Wells Fargo Unpaid Charge Offs - should I pay or wait and will it help my FICO scores?

[myquestionsfico]

I thought for Washington, the SOL was 3 years for credit cards (which are categorized as open-ended accounts)?

[Remedios]

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@myquestionsfico wrote:
I thought for Washington, the SOL was 3 years for credit cards (which are categorized as open-ended accounts)?

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Nope, for written contracts it's six years. Three years is for spoken but not written down contracts, not applicable in your case. 

[myquestionsfico]

Gotcha - thank you, Remedios.

So if I decide to approach Wells and make an offer to pay (whether I’m able to negotiate the amounts down or decide to PIF), would that start the clock on these debts again?

It’s been 5 years, so I would love to get them behind me, but I don’t want them on my reports longer than they will be if I leave them alone and wait it out.

[Remedios]

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@myquestionsfico wrote:
Gotcha - thank you, Remedios.

So if I decide to approach Wells and make an offer to pay (whether I’m able to negotiate the amounts down or decide to PIF), would that start the clock on these debts again?

It’s been 5 years, so I would love to get them behind me, but I don’t want them on my reports longer than they will be if I leave them alone and wait it out.

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Reporting wise, no. There is no clock restarting when it comes to removal from CR. 

Acknowledging debt, entering into a payment plan and/or accepting an offer might restart SOL. It's really a question for an attorney as far what you should say and what not to say. 

[myquestionsfico]

Thanks! This is so tricky!! I wish I could just pay it (or negotiate some middle ground), and not risk the clock starting again.

[Remedios]

A lot of attorneys will provide free initial consultation. I'd meet with one just in case. 

[Anonymous]

OP - you are acting like time is your enemy, it is not - time is your friend. Think of it this way:

In ONE year you pass the Collection Suit Expiration Date, commonly known as the SOL - and the debt becomes uneneforceable in Court.

In TWO years the debt come off your CRA.

Why would you want to do anything to remind WF that you are there, the SOL is approaching and their negative TL is causing you angst? I would simply lay low for a year, until the debt is Outside SOL. THEN I would contacty them about a PFD, which I doubt they will do. If they won't play ball on your terms, then you wait another year and they are out of your life and off your CRA file permanently, and it cost you nothing.

[myquestionsfico]

Nope, you are exactly right Flyingifr, that is what I plan to do. Thank you so much! It’s easy to get hung up on trying to make these things happen quicker than they can/should.

[alexgold9393]

Just to give you some personal experience, in 2014 i had a secured WF card with a 1,000 limit, ran it up to 1190 and it charged off. I paid this 190 off 3 months ago and noticed the account is still there on my report but now every month showing OK in green, they are reporting as a paid charged off account. Score jumped up by a couple of points. It will come off on its own in 2020 so im not worried about it, but paying it off was not only the right thing to do, but also improved my score. 

Good luck

[sjt]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@myquestionsfico wrote:

So here is my situation.  Back in 2014 I lost my job and got very behind on bills while I was out of work for several months.  I had two Wells Fargo card accounts which became charge offs unfortunately - one for $3490 and the other for $2430.  In 2015, they offered me 40% off of each as a lump sum settlement to consider the accounts paid.  I did not respond at the time, as I was still out of work. 

Now, I have a job and my credit is improving, but I do feel bad and I selfishly I want to make my scores go higher.  These unpaid charge offs are killing me.  Both will drop off in mid-2021, but that feels like a long way off.  Should I contact Wells and try to cut a deal to pay these off (referencing the old letters)?  Will it actually improve my scores at all? 

I would love some input from anyone that has done this successfully and/or has experience negotiating with Wells Fargo. 

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Despite what other may say, paying a charged off debt - even a 5 year old charged off debt - will not improve your score to any significant amount. Reading the other posts in this thread I get the impression that the SOL for suit in your State has passed. If that is the case, start your rebuild with secured cards and low limit unsecured cards and forget about Wells. In 2 years they are ancient history and will be taken off your CRA file. That's what I did and you can see in my sig line what happened in 2017 when the last of my baddies fell off.

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If the C/O debt is still owned by the OC and its reported monthly, that keeps your score down. My personal experience is that I get a 25 point increase by paying a C/O debt.