dave who again stated that settlement offer and letter would be sent. I have yet to receive this information.

All discussion and offers herein are an attempt to remove derogatory information I have found on my credit report, and not an admission of the validity of this debt, or an admission of ownership of said debt.

Herein is my offer to settle this matter in full for the amount of $1,064.76, the terms for receipt of this payment being a full and final settlement of this debt in its entirety. In addition to full and final settlement of this debt in its entirety, this offer is contingent on the accurate reporting of this debt as settled/paid within 30 days of receipt of funds, and without any additional comments or omissions which could be construed as derogatory or negative including ‘paid/settled for less than entire amount’, or any other comment or commission in reporting not directly REQUIRED by law.

If you accept this offer to settle this matter in full, such acceptance should be sent to me in writing in the form of a valid and legally binding contract, on your company letterhead, at which time I will review said contract, and upon my acceptance will submit payment to you immediately for the aforementioned amount.

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[medicgrrl]

This is for the Barclays account? I thought you were going to request they not report the collection to the CRA's?

[Anonymous]

Yes this is for the Barclays. So Barclays is the original creditor and I am communicating with Gurstel Law who is the debt collector on behalf of Barclays. Is this still possible to request for a pay for not reporting? 

I suppose my question is how would the trade line appear on my credit report on a 'pay for not reporting' scenario? Does it disappear completely upon payment in settlement?

[medicgrrl]

I would put something in there about them not reporting it as a collection. I dealt with a law firm on some medical bills and they reported them on my credit report because they were basically acting as a collection agency.

[Anonymous]

So it looks like Experian has agreed to remove the four medical collections-I'm waiting on my credit report to update but they have sent me an updated account history reflecting it has been removed.

Thank you for your help on the medical part, it looks like only Equifax is holding those and I just have to wait until we get closer to their timeframe.

Still working on the Barclays account-I reached out to the collection agency and they stated that they do not do credit reporting and that they will only notify the court to remove the lawsuit upon settlement of the account. Again, just to clarify they will settle for a lower amount and notify the original creditor that the account has been settled. At that point, I would go back to Barclays with a goodwill attempt. 

Sorry for the repeat questions-I feel so empowered seeing these success that I'm cautious about making moves until I'm certain of what I'm doing is accurate.

Thank you again for all your help. 

[medicgrrl]

So they've already initiated a lawsuit? Be very careful and read everything they send you! Some are shady and will attempt to get you to sign an agreement for a default judgement. Did they put in writing that they will dismiss the suit?

[Anonymous]

I've only had the opportunity to discuss it over the phone with them. They said they would dismiss the lawsuit and report payment received to Barclays upon receipt of payment. I requested for them to send over ths confirmation in writing so at this point I'm waiting until that letter arrives.

[Anonymous]

So I thought I would provide an update on my situation. This is really to thank the contributors so that they know the help and advice they provided is being utilized and it has been effective. 

So really, first thing I should say is thank you to everyone who has posted their advice and also for those who have dropped by and left their words of encouragement. This has been quite an experience and I am, for the first time in six years, starting to feel a huge burden come off my shoulders.

As I mentioned before, TransUnion and Experian had allowed for an EE on all of the medical collections so everything has dropped off. I was prepared to work on Equifax but upon reviewing my reports last night I noticed that the medical collections are not on there. At the moment, it seems as if all medical collections have been taken care of.

For the Barclays bank credit card: I went ahead and did the reduced settlement with the agency collecting on behalf of Gurstel Law Firm. Their letter stated that upon receipt of payment, the judgment against me would be dropped. I went ahead and paid the amount a few weeks back and I just received their documents requiring my signature which will be filed for dismissal of judgment. Previous posters have mentioned that once this has been done I should initiate a goodwill campaign with Barclays to remove the reporting to the 3 CRA's, is that correct?

As it stands currently, my FICO 8's are: 618 Equifax, 641 TU, and 630 Experian.

The timing is starting to line up as my car is on its final legs!