Repair Credit Score Question.

[StennJ]

What is the name of your state? NY

Hello All,
I was wondering in terms of bring up ones credit score which is looks better or improves the score the most. Paying the debt in full or making a settlement offer. Also I was wondering if when a debt is paid if it is common place to ask the creditor or collection agency to remove any negative information from the report regarding the debt in question. Thank you in advance for your replies and help.

Sincerely,


Jeremiah

 

[seniorjudge]

Money talks.

If you pay something off in full, you could ask for the negative stuff to be removed.

"Settlement offers" are not money.

 

[StennJ]

I am assuming that to protect myself I should get that in writing before I mail the check for payment. How else should I protect myself other then getting it in writing to ensure that they do remove the information?

Jeremiah

 

[seniorjudge]

I am assuming that to protect myself I should get that in writing before I mail the check for payment. How else should I protect myself other then getting it in writing to ensure that they do remove the information?

Jeremiah

Keep the writing where they agreed to it. That should protect you.

However, I am NOT a creditor-debtor attorney.

Stand by and watch for more knowledgeable answers.

 

[cmorris]

Paying or settling a chargeoff does not improve your score. Your best bet is a "pay for delete." They usually want all of the money at one time, not payments. Send your request by mail, certified mail return receipt. If you can find the name of the CEO, President, VP, or other high authority, you may have better luck. Just make sure their agreement is in writing before you pay and it states they will delete from all credit bureaus (some state they agree to your terms, never specifing what those are).

If they refuse the pay for delete, settle as low as you can. But make sure the written agreement states the unpaid portion CANNOT be sold (they sometimes do this). If you do this, you will likely get a tax form to add the unpaid portion as income on your taxes.

Have you sent a debt validation letter yet? The collection agencies may not have proper validation and that could get them deleted. My husband had an account with NCO and it just disappeared with the DV request.

 

[StennJ]

Cmorris,
Did you have to send in any supporting document ion to the credit reporting agencies or did it just come off? If it wasn't as easy as just falling off could you explain what you did so I can follow up once I send them the DV.

Jeremiah

 

[cmorris]

This was for my DH. I sent a DV letter, certified mail return receipt, to NCO. The DV only stated his name, address and SSN; that he disputed the account because he had no knowledge of it, the account number from his Experian report (it was only reporting there) and no signature. I did not tell them what to send as validation; they should know how to handle a DV.

When I got the green card back, I sent a letter, certified mail return receipt, disputing the account with Experian. It stated he did had no knowledge of the account or NCO (true, he has never received a bill, call, etc). The letter included the account number from NCO and amount. I submitted his driver's license and SSN card as proof of identity. I had my husband review everything before submitting anything (he's not active in credit repair).

This approach is called the 1-2 punch. It is effective, but does not always work. Some collection agencies do provide validation or they verify w/o providing it (the last part is illegal). But it is still very effective.

Visit creditboards.com. This is a great place and where I learned so much about credit repair. Good luck!