     Calvin Murry (Cal) | Friday, November 24, 2000 - 07:26 am 
I just at a look at my credit report and I see a Charge-off from Fleet but the last activity date is 6yrs and 6months old. So from a prue credit profile view do i pay it and restart the 7yrs clock or ride the 6 months months. If i ride it out will it be removed after i ride the 6months out Thanks. |
| Dave Cole (Dcolela) | Friday, November 24, 2000 - 01:42 pm
Calvin,
The choice is yours. If the debt is legitimate, and it is within your means (and your sense of moral obligation) to pay it, then you should.
However, if the only way that you even knew of this was to have read it in a credit report, Fleet must have charged it off (as opposed to having sold it to a collection agency), and has no payment expectation.
You're right about the statute of limitations clock starting over if you make any kind of payment. If it were me in your situation, I would write the dispute letters now, to each of the 'Big 3' CRA's (dated with the 7th anniversary of the charge-off), and mail them as soon as the statute runs out. I can tell you from personal experience that removal of outdated information from your credit report absolutely does not happen automatically.
regards,
dave |
| Michael Bardelli (Bull22) | Friday, November 24, 2000 - 05:17 pm
Cal,
It doesn't pay to pay. Don't pay it by any means. Chances are, depending on the state that you live in, that the statute of limitations for collecting the debt has already expired. In that case, the debt is no longer legally owed anyway. As far as the moral end of it is concerned, that is between you and the man upstairs. Just remember that they had no problem trashing your credit for the past seven years. It does not pay to pay.
Mike |
| Shylock (Shylock) | Saturday, November 25, 2000 - 09:37 am
Paying does not restart a 7-year statute of limitations.
If they provided you fair value and you feel morally obligated to pay then pay. There is little legal reason or practical advantage to paying.
I have found that Experian removes negative information at 6 years 9 months in order to avoid having anything on your profile that's over 7 years old. I can't speak for the other two. |
| Dave Cole (Dcolela) | Saturday, November 25, 2000 - 09:48 am
Sorry, Shylock is right, my terminology was wrong. However, paying on this account would re-open it with the CRA's. If to pay the full balance on 12-1-00, you would, potentially, risk having the CRA's reporting something like "Paid, was Charge-Off" for another 7 years.
I'm with Mike, "it doesn't pay to pay".
dave |
| Annmarie Ludlow (Momof3) | Saturday, November 25, 2000 - 11:13 am
You can read the Fair Credit Reporting Act and read the
ammended version at www.ftc.gov - Click on "Consumer Protection" Click on "credit" and then select FCRA (full text). Scroll down to
15 U.S.C. 1681c § 605. In technicality, recent collections connot restart the 7 year clock if you pay on the account anytime during the seven years. Officially everything dates back to the "Antedate" which means before the item began its 7 year havoc on your report. However I believe that items before the 1996 revised act typically try and restart the clock because the old laws allowed them 7 years from the date of last activity, which is why I caution heavily against paying old collection items without the intent to get into a heated campaign to dispute the item through the credit bureau. You have gotta outlast "them" in successfully removing this item from your credit report |
| Dave Cole (Dcolela) | Saturday, November 25, 2000 - 11:56 am
Annmarie,
You're obviously more up-to-date than I am. The last fight that I had with the 'Big 3' was in 1993 at the end of my 7-year credit exile after a Chapter 13 filing. Thanx for bringing us current. |
| Don (Don) | Tuesday, November 28, 2000 - 05:52 am
Don't bother paying it. Just don't be suprised if it shows up again a couple of years from now if it gets sold to a collection agency.
I had one debt which was included in my ('92)BK sold three different time and redated, show up a credit report with a 5/00 date of last activity. After several phone calls to find out what it was in the first place, I was able to dispute it off.
Just don't be suprised by the date changers. |
