4 year debt

[celitag]

What is the name of your state? ca

i have a credit card that i never paid, only charged like 300.00.
have a better job now, but i'm not sure if i should pay it or wait 3 more years to drop off. I'm on workmens comp and am only get 2/3rds pay. the bill is 944.40 and they will only settle for 659.00 and remove neg from my report. i spoke on the phone to collections.

what should i do?

[Ladynred]

When did you last PAY on this account. If it WAS 4 years ago (or more), then the SOL has likely expired and the debt isn't legally collectable. In fact, it is illegal in your state for them to even ATTEMPT to collect on an out-of-statute debt.

Paying it would serve little purpose and won't help your credit, UNLESS you can negotiate for all collection tradelines to be deleted and the original debt to show 'paid as agreed' or at least 'paid'. Otherwise, 'paid collection' or 'paid charge-off' is STILL a huge negative.

[celitag]

ty ladynred, i never paid this,last known activity was 10/99.
what do i need to do to get rid of them then? they said they will send me a statement.
on my credti report it says:
purchased by another lender
updated 9/2003
opened 4/1999
paid off 6/2000
>status as of 6/2000: charged off as bad debt

so now i'm not sure what to do....

celitag,
There are two ways to handle your problem.
First way is to consider it as a costly financial lesson you learnt and move on. You can pay in full or settle for less. By all means do the best you can and get the arrangement in writing before sending money.
Other way is to dig through SOL, ignore collection calls/notices, having unpaid chargeoff on credit report etc. etc.
Only you can decide what is right for you. Since you came here for advice, my advice would be the first one. How often can you get a good financial lesson that cheap? I wish mine was that cheap. Good luck.

[bigun]

Do you have some proof that 10/99 was the DOLA? Any old monthly statements showing late fees or, any old dunning letters saying, you're 30 or 60 days late,etc.?

[celitag]

bigun
as of today, no i don't have any statements, i would have to look thru a garage full of stuff... all i have is a fax i sent them 10/99 trying to make arragements, but they were so rude i said f*** it.
it's the only bad mark on my credit. my chp. 13 drops off in may of 2004. if it is illegal for them to collect after the sol. then is there a letter i can crrr them?

[bigun]

I'd send nothing unless you're sure the SOL has passed. STart going through those old records and see if you can find a concrete date. This site has an SOL letter you may want to consider.
[url]http://community-2.webtv.net/Y-chat/WhyChatsCredit/[/url]

Plus, has a lot of SOL info.

[celitag]

ty