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     | Sunday, October 29, 2000 - 07:06 am  Hopefully this wont be to long. Approx 1 year ago I changed careers...I left the auto business and entered the IT field. In doing so I took a huge paycut but knew in the long run it was the right move. In the course of this i had 2 accounts that went into "Charge Off " status. #1 was a loan for a new tool box ii foolishly bought 6 months prior to quiting auto business. Approx $2300.00. I tried to pay as much as possible then when the new paycut hit home, I was unable to keep up with payments. (I own a home and have 3 kids also). The account went into a bad debt and I was able to return the toolbox for the debt to be paid in full. Of course I was not aware it was reported as a charge off. To late now??? What can I do to try to remove this short of waiting the 7 years?? Can I write letters??? #2 I also during that time had a discover card go to Charge off. Now on this one i am paying it back ($2000.00). In fact I recieved a huge raise and make more than when in the Auto industry. So I pay $235.00 a month to pay off the bad debt. I still owe them 1300.00 . This is also reported on my credit report as Charge off. Can I still negotiate with them to get that status removed?? What do you recommend? Letters??? I fel like such a dead beat even though i can explain what happened...but know the creditors heard it all and dont care. I cant even buy a car. What course of action would you suggest in my case. I wish they taught this when i was in high school 100 years ago. I still am uneducated in this area and am at a loss. Please help :>( uncas
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| | Sunday, October 29, 2000 - 08:51 am I also wish they taught this stuff to us in school. Then we would not be learning by trial and error. I have found, in my career as a debt collector, that most of us are not dead beats. We have all been in situations like yours. Don't think of yourself that way. All the millionaires I know have filed bankruptcy at some point in their life and learned from this never to obtain credit for anything that isn't an investment. Depending on how long ago this tool box loan was reported as a charge off, you may be able to dispute that bad remark and have it removed. And keep paying the Discover charge off. If you pay all you owe, this will look better on your file. Once they've rec'd all the payments, with lots of calls, they may help you out. I have found though that credit card co's are harder to deal with as far as this is concerned. They will tell you it is unethical and deceitful to remove the bad remarks. Good Luck!
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| | Sunday, October 29, 2000 - 09:28 am June and John, you both need to read http://www.bayhouse.com/discus/messages/4/909.html?972676231 I recommend that instead of a check, John print out Patricia's posting and mail it to Discover. I would not pay another penny unless Discover agrees in writing that they will REMOVE the charge-off and report your current payments as a PAID AS AGREED account. EVERY single payment you make will WORSEN your credit rating substantially, as Discover will report the charge-off when you FINISHED paying everything off! It doesn't pay to pay. The sooner you STOP paying, the sooner your credit rating will improve again. Feel free to send them THIS posting too.
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| | Sunday, October 29, 2000 - 12:39 pm It is my experience that Discover will be easier to negotiate with once the account is paid in full. Try it for yourself, if they agree to report your payments and take you out of charge off that's great. If not, I'm sure that once the account is paid negotiations will be easier. As far as they're concerned, right now, you could default again at any time. What I'm trying to say is that there will be a way out of the charge off.
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| | Sunday, October 29, 2000 - 01:46 pm HOW? I'm totally confused now. Patricia has the IDENTICAL problem as John, except that she already paid them off and Discover's big "Thank you for paying!" was redating the charge-off from 1995 to 8/2000, when Patricia made her final payment. You told Patricia That's exactly what your looking at! If you were able to wait just 2 more years this account would have dropped off your file completly. The only way you could have avoided this would have been to negotiate reopening the account with the creditor. Depending on how long it had been charged off, they may have accepted. The date of last activity is now the date you paid the "charge off" off. Good Luck! And when I advised Patricia that she should contact Discover, you responded Unfortunately debt collectors are usually very cold and have heard every sob story in the book. Also they probably gave opportunities or what they call a "second chance" before charging the account off. I would say your chance for persuading them to erase this is very low. They would love to keep you from getting a mortgage. ... So what am I missing? I'm really out of here for Lost Wages now, but I'd like to know what I'm not understanding.
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| | Sunday, October 29, 2000 - 02:02 pm I would recommend that you check your credit first and see how they are reporting now under the current situation. If they aren't reporting in a way that you like then you need to contact them immediately and tell them that you think you're getting screwed and that you're not going to pay until you and Discover can come to a 'meeting of the minds.' A logical creditor should be willing to wipe the old debt off your credit in exchange for your signature on a piece of paper saying that you're refinancing the debt according to the terms of the new agreement. This has many benefits not the least of which is the extension of the statute of limitations. Not surprisingly, however, many companies are no more logical than people are. Communication with Discover is the key as well as getting an agreement in writing.
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| | Sunday, October 29, 2000 - 08:44 pm John, Christine and Shylock hit it on the head! Don't pay a dime without Discover agreeing to negotiate the debt. Every payment you make, makes the "date of last activity" the date they got that payment. Every action you take on that account extends it one more day, week, month or year. You are only hurting yourself. Don't feel bad at all for you did not make the rules that WILL hurt you! If I were you I would take a very FIRM stance. Here is what you already have. Let's assume you made a payment on October 1st 2000. Let's further assume that if you make these same payments for 6 more months you will have paid off the $1300. Stop paying them today. 1. Your date of last activity is 10/1/00. 2. Your credit report will show charge off until 10/1/07. 3. You save $1410. You pay them until April 1 2001 1. Your date of last activity is 4/1/01 2. Your credit report will show charge off until 4/1/08 3. You pay $1410 more. Now which of these two makes more sense? I would do exactly as Christine said. I would hold the line (at first) at not paying a dime until they 1. Remove the charge off from your credit reports (all of them.) 2. Change the status to "paying as agreed." 3. Negate all accruing interest. 4. Refuse to reaffirm the debt. 5. Make all changes within 30 calendar days. Remember this is a negotiation. Everything is negotiable and if they do you can change a bit. But under no circumstances accept anything less than 1 AND 2 above. Many of us have been through this before. Collection agents and departments lie without recourse. They are masters of deceit, ambiguity, procrastination and opportunistic forgetfulness. They are masters of the law (in their favor) and they become single-minded. You see what you have and if you continue to pay you can see what YOU WILL HAVE. Just remember, when you pay that debt off there is no reason for Discover to even answer you phone calls or accept your letters. They can tell you "there is nothing I can do" and hang up on you - and they will. They have every penny you own, they got a tax break for you being a legal "charge off" (even though your payments do account as income but at a very attractive tax rate for the company) and they want to teach you a lesson. You have absolutely no leverage except going through the CRA credit clean-up process (which you can do even if you don't pay.) If they negotiate you got a clean record and they got their money! If they don't negotiate you got the same charge off, they did not get any additional money and you can use the money for a secure credit card to start rebuilding your credit earlier. It is their call but you simply need to let them know - you demand they know - that you are serious. Write a letter to the President and copy it to the Chairman (Cc: Chairman Philip J. Purcel). Remember this Discover Card is a division of Discover Services, which is a subsidiary of Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. Pay a little extra and have it certified, restricted delivery with return receipt. Here is the name and address. Word it strongly but politely. Let him know of your circumstances why you got behind but make sure it does not sound voluntary (you needed to advance to feed you 3 kids and you could not go further etc.) You understand that the shareholders of MSDW desire a maximum return on their investment and you wish to provide that. I am fully aware of the 3rd quarter results of your Credit Services Division and the record $222 million net income you produced. However, I desire to aid (in ever so small a fashion) to that maximization of returns. However in order to do so I need your help. I desire that MSDW not minimize my family's returns. Henceforth you propose this deal (and spell it out.) Sit back and wait a few days and talk to the ombudsman when he or she calls. Make sure they can contact you anywhere at anytime. Mr. Philip J. Purcell, Chairman Mr. John J. Mack, President Morgan Stanley Dean Witter 1585 Broadway New York, NY 10036 (212) 761-4000 (212) 761-0086 Fax Hope this helps Frank
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| | Monday, October 30, 2000 - 04:16 am Really, first of all, every credit situation is different. Patricias' date of last activity was so that the account would have been completely erased from her file in 2 more years if she hadn't paid them a penny. And, if my memory serves me right, she settled the account. If you pay all owed these credit card co's are more likely to negotiate removing bad remarks. I would have told Patricia, had she asked for advice before paying the settlement, not to settle because of this. As Frank said above, Johns' date of last activity is now 10/00. It will be 7 years before this is removed from his file if he can't get Discover to see it his way. Like I said in my earlier post, as far as Discover is concerned, John could default again at anytime. Frank, have you used the tactics above to turn around your rating with Discover? Do you know anyone that has? If so, that's great, I would recommend that John try this. But again, it is my experience that Discover will be much easier to negotiate with after the account is paid. They won't care to keep penalizing. And, the sob story will be easier to hear once they have their money. One more thing, this also depends on what Johns' credit goals are. If he wants to buy a house and doesn't want to wait 7 years, this account will need to be paid. Do you agree Christine?
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| | Monday, October 30, 2000 - 04:40 am I just realized the situation and corrected my post to Patricia. She did pay the account in full and she should be able to resolve the charge off. Now, it is true that if she could have waited 2 years she would have saved her money and this would have dropped off completely. But in Johns' case, I don't think he wants to wait 7 years. If he keeps paying Discover as he has, it will take only 9 months to pay this in full. And, one more time, it will be easier to negotiate removing bad remarks from his file once this is paid.
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| | Monday, October 30, 2000 - 04:43 am Once again I have to correct myself. It will only take John 6 months to pay Discover off.
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| | Monday, October 30, 2000 - 05:22 am Wow talk about being confused...it's like i have the devil on 1 shoulder and an angel on the other. Each have a valid point. Thanks..I'm not sure what I will do. :>(
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