     Tracey | Wednesday, January 26, 2000 - 06:45 am 
I am ready to start offering my creditors settlements. Is it best to ask for total deletion or for a different status such as paid as agreed. Also I have 2 collection accounts(phone & gas closing bills)they are both under $70. Is it possible to get these deleted, I read elsewhere that utilities are impossible to get deleted is that true? |
| rcb | Thursday, January 27, 2000 - 05:07 am
Either way, turning a derogatory item into a positive item (or eliminating the derog) is good news.
If it's a collection (agency) account, there's no such thing as a "positive collection account item" - you need to get it deleted completely. Collection agencies are listed in a different manner than normal trade lines. Presence of a collection account - paid/unpaid/settled - is bad news. It says "at one point, you didn't pay something and it was referred to a collection agency".
Many utility companies that refer you account to a collection agency will NOT remove it - it's just that particular utility company's policy. I have success with Ameritech, but failed with Detroit Edison. I tried for two months to convince these idiots. After no success, I just paid it to indicate a zero balance. I had success with a hospital (two bills, two collection agencies, two derog items on my reports), but could not convince a doctor's office to do the same. Try as hard as you can, but if you intend to pay it, don't argue for more than a few months.
Trade lines (normal credit cards, loans, etc) would be better to keep on your reports IF they are listed as PAID/NEVER LATE. If you have late payments listed, even from the past, and you're dealing with getting it paid off, have them delete the line or update EVERYTHING regarding that line to a PAID/NEVER LATE status.
Having it deleted means you're losing a trade line of what COULD BE good credit payment history IF you are able to convince the creditor to change the trade line to a positive item, then go for that to keep the history. If not, deletion is much better than SETTLED FOR LESS THAN FULL AMOUNT or any other not so positive status/comment. |
| Anonymous | Wednesday, February 16, 2000 - 08:44 pm
I too am about to offer a collection agency an offer. How should I go about making the offer?
I have looked around for sample form letters here and other sites, but all the samples do not request deletion of the account from the three CRA's.The offer I am about to make will be 7 years old in Jan 2001, but I want to purchase a home this spring, so I can't wait for it to fall off the CRA's. Any suggestions would be appreciated. |
| Christine Baker (Admin) | Wednesday, February 16, 2000 - 10:03 pm
Just state in your offer that you agree to settle the debt for x $$$ if the collection agency agrees to remove the account from all credit reporting agencies. Be sure to get it in writing.
And I hope you read some of the other related postings on negotiating collections!
Keyword Search +settle +collection just found 27 pages |
