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Drew
Frequent Contributor

I don't believe any of my accounts have been sold to the...



okrogius wrote:
 
Depends on whether the card is reporting (and again assuming it's all positive payment history).
 
With respect to selling/paying in full - has your account been sold to a CA, or still with the original creditor? In either case, your ideal scenario is getting an agreement to pay in full in exchenge for them not reporting it. However, depending upon the answer to the previous question, they way to go about it may vary.


I don't believe any of my accounts have been sold to the agencies.  On my credit report it says "charged off", but the agency's are telling me they don't own the account, the original creditor does. 
So, I'm a bit concerned that the agencies may be lying.
 
How could I know for sure that the original creditor owned the account?

 
Also, I have been settling the accounts for 60 percent of the original balances, was this a dumb move?  Should I wait to get some documentation for the other accounts?


Message Edited by Drew on 03-28-2007 11:40 AM
Message 11 of 33
Anonymous
Not applicable

Dumb?  No.  You just didn't realize how counterintuitive...



Drew wrote:


okrogius wrote:
 
Depends on whether the card is reporting (and again assuming it's all positive payment history).
 
With respect to selling/paying in full - has your account been sold to a CA, or still with the original creditor? In either case, your ideal scenario is getting an agreement to pay in full in exchenge for them not reporting it. However, depending upon the answer to the previous question, they way to go about it may vary.


I don't believe any of my accounts have been sold to the agencies.  On my credit report it says "charged off", but the agency's are telling me they don't own the account, the original creditor does. 
So, I'm a bit concerned that the agencies may be lying.
 
How could I know for sure that the original creditor owned the account?

 
Also, I have been settling the accounts for 60 percent of the original balances, was this a dumb move?  Should I wait to get some documentation for the other accounts?


Message Edited by Drew on 03-28-2007 11:40 AM

Dumb?  No.  You just didn't realize how counterintuitive the whole FICO system is.  You probably thought, gee, if I pay a debt, the credit scoring system will see I am conscientious, and raise my score.  It's very logical...and, unfortunately, dead wrong.
 
The only way I would pay a charge-off is if the original creditor agrees to remove the account from my credit report entirely.  So far the ones I've dealt with are more interested in seeing my nose rubbed in my financial misfortunes for the next seven to ten years than they are in actually resolving the problem in a mutually beneficial way.  Their loss.
Message 12 of 33
Drew
Frequent Contributor

I guess where I was getting at was, what documentation sh...



TheNewWorldMan wrote:
 
Dumb?  No.  You just didn't realize how counterintuitive the whole FICO system is.  You probably thought, gee, if I pay a debt, the credit scoring system will see I am conscientious, and raise my score.  It's very logical...and, unfortunately, dead wrong.
 
The only way I would pay a charge-off is if the original creditor agrees to remove the account from my credit report entirely.  So far the ones I've dealt with are more interested in seeing my nose rubbed in my financial misfortunes for the next seven to ten years than they are in actually resolving the problem in a mutually beneficial way.  Their loss.


I guess where I was getting at was, what documentation should I request and how will I know the original creditor owns the account?
 
I'm told that if agencies own the account, they pay cents to the dollar to take ownership.  I'm willing to settle the accounts but I need to know if I should be negotiating 60 percent still or trying to get lower settlements than my original balances.  Agencies are telling me "the client is not willing to go lower", and I'm thinking that is bologna because there's a possibility the original creditor doesn't own the account anymore.  Any thoughts?
Message 13 of 33
Drew
Frequent Contributor

Received another call from a collection agency saying the...

Received another call from a collection agency saying they'll take a 50% settlement if I pay tomorrow.  I told him I wouldn't have it until next week and he said then I would have to pay 70%. 
 
Any suggestions on where I should go from here?
Message 14 of 33
Anonymous
Not applicable

I would tell them to...arrgh, this is a family forum... C...

I would tell them to...arrgh, this is a family forum...

Check your calendar. What likely happened is that some collection agent was anxious to meet his or her monthly quota of closed accounts, and offered you a good deal. Fortunately, there are 12 ends-of-months in every year, so the opportunity will likely arise again.

Bear in mind FICO won't be affected whether you settle, pay in full, or tell the collection agents to take a hike. Lenders tend to regard paid in full as a little better than settled, which in turn is slightly more favorable than unpaid...but overall, once you default and get a charge-off, it's water over the dam.
Message 15 of 33
Drew
Frequent Contributor

Yea, I'm going to see how their mood will quickly changes...



TheNewWorldMan wrote:
I would tell them to...arrgh, this is a family forum...

Check your calendar. What likely happened is that some collection agent was anxious to meet his or her monthly quota of closed accounts, and offered you a good deal. Fortunately, there are 12 ends-of-months in every year, so the opportunity will likely arise again.

Bear in mind FICO won't be affected whether you settle, pay in full, or tell the collection agents to take a hike. Lenders tend to regard paid in full as a little better than settled, which in turn is slightly more favorable than unpaid...but overall, once you default and get a charge-off, it's water over the dam.


Yea, I'm going to see how their mood will quickly changes once the end of April comes around.   I'm thinking paying full is something I'm not willing to do regardless.  That's tons of extra money for the collection agency and with really no difference if I settled.
 
My only problem at this point is justifying ownership of the account.  Should I ask for documentation to be sent with current ownership?
Message 16 of 33
Anonymous
Not applicable

Definitely...if you have doubts the account is yours, by...

Definitely...if you have doubts the account is yours, by all means dispute it. If they can't pony up some documentation showing the debt is truly yours, they have to remove it.
Message 17 of 33
Drew
Frequent Contributor

I think we're going around the wrong concern.  I'm not co...

I apologize, I'm not sure if I'm being clear enough here.  I'm not concerned if I owe the money, rather who owns the account in which I'll be paying the money to.  If I'm paying a collection agency as opposed to the original creditor, the agency may have only paid cents to the dollar to obtain the account, in which case I wouldn't want to settle on a high percentage.  Does that make sense?


Message Edited by Drew on 03-30-2007 12:29 PM
Message 18 of 33
Anonymous
Not applicable

Collections.

Paying off the collections will probably not improve your credit - it will prevent another company from buying the account and reposting it - which can hurt your credit.
 
I think it is good to always good to pay off the bills.   Before I would accept the offer, I would get a pay agreement from them.   Many say they will settle the account, but it does not mean that it will close the account.   If you get a pay statement faxed to you for the rate, then you should be fine.   It is ok to pay the collection company, because they probably own the account.   They are usually bought for 10 to 50 cents on the dollar (depends on the orginal date of collection).
 
If you have also apply for a mortage and the collection is already paid, then you could end up with a little better rate.
Message 19 of 33
Drew
Frequent Contributor

Thanks for the advice.   So, is it safe to say that my ta...



DRASDALL wrote:
Paying off the collections will probably not improve your credit - it will prevent another company from buying the account and reposting it - which can hurt your credit.
 
I think it is good to always good to pay off the bills.   Before I would accept the offer, I would get a pay agreement from them.   Many say they will settle the account, but it does not mean that it will close the account.   If you get a pay statement faxed to you for the rate, then you should be fine.   It is ok to pay the collection company, because they probably own the account.   They are usually bought for 10 to 50 cents on the dollar (depends on the orginal date of collection).
 
If you have also apply for a mortage and the collection is already paid, then you could end up with a little better rate.


Thanks for the advice.
 
So, is it safe to say that my target settlements should be atleast 50%?
Message 20 of 33
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