Bad Credit and a Charge Off
Help please ? has anyone ever successfully negotiated(with payment of course) with a credit card company to remove a charge off from your credit report? Is it even possible?
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Lilgrymonkey, I haven't heard of that either. When I was in my early 20s I was very irresponsible with my credit n charged a bunch of things I couldn't pay off. My priorities were out of whack then. Anyway, I had 3 credit cards go into collection. I let those go as well until I hit a stage were I needed to take care of what I had to to get back on track with my credit. I called each collection agency n made a deal that if they were willing to lower the total amount due I would pay off my balance right then n there. They were willing to cut my balance owed to almost half n I paid it n they charged off my ACCTS. It took 7 yrs for my negative hits to b completely removed from my credit history.
If I were u, I'd pay off the account that u owe the highest Internet with. Then work ur way to paying off the rest n always do more than the minimum.
I've heard some collection companies will settle for a lower amount and then once you finish paying them the remaining balance could be returned to the original creditor. Then the original creditor will go after the person for the remaining balance. So I would honestly just make payments and get it paid off.
Thank you ladies for all your help. I really appreciate it. I don't care about the money i just want my score to go back up asap.
I've had to do this. My ex boyfriend took out a payday loan, and a credit card in my name (he was a real peach). Of course he never paid them, and I didn't find out about it until years later when I pulled my credit report. I disputed the debts, like @filter is explaining. Make sure if you do settle with them, to get EVERYTHING in writing. Demand that they mail you the settlement terms and the agreement to remove the item. Keep in mind that they are not your friend, they will act nice and helpful, but in the end they just want the money.
Under $500 is peanuts compared to the debt we used to deal with, you could ignore it and balance out your score with good accounts even opening a secured card for a similar amount. Or if you just want to be done with it you can negotiate with the collection agency they would probably settle for lower maybe as low as a couple hundred. You can also go through with the validation process they probably won't put much effort into validating an amount that low. Receipts prove nothing, that's why they call you try to get you to confirm details about yourself such as your DOB and the last 4 of your social then they try to get you to confirm you have a debt with whichever creditor. You are not obligated to answer anything they have no authority and the whole industry is a Grey area that's not exactly illegal but also not regulated to make sure they are following laws. Do not engage them legally you have rights they cannot harass you, you can tell them to stop and continue any further communication via mail.
Well it's just under$500 of debt which isn't a lot but to me feels like a lot. But i feel like i wouldn't even know how to know if they've actually validated it correctly. I haven't used this card since 2014. Will they send me copies of receipts and what not?
Your worry would be if they do validate the debt, in which case you would have to pay it. That would happen maybe 15% of the time we would encourage our clients to settle so if it's a 10K debt we would push for a settlement of 7.5k or lower and set up an affordable payment plan. Chances are they won't be able to validate it though, your creditors should not be selling your debt to begin with and none of the money you pay to the collection agency will go back to your original creditor, so you would basically just be paying someone to harass you. It's all sketchy and rarely done right you have a pretty good chance at fighting this.
@filter what if they don't remove it if they don't validate the debt?
Let them sell it then challenge the debt, chances are the company they sell it to won't be able to validate the debt. Usually they don't follow legal guidelines they don't get any original documentation from your original debtor so they won't be able to produce a signed contract. Whatever you do never acknowledge the debt you don't owe the collection agency anything. You can google validation letters send one out and if you don't get any response then they need to remove it. If they do respond it will most likely be insufficient so you send out one more letter demanding they validate the debt. 9 times out of 10 they still won't be able to, and will have remove it. It takes about 3-4 months to go through the whole process. I used to work for a debt validation company briefly that's how I know all this lol. They may try to harass and bully you into paying but debt collectors are known liars don't believe anything they say and again never acknowledge the debt is yours or act like you know anything about it they record everything and will use that to "validate" the debt
So this is how it works op
If you get a charge off the only people who can take that off of your credit is the original creditor. D they are not willing to work with you it will go to collections and even if you pay the collections agency (which will probably be a lot cheaper because they'll usually accept anything because they probably bought the debt from the creditor at a rather low cost) the collections agency cannot remove the charge off from your credit. It will show up on a credit report as paid which doesn't negatively effect your credit AS much but the charge off will remain on your credit for 7 years.
I'm going through the same thing (I had used a credit card to purchase something for someone else who promised to take over payments on the card and they paid under the minimum balance and then eventually stopped paying and I didn't keep track of it. Stupid of me I know)
We are trying to get an FHA loan so we are in the process of fixing our credits to do so.
You can usually get a secured credit card through your bank/credit union of you have bad credit and that will really help you build it back up but it takes about 2 years to really build your credit.
I had to due this for my husband two years ago because he had a medical bill for $50 that was two years overdue. He wasn't getting the late letters or bills because his address was wrong on file. It worked for him.
First get find the contact information for the creditor you are dealing with. Then send them this letter certified then you know that have received it. Do not work a deal out over the phone bc they may not remove it from your credit score since there is no proof they said they would. Also if your debt is old then perhaps just let it fall off your credit report on its own. It will do so after 7 years. Also if they do not accept the offer, ask for a full verification of the debt. This would be the original application for credit, copies of receipts from stores, etc. Most debt is sold from company to company and often this information is either lost or the employee that receives this letter does not want to do the searching. If that information cannot be provided to you then your debt is canceled as well as it being reported to the credit bureaus.
Here's the template:
Collector’s City, State Zip Date Re: Account Number XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX
Dear Collection Manager:
This letter is in response to your [letter / call / credit report entry] on [date] related to the debt referenced above. I wish to save us both some time and effort by settling this debt.
Please be aware that this is not an acknowledgment or acceptance of the debt, as I have not received any verification of the debt. Nor is this a promise to pay and is not a payment agreement unless you provide a response as detailed below.
I am aware that your company has the ability to report this debt to the credit bureaus as you deem necessary.
Furthermore, you have the ability to change the listing since you are the information furnisher.
I am willing to pay [this debt in full / $XXX as settlement for this debt] in return for your agreement to remove all information regarding this debt from the credit reporting agencies within ten calendar days of payment.
If you agree to the terms, I will send certified payment in the amount of $XXX payable to [Collection agency] in exchange to have all information related to this debt removed from all of my credit files.
If you accept this offer, you also agree not to discuss the offer with any third-party, excluding the original creditor. If you accept the offer, please prepare a letter on your company letterhead agreeing to the terms. This letter should be signed by an authorized agent of [Collection Agency]. The letter will be treated as a contract and subject to the laws of my state.
As granted by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, I have the right to dispute this alleged debt. If I do not receive your postmarked response within 15 days, I will withdraw the offer and request full verification of this debt.
Please forward your agreement to the address listed above.
Sincerely,
Your Name
I just called them and they told me if i don't pay today then my account will be sold tonight. He wouldn't negotiate.
Am i supposed to negotiate with the collection agency? Or the actual card company (already called them today)?
No. I was being dumb and charged more than i could pay back one month and then instead of dealing with it i stopped making payments.?? This was about 2 years ago when it finally charged off.
And now i really want to fix my credit but no company/bank will accept my application for a new card.
I've worked for a debt consolidation agency. A debt collection agency, & American Express before! Some of the posters here actually know what they're talking about!!! You've been given some great advice, follow through with it! I am thankful to have worked for those companies because I learned a lot which is why I'm credit is A1 ???