Collections Affects Credit Score?

[mannyrs13]

Recently got a settlement offer letter from an old Macy's card I had and it was never paid off. Last payment showed around spring of 09. Think my mother was using the card back then. Stupid of me. Anyways I'm wondering if I pay it off or let it be will it affect my credit score? I'm in Florida so I think it's seven years here also. My score is at 655, but could be better. Will settling this help me in any way?

 

[Dusty Bake Activate]

I worked in collections for about 4 years. Take the settlement if you don't have any other means of paying it off. Either way, you're credit is fukked I'm sorry to tell you.

 

[theworldismine13]

call them back, and say that as part of the settlement you want it removed

paying it off wont help much, it will help a little bit

 

[Jesus Shuttlesworth]

Once a debt goes to collections you don't have to pay it. You have no contract with the debt collector. Send them a letter asking them to verify the debt, with something bearing your signature. Give them 30 days or tell them you want it removed. If they call you during that 30 days or don't remove it you can sue them for $1,000. Of course they're not going to have this documentation because they simply bought your name and info for pennies on the dollar in hopes to use scare tactics to collect. The original creditor has already written your debt off.

Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

 

[mannyrs13]

Account is closed and shows as loss by credit grantor if that affects anything. I'm able to pay it off both in full and in payments. can I have it removed even if it's closed already?

 

[Dusty Bake Activate]

Once a debt goes to collections you don't have to pay it. You have no contract with the debt collector. Send them a letter asking them to verify the debt, with something bearing your signature. Give them 30 days or tell them you want it removed. If they call you during that 30 days or don't remove it you can sue them for $1,000. Of course they're not going to have this documentation because they simply bought your name and info for pennies on the dollar in hopes to use scare tactics to collect. The original creditor has already written your debt off.

Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

Lol...this is bullshyt.

 

[Jesus Shuttlesworth]

Lol...this is bullshyt.

If you say so.

 

[theworldismine13]

Once a debt goes to collections you don't have to pay it. You have no contract with the debt collector. Send them a letter asking them to verify the debt, with something bearing your signature. Give them 30 days or tell them you want it removed. If they call you during that 30 days or don't remove it you can sue them for $1,000. Of course they're not going to have this documentation because they simply bought your name and info for pennies on the dollar in hopes to use scare tactics to collect. The original creditor has already written your debt off.

Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

this can work if its a bullshyt credit collector, but especially nowadays most legit collectors have the documentation that show you owe the money

but i do agree that you dont have to pay them shyt

 

[Poppa_Dock]

everything effect your credit score late bills, non sufficient fund bank charges debts etc.

 

[Jesus Shuttlesworth]

Account is closed and shows as loss by credit grantor if that affects anything. I'm able to pay it off both in full and in payments. can I have it removed even if it's closed already?

Closed means just that. It's a final status. You never have to pay the same debt twice unless somebody scams you. If you can pay it and choose to, that's fine. But if you don't want to or can't, ask for verification.

If you're trying to clean up your credit I would also ask the bureaus to validate anything on it. Do this like right now because this is the time of year they get swamped and you might catch a break. That original debt may fall off too because if the debt has been passed around enough times, info gets lost.

I wouldn't call this method 100% honest but come on, we're talking about credit card companies here.

 

[Listen]

Allow me to shed some truth to this thread.

You need to know what the DoFD and your SOL is.



DoFD= Date of First Delinquency – This is the date of the delinquency that led to the collection/charge off status. This is NOT the first time you were ever delinquent on the account. It is the last time you got behind on payments and never again got caught up. If you are looking at your EX or TU report, it may not show DoFD, instead it will say “This account scheduled to remain until XXXXX” or something to that affect, subtract 7-7.5 years from this date and you will have DoFD.



SOL= Statute of Limitations—this is state based and sets the time limit the creditors have to sue you to recover their money. Now, they can sue after this time expires, but you must show up in court and use “expired SOL” as your defense and you win. Never ignore a summons just because you are past SOL. If the creditor arrives in court and you fail to show then you will lose a default judgement.



SOL generally begins running from DoFD and can be reset or tolled, depending on your state laws. If you have moved to a different state, both state’s SOL may come into play. Check here for simple state SOL.



CRTP= Credit Reporting Time Period—this is the length of time an item can remain on your credit report. The time is calculated based on DoFD. This time varies by different items. Read the CRTP thread for more information. If you are in NY, PAID collections/charge offs are removed 5 years from DoFD.



You then want to check your state statutes to see if your state requires a CA to be licensed and/or bonded. If your state does, check to see if the CA is licensed and/or bonded. If the CA isn’t in compliance with state laws, don’t disclose to them that you know this fact already. You don’t want to “show them all your cards”, keep this for back up ammunition.



If SOL has not expired and you can not PIF, then any action you take on the account will be at your own risk. It is advised not to wake a sleeping giant if you are within SOL and cannot PIF. Even if you do nothing, you can still be sued. You just don't want to put yourself out in the "spotlight" when you cannot PIF and it is within SOL.



The following information is intended for those who are dealing with accounts that the SOL has expired on or they can PIF.



The next important step is finding out who owns the debt, the OC or the CA?



If both the OC and CA are reporting, does the OC show a balance? When an OC sells an account, they have to report a $0 balance. If they still own the account, both the OC and the CA can report a balance.



If the OC still owns the account, I would call them first and ask if they could pull the account back from collections and allow you to PIF. If they agree then you need to pay them in full and then send the CA a DV.


If the OC doesn’t own the account, then the OC isn’t going to be able to do anything for you. You have to deal with the CA.



Send a DV letter CMRRR to the CA. (DV's are never sent to the OC). See this link. You then have to play the waiting game. A CA is under no time limit to answer a DV but all collection activity must stop until they do respond. If you happen to live in Texas you can file a "Notice of Inaccuracy" that compels a CA to respond within 30 days. Here is a link to the Texas Finance Code that covers debt collection.



If they validate properly and you agree with what they sent, then you would want to send a PFD letter. An example can be found here. It doesn’t need to be sent CMRRR. If you get no response or a negative response from your PFD letter, I would search the internet for the names of vice presidents, presidents, managers, etc and address the letter to them. Also look for email addresses and send via email. Google and the BBB are great places to look.

 

[Jesus Shuttlesworth]

this can work if its a bullshyt credit collector, but especially nowadays most legit collectors have the documentation that show you owe the money

but i do agree that you dont have to pay them shyt

They have your name, phone number, account number and social. That doesn't prove you owe the debt or more importantly, promised to pay THEM back. They won't have anything with your signature on it and that's when they're stuck. Send them a letter certified mail and they'll realize you're no pushover and most likely leave you alone just off that. But most people just get scared and pay.

I have a credit counseling business and I have a cousin who's in collections. That nikka hates these kinda discussions though.

 

[theworldismine13]

They have your name, phone number, account number and social. That doesn't prove you owe the debt or more importantly, promised to pay THEM back. They won't have anything with your signature on it and that's when they're stuck. Send them a letter certified mail and they'll realize you're no pushover and most likely leave you alone just off that. But most people just get scared and pay.

I have a credit counseling business and I have a cousin who's in collections. That nikka hates these kinda discussions though.

they will leave you alone by simply telling them that you dont want any phone calls, getting them to leave you alone and removing the collections are 2 different things

and like i said, you dont have to pay anything to a collection agency, i agree with that part, but them having the documentation means they do not have to remove it from your credit report, so its a standoff

so the first thing you do is what you suggested, but like i said that only works with a few, the next step is to negotiate a removal

 

[Jesus Shuttlesworth]

they will leave you alone by simply telling them that you dont want any phone calls, getting them to leave you alone and removing the collections are 2 different things

and like i said, you dont have to pay anything to a collection agency, i agree with that part, but them having the documentation means they do not have to remove it from your credit report, so its a standoff

so the first thing you do is what you suggested, but like i said that only works with a few, the next step is to negotiate a removal

Yeah that's true, you can tell them not to call and they must oblige. But this documentation is in the form of a promissory note, which the collection agency won't have.

And to really break it down, credit card companies don't have a legit promissory anyway. They turn your application into a promissory note, which essentially renders the entire contract null and void at that point. Technically.

There's levels to this shyt, but only a bit at a time...

 

[theworldismine13]

Yeah that's true, you can tell them not to call and they must oblige. But this documentation is in the form of a promissory note, which the collection agency won't have.

And to really break it down, credit card companies don't have a legit promissory anyway. They turn your application into a promissory note, which essentially renders the entire contract null and void at that point. Technically.

There's levels to this shyt, but only a bit at a time...

yeah like i said, you dont have to pay a dime to any collector

but if the credit agency thinks its legit documentation, then that's all that matters as far as your credit report, back in the day challenging use to work more because collection agencies were more shady, but nowadays collection agencies have gotten less shady or more legit to challenge the challengers, so to speak