Do collection accounts age off your credit report after 7 years?
So I have debt from store lines of credit to a bank credit card. I haven't paid on them since at LATEST December 2007. Chase, citi financial (store line of credit) and Sears line of credit all have it showing closed but I am getting reporting from some debt collector companies.
I live in Arizona and just ordered my actual credit report today. I viewed the information online through a credit score tracking website. I read a lot of comments and researched online somethings. My questions are can any of them take me to court still because from what I read some debts are 3 years and some are 6 here in Arizona, I am not sure what they fall under, also at 7 years they have to stop reporting to my credit so I am told. Does this mean that it will show the old reports but they cant continue to report and since the original lenders have the accounts closed can the debt collector who purchased the debt also show up as a closed account or do they just disappear forever?
Any information to better understand when or if this will ever not be an issue for me would be helpful, as these debts were ran up by my ex and are thousands of dollars I cant and haven't been able to afford to even attempt to fix.
Do collection accounts get removed from my credit reports after 7 years?
—Jennifer
Original lenders and creditors show payment default on your credit reports for up to 7 years from when you stopped paying on the account.
When you first miss payments to a creditor or lender, you will see late pays show up in 30 day blocks of time on your credit report. If the accounts remain unpaid long enough, those 30 day incremental late pays turn into a charge off reporting on your credit. With credit cards, charge offs normally occur within 180 days of consecutively missed payments (they can happen sooner than 180 days).
The 7 years the negative item stays on your credit report starts from the first missed payment to your lender.
When your accounts get this far behind, it is standard to have the account placed with outside collection agencies, and often repeatedly. Many creditors have a practice of selling off debts that remain unpaid long enough to debt buyers. They are legally transferring the rights to the debt to someone else, as is often laid out in your original contract with them.
Collection Agencies and Debt Buyers Showing Up on Your Credit Report
When an additional entry from a collection agency shows up on your credit report it is important to look for some key items:
- Is the new entry showing a balance due? A debt buyer who reports a collection account to the credit bureaus with a balance owed should be matched with the original lenders negative credit reporting to be certain that the original lender no longer shows a balance is owed to them. You should not have more than one credit entry showing an unpaid and due amount on your report for the same bill.
- Does the collection account show a date of last activity on your report that is different than the date your original lender is showing? Collection accounts that are reporting separate from, but related to an existing negative item on your report, should not show a newer date. If a newer date is used by a collection agency reporting, it prolongs the credit damage and will take longer for you to improve your credit.
All negative trade lines related to the same collection account should age off of your credit report at the same 7 year mark you use to calculate your first missed payment to your original lender. The exception used to be when people got sued for collection and ended up with a judgment over one or more of the debts – which would show in the public records section of your credit report for 7 years from the date judgment was entered in the court.
Most judgments obtained in state courts were taken off our credit reports with Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion as of July 2017
What to Do If You Need to Dispute a Collection Account on Your Report
I will have an upcoming article about disputing incorrect information on your credit report, but for now, it is important to consider the following:
If your debt is within the SOL (statute of limitations), to legitimately sue you for collection, you should carefully consider whether or not to send a dispute about a collection account on your credit report, even if it is showing incorrect information. When there is still room on the clock to sue you, sending a dispute may wake the collector to the fact that you are:
- Still an unpaid account.
- Care enough to start cleaning up your credit report (usually for some credit goals, which means you are more collectible).
If your debts are beyond the SOL to sue you legitimately, you should have less concern about waking a sleepy debt collector who may not have been bothering you, with disputes about getting your credit reports corrected.
Legislation was passed in 2011 that changed the SOL from 3 to 6 years in Arizona. Given the information you shared about 2007 being the earliest date of last payment, your debts may/may not be off of the current debt owner’s radar. You would need to be certain about the date each of account was last paid. Any of them you know were paid last in 2006 would be clear of the SOL.
Reviewing your credit reports for accuracy when you know you have old collection items is important. Staying on top of when and how to get your credit reports corrected will help you plan for future access to credit at fair prices.
If you have a particular issue or question you can post in the comments below for feedback.
About Michael BoveeMichael started CRN in 2004 with a mission to provide people in need with detailed debt and credit help and education. Michael has participated as an expert panelist in federal consumer protection rule making, collaborated on state law changes governing debt consolidation, has worked as an expert witness in court matters related to the debt relief industry. He is available to speak with you about your financial struggle and helps people resolve their debt problems daily.
Hi, Michael
I edited the last post and please consider this is the correct one. Thanks a lot.
First of all, thank you for your efforts to help people to deal with their credit issues and hope you can give me some suggestions on my cases.
I am living in California.
On my credit report which I got it from Transunion yesterday, in the Public Records Section, there is state tax lien $6,525;
Date filed: 08/20/2012
Date Updated: 09/19/2012
Responsibility: Individual Debt
Court Type: Recorder of Deeds
Estimated month and year that this item will be removed:07/2022
In Adverse Accounts Section, there are two accounts both with Chase bank
Home Equity Loan
Date opened: 09/27/2006
Date Updated: 01/31/2010
Dated Closed: 01/27/2010
Last payment Made: 07/23/2009
Pay Status: Charged off
High Balance $182,000
Credit Limit $182,000
Remarks: >Unpaid Balance Charged off
Estimated month and year that this item will be removed: 08/2016
Conventional Real Estate MTG
Date opened: 08/31/2006
Date Updated: 07/31/2009
Date Closed: 07/31/2009
Last payment Made: 09/02/2008
Pay Status: Account 120 days past due dateForeclosure Initiated Foreclosure Collateral Sold In Collection<
Responsibility: Individual account
Account type: Open account
Original Creditor: WaterStone At Millbrae CA (rental/ Leasing)
Loan type: Collection Agency/Attorney
Remarks: Placed for Collection
Estimated month and year that this item will be removed: 05/2020
Another one which is no on my Credit Report yet, the Collector has been calling me. and it is Ambulance bill of $2,600.
My debtors seem to update the info every year so it seems that I can never get rid off my debts.
My Questions are, does the state tax lien relate to my property that has been foreclosured already? Or is it property tax? Do I need to pay the property tax?
If it is worthy for me to pay the rental and Ambulance bills in portion to settle the two cases?
Right now I have a job with $2000 income after tax and I also have one credit card with $2000 limit. And it is very hard for me to save much money to pay off the debt if you live in CA.
If you were me, what would you do to settle the debt?
I may not even look at settling the debt as an option. Not unless there were some compelling reason I should avoid bankruptcy.
The tax issue could be related to the foreclosure, but call and ask for more details.
How much is owed on the Water Stone collection account?
Do you have any lump sum of money saved up currently? If so, how much?
Thanks for your reply. The waterstone bill is $1,760 . And I have $2000 cash on hand now.
You may be able to settle the medical bill and WaterStone for 2k right now, but a few hundred more than what you have on hand today would be more realistic. The balance on the Chase home equity loan is going to haunt you for a long time. That leaves the tax lien. If you can discharge that, along with all of the other debts, through chapter 7 bankruptcy, it could provide the fresh start you need. If the tax debt is of a type that is not easily discharged, using BK to free yourself from the other bills, and setting up an affordable payment plan for the tax lien, will still get you there.
Find out what type of tax debt it is that led to the public notice of lien on your credit reports.
Talk to a bankruptcy attorney if you have not already. If you have, what stops you from filing? If you have not, you can call 877-278-8117 to talk more about the option.
If bankruptcy is just off the table, post more about that, and lets go from there.
Thanks Michael!
Actually, I talked to a bankruptcy attorney 5 months ago and she told me charpter 7 can removed all of my debits including the tax lien. The reason stopping me from filing Charpter 7 was I really not sure filing a bankruptcy is really a good solution for me or not! Is there any bad outcomes incurring in my future life? I am an immigrant with limited English and knowledge. So, I really don’t know what is a better solution for me. What will happen if I don’t take care of the debts? Will it be really gone after certain years? Will my life be different if I negotiate with my debtors and settle the debts? I really don’t know what should I do right now!
If you have not been sued yet, and the time allowed for in California to sue in order to collect expires (generally 4 years from the date you last paid), you just wait a few more years for the debts to drop from your credit reports. If you are sued, pursuing bankruptcy would be the most affordable, and complete route to debt relief. You could file now, and along with the fresh financial start, quit looking over your shoulder for debt collectors. There is a different kind of value in that.
You could probably be in and out of the bankruptcy inside of a few months, and the cost would likely be less than 2k.
As far as bad outcomes go with bankruptcy, it can vary from person to person. Most people are concerned about how bankruptcy shows on your credit reports, and how that impacts your credit scores. Read more about those concerns here.
Do you work in financial services?
Require security clearances for work?
Yes, Michael! I mayjor in accounting and now I am working in a bank!
That is the one area I would be concerned about with bankruptcy in your situation. Most focus on the credit reporting aspects of bankruptcy and the 7 or 10 years it can stay on credit reports. You can learn more about why that is not a great way to evaluate the benefits of chapter 7 here.
Thank you, Yes showing 3 repoting agencies. Credit report printout indicated potentially negative? (Seriously past due date/aasigned to attorney,colection agencym or credit grantor’sinternal collection department)
As i recalled this bills was during emergency room stay. My late husband had a medicare and medical insurance…Medicare paid all charges from this doctor except a small amount (below
$ 100. dollars ) share for medical to pay. Reason that the G.I. doctor is not accepting medical insurance..
My husband died 71 y.o. with no money and no assets. I am in the process of building up my own credit. But because of this 2 negative reports it drop down my score to 601… I was doing find with my score 4 months ago until just this month it was reported to 3 agencies…
COACHELLA VAL COL SV, I dont know his doctor’s name. My late husband said that was during hospitalization only. He doesn’t like the doctor because he was arrogant to him. The sad part is i dont have any documentation now since i destroyed it last month.
Hope by disputing this it will resolve my negative credit.. Thank you so much for quick reply.
California, As I remember it was on my husband name , collection agency tried so many times that was on his name. My late husband told me that the doctor was so mean to him reason for not paying. My husband doesn’t care about his credit history. I was wondering why is it on my credit report ?..How do I fix this problem hurting my good credit..
You can send dispute letters to the credit reporting agencies as “debt not mine”. Have you checked your credit reports to verify the collections are showing with all three?
I would try to dispute them as not yours first. Send the disputes in writing, and send certified mail return receipt requested. Post an update with what happens and lets go from there.
What is the name of the medical billing company, or debt collection agency, showing on your credit reports?
Do you recall the name of the doctor/service provider?
Hi Michael,
I just pull my credit report and noticed that I have past due medical Bills on my credit report. (account open 11/1/10 and 12/1/10). These medical bills was for my late husband who passed away recently 12/9/14. I was unaware of this medical bill. I was in Asia when my late husband hospitalized. Now collection agency trying to after me with these two accounts ($129.00 and 113.00)
These 2 medical bills hurting my good credit. What should I do first? Can I dispute these two negative accounts? Thanks
Do you recall why these bills were placed in your name and not your husbands? What state do you live in?
hi michael. i read through a lot of your advice and have a question myself.
I recently obtained a copy of my credit reports, and saw that there are 2 medical charges late as of 08. It was sold to a debt collector, and I honestly don’t ever remember being contacted about them. I had multiple addresses in a couple states over a 2 year period. I only know about them from looking at my credit report. Anyway, still to this day no one has contacted me about the debt. It says, between a couple reports, that it will fall off early to mid 2015 ish.
Is this something i need to worry about being sued over or renewing itself? Or would it be safe to just wait it out and let it disappear?
You are at risk of being sued on old debts until the SOL expires in your state. What state are you in?
Texas, honestly I would have taken care of it years ago had I known. But I was in school and not paying attention. Now that the damage is done, and I’ve already been punished for non payment, and it’s so close to falling off id like to just wait it out as long as there are no adverse effects. If that makes it worse in any way I would reach out and pay it. Considering I haven’t been contacted in 6 years is it safe to assume it will disappear quietly?
I think you are making a safe assumption that the debt will disappear from your credit reports as scheduled and quietly. The SOL is passed in Texas to use the courts (at least legitimately). The only hiccup would come if you were to be turned down for some form of loan or financing because the debts are showing on your credit reports as unresolved.
If you have no financing or credit goals in this year time frame, may just want to let things lay.
Hello Michael,
I have an old credit card from BOA my last payment was in july of 2006 the balance left was $3600 it was charged of in about October of 2006 with a balence of about $4900 in my credit report it shows it was sold seberal times but with different balances the last one being $8800 also shows that I made a payment of $85 in which I never did. I don’t understand why the balance keeps changing and why they report payments I didn’t make. Can I dispute this account? The account is in Massachusetts. Thank you
Madelyn – I would dispute this as too old to be on my credit reports (over 7.5 years since last payment). Is it a debt collector, and not Bank of America, reporting a more recent payment of 85 dollars? If so, who is the collector?
I would send my dispute certified mail return receipt requested. Wait for the credit reporting agencies to respond, and if not removed, post an update and lets go from there.
I have a debt from 2007 with cities financial for 16,000. My credit report is showing that LVNV funding purchased the debt and they are reporting it as 2009. They are also reporting late payments on the debt and have increased the dollar amount to over 32,000. My experien report says the debt should be removed July of 2014. Is this a true date and also what can I do to make them stop reporting as new every month. I am trying to buy a house and the ” new” reporting is keeping me from getting approved. Please help!
If your credit reports are showing that the debt is set to fall off in a few weeks I am wondering how any “freshness” is being added. The debt showing unpaid would hurt your chances at financing more based on the new ability to repay rules, and your debt to income being affected.
Is there some reason you have to try to finance now, as opposed to waiting for July?
We are in a rental with a purchase agreement. The lease is up and I don’t have time to wait for July. The 2 banks turned me down because of this particular charge off. They said my debt to income ratio was good and my credit score was a 647. They said with the new mortgage regulations they weren’t able to help even though they could see the original date of the debt it was being reported as new. I don’t understand why? My income is over $3200 a month and all I have is a car payment of $540. My mortgage with taxes and insurance was estimated at $730 a month.
I cannot know with the limited view I have, but my guess is that the credit reporting from LVNV is being characterized as “new” in error, but by the loan officers at the banks.
You could dispute the debt and possibly get a result you need in order to get the loan approved. My guess is that it will be mid June before you know the result of that.
You could call LVNV as see what gives. If it is a problem on their end, tell them to fix it. In the alternative, file a debt collection complaint with the CFPB. The CFPB complaint is the quickest way to get eyeballs on this by people who care about the issues, both there and at LVNV. I am just not convinced LVNV is wrong here.
I have 2 open bad accounts in South Carolina, but I live in NJ. They are both on a real estate deal that turned out to be a scam and everybody lost their units. The first mortgage was with Chase and the second mortgage (HELOC) was with Tidelands Bank. I stopped paying on March 2010 on both accounts. Chase filed for foreclosure but dismissed the case on April 2012. At that time they also stopped reporting lates. I can still go to my account online and it shows zero balance and zero amount due. Tidelands never responded to the lawsuit nor they ever contacted me, but they continue reporting lates to the credit bureaus. Those accounts will stay in my credit reports until 12/2016. I understand that SOL in SC is only 3 years, but some tell me that they can still sue me under installment payments contract law, and that is much longer. Is that true? Can they sell the debt to someone in NJ and them use NJ SOL instead of SC SOL? I am tempted to think I am on the clear now, but I am not 100% sure. What do you think?
Eduardo – I would recommend you sit down with an experienced consumer law attorney and go over all of this. The SOL in South Carolina has passed (to sue you, not to report on your credit). The SOL to sue in order to collect on a debt like this in New Jersey is not passed.
If you need help locating an experienced attorney whose practice is focused in this area of consumer law, post a comment with the name of a nearby larger city, and I will email you contact info I find.
Trenton, NJ.
Is there anything that states that the SOL to follow is the one in the state where the debt is originally taken? Or no such thing?
There can be. The jurisdiction for dispute resolution is often outlined in the original loan agreement, and can also be part of developed case law and legal strategy, even when outlined in the original loan.
I sent you an email with contact details to an experienced consumer law attorney that can best advise you.
I have a Cap One credit card that I have been paying $30.00 per month through automatic bill payer for a couple years. The account shows charged off on my credit report, but the balance goes down each month, they are not charging any more interest. Am I hurting my self and that this now will not age off my credit report until 7 years from the last payment or will it go off after the first missed payment because the creditor as charged it off.
If I am understanding what you shared correctly, the Capital One account will fall off your credit reports within 7 years of them having charged it off a couple years ago.
I lived in an apartment complex in college in 2006. Our rent was paid every month on time. As far as I can remember, we did not get our deposit back because they said the carpet was dirty. There was no damage to the property. I got a letter yesterday from a financial group stating that I owe almost $7000.00 in “past rent due, property damages, related fees and any eviction fees’. I do not believe this claim to be true and would like to contact them to dispute it within the 30 day time frame given in the letter, but I fear that responding to this letter will just open a bigger can of worms. The letter also states that they “will furnish at your written request, a verification of the debt, or the name and address of the original creditor”. The SOL in my state is 4 years for debt that is generated from a contractual agreement. Do you have an advice on how to proceed with this matter? Should I respond in writing or contact an attorney?
Lady – It is always a good idea to talk things over with an attorney. That said, you are dealing with a zombie debt collection effort. The debt cannot be sued on (not legitimately), and it is more than the time to show on your credit report. They have zero leverage were you to write a letter requesting all communications to stop, as is your right under federal debt collection laws. If you do send something like this, keep a copy and send certified mail return receipt. Keep the green card you get back, and the letter, in a safe place. If anything pops up with this collector afterward, you will want to have them.
Michael, great work by the way, I’ve been reading through this massive list of other people’s concerns and such, and didn’t really see what “I” was looking for, so hoping you can help me out;
My GF and I are coming into a small chunk of money, and while we both made plenty of mistakes financially over the years; both being older and much wiser now, our goal is to pay off all our delinquent and outstanding debts, medical bills, get our mortgage back into good standing (it is currently in “forebearance”) and basically we want to come back to “zero” if you will, and rebuild; once we’re squared away with what we owe, our initial starting plan then is to both open small secured lines of credit just to pay for gas in the cars and groceries, things we already pay for routinely, and thus stay on top of those payments; ideally just rather then paying like we normally would with cash/debit, we would be paying for those same things with credit instead, and then paying off the credit balance every month as we go, so our budget remains exactly the same, just essentially a new starting place to begin rebuilding current and positive credit, once we can get the negative squared away; and then as that is the starting place, after which we can re-evaluate our overall finances, where we stand, adjust the budget, etc. and continue on in regards to savings, investments, ultimately refinancing the house down the road, maybe buying another (more gas efficient) car mostly cash in-hand, and having just a very small and managable car loan to further build positive credit, but all in all ultimately going forward with planning for the future…
so all that said, you now got a nutshell of where we’re at and what we’re trying to do, fix and re-establish; we’re currently doing ok, our heads are above water as is, even with the increased mortgage payments due to the forebearance, we have a very strong living budget in place that we intend on sticking with even when we can cut our expenses down, but my concern is that when we both ran our credit reports, not all our debts and/or debtors are listed… one example is, i and had a car repoed after a divorce in ’08, the original debt is listed (Santander Consumer USA; bought out for $16,815 / current balance $0 and “charged off”), but there is no agency listed as having acquired that debt, nor have i recieved any notices in years, and wouldn’t know where to look to try to find an old one… it hasn’t been 7.5 years “yet” either, it’s been about 6… There are some others that are in fact listed, but also some others that “should” be there, but aren’t, and now that we do intend to pay them, like an old directTV debt, an old personal loan that was charged off, how do I/WE go abouts finding out “who” we all still owe, in regards to those accounts we know are still out there, or at least should be out there still, but aren’t listed on our credit reports… And 2nd, is it worth tracking down debtors that we owe? Because to my understanding, while after 7.5 years it will be off the credit report, it doesn’t mean the debt just went away am I correct?
We are in our 30’s now and with a family of our own, and find ourselves in a blessed position to “Get out of the hole” that we dug for ourselves, I just want to make sure we get ourselves all the way out, and not leave something unresolved that should/could be resolved, and/or also though, to not go out stirring up the bee hives that don’t need distubed, if you know what I mean… any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks.
Thanks for all of the details. It helps me get a grip of the situation set beside your goals.
What state do you live in?
Add the totals of all balances that appear on your credit reports as collections. What is the total? Add the totals of all that do not appear on your credit, but you know should. What are the totals?
Are all of the collection accounts 6 years old (since a payment was made)?
You may be at a place where more of your goals can be accomplished by not stirring things up.
we live in Pennsylvania; her grandfather, a true patriarch in every sense, and a self made man, he recently passed and thus left her a house in which we plan on moving into while renting ours out once it’s back in good standing with the bank, plus a decent sum of money in IRA’s (which we plan to keep in the IRA’s) as well as some decent life insurance and other accounts in which we plan on using for fixing our credit and household repairs, improvements, etc…
i’m honestly not sure of all the exact numbers of what’s NOT on our reports, because it’s honestly stuff I haven’t thought of in a few years since my divorce… hasn’t been anywhere near my priority list, but I have rough estimates.
listed ON HER report – $5582 would get all accounts back into good standing incl. the current mortage;
not listed, a repoed car plus some other store accounts, estimated to be around $10-15,000 total
listed ON MY report – just a $547 currently in collections,
then there’s the repoed car; listed as “charged off”; payment recieved – $16,815; with a note saying “PURCHASED BY ANOTHER LENDER; TRANSFERRED TO ANOTHER OFFICE”, but there is no “other office” listed has having that account against me currently…
projected date to be removed – 11/2015
other balances NOT LISTED on my report, estimated total around $2-5,000
so ON OUR REPORTS RIGHT NOW combined; $6129 puts us to good standing with all debts listed;
we both have repo’d cars not appearing, estimated between $25-30,000 combined
(i know those oftentimes could be settled for much less with a full payment)
and then probably around $5-10,ooo in miscellaneous debts not showing up…
so should we go looking for them in order to pay up what we owe, because as i understand it, even if they fall off the reports, we do still owe them right???
or should we just pay what’s on the reports, keep some money aside for “just in case”, and then wait and see what sleeping dragons wake up when we start paying other stuff???
also, a secondary question, once all in paid off to good standing, her credit score is currently 560 because of the mortage mainly, how long till that is back up over 600? and how long till we can get another bank to consider refinancing the current mortage at a better %rate ($70,000) considering she’ll have over $30,000 equity in the house being mortaged at that price + over $200,000 in additional equity in the 2nd inherited house which has no mortgage + upwards of at least $20,000+ left over after all is said and done, in liquid assets remaining in the bank, with proof of income in the $40,000/yr range… would we be able to refinance “right away”, say a month or 2 after all the debts are cleared back to good standing? or would we still have to wait a year or longer until the credit score comes back up???
Thanks again.
So I took another in depth look at my report(s), and I noticed that on the experian report, the car loan that I had repo’d is listed as last balance $7714, I disputed it in 2010 cited as “due to long term unemployment”, (I left the military in early 2008, couldn’t find work till late 2010, last payment was 2008, car was repo’d in 2009), and it says it was last reported 9/2012, and listed as “Transferred, Closed, $7714 written off”…
so what does that mean exactly, if it specifically says the last known balance of the account, was “written off”, does that mean they chalked it up as a loss??? i don’t exactly understand…
AND ALSO, i ran my actual scores just now, and T/U = 652, Exp = 632, and Equifx = 645, so not near as bad as i thought it would be, and certainly in a MUCH better place to build up from, so of course paying that delinquent directTV bill is priority, but after that, what suggestions do you have for rebuilding and bringing the score up?
Don;t get hung up on the charge off reporting. Lenders have to do that in order to be in compliance with accounting rules and regulations set by the federal government. It does not mean they wrote off the debt, as in forgot about or forgave it (there is such a thing as forgiven debt, just not in the context of your comment).
Your scores are good all things considered. You could pay the direct TV bill if it is more recent than the others, but consider not doing so if it is the same age on your credit reports as the others (following the thought process outlined in my comment above).
I would suggest using the free credit report card at http://www.credit.com and looking at the suggestions that system will make to you about improving your credit. But some of what you can do may not make sense to start this year, but would next.
Sammy – What you shared suggests that all of these debts, hers and yours, are passed the 4 year SOL for you to legitimately be sued in Pennsylvania. When you combine that with the age of these collection accounts that are set to drop off the credit reports next year, it may be best to leave things lay.Follow my reasoning:
Settling the collection debts will bring a certain amount of recency to them. You get the needed result of the credit reports updating to show these old past due bills are now no longer owed (you get the same result whether you pay in full or settle for less, so at this stage, not settling means tossing money away for the most part). But you also bring a freshness to what are otherwise collection accounts. While new versions of the Vantage credit scoring models do not factor paid collections, FICO still does. You could see a bit of a credit score drop for a few months, rather than an immediate bump. So if it takes several months to negotiate and round up all of the settlements, and several more for the new updates to your credit reports to “season”, you are bucking right up against thetime for these to fall off anyway. That is a lot of work, and many thousands of dollars later, just to get to your goals a few months early.
Does that make sense?
One other thing. While some of the collections are not appearing on the credit reports, the collectors or debt buyers that may now own them could still bepaying attention, and have periodic alerts set. Settling with one creditor may cause them to start reporting and seek payment from you, where they were not reporting collections prior, or blowing up your phone and mail box with calls and notices. It does not always work like that, but it can and does often enough.
If it were me in your shoes I would weigh the cost and benefits of settling, and what I might save if I refi the mortgage a few months earlier, or even a year earlier. My guess, knowing what little I know now, is that holding tight would for the next year until these collections drop off would provide the larger benefit.Of course you would bring the mortgage current, pay any city, county, federal (tax) debts, and anything less than 6-ish years old.
Michael can you please furnish me a ceast and disest letter so I can send it out. I have stopped paying Delbert services and received a rather nasty call on Friday. I have paid back all of the money that I had requested, which was 2600.00. I have paid back 3256.00 and do not intend to pay anymore seeing that they are illegal in the state of Rhode Island. I had told them that the loan was illegal and they told me that “you signed a contract and you need to pay it”. I need a copy of a letter that I can send them so they will not bother me anymore until all of this is settled. Thanks
If you are referring to a cease and desist letters consistent with your rights to request Delbert Service quit calling and writing under the FDCPA… a simple sentence would do it.
I might send something like:
Dear Delbert Services,
I am writing to demand you cease and desist from making any further collection calls to me, or sending any more collection notices too.
If you want to, you can refer to your request being made pursuant to your rights found in federal debt collection laws.
Keep a copy of whatever you do send, and be sure to use certified mail return receipt requested. You may need proof that you sent, and they received, later on.
Good Morning,
I had a collection account removed from my credit reports recently. I have been disputing it and then all of a sudden it is off my credit reports. I verified with all the credit reports that it has been deleted. Is there a chance that they will put it back on? If so is there a time limit that they have to do that?
If it was a legitimate collection account that got deleted by your disputing it, yes, it could pop back up later. If there were valid reasons for your dispute, and the deletion, it can still show back up, so be watchful and monitor your credit. If it pops back up you may have to take your issues a step further, so post any update and I can offer some feedback from there.
I have 2 chase accounts that I attempted to settle with beginning in March of 2012 totaling approximately $9000. Chase would not respond. In March of 2013 I received 1099’s from Chase stating the debt had been written off. I now discover that Chase continues to report me late on these accounts. How long can or should Chase continue to report me late each month on accounts they wrote off over a year ago?
Steve – Chase writing off accounts is an accounting and/or tax activity. That activity is separate from credit reporting activity. The 7 to 7.5 years from the date you first missed your payments is the timer that is running on your 2 Chase collections.
Can you tell me what it is showing on your credit reports as a balance owing for these accounts? Does it say zero?
I recently went through a credit repair process in May of 2013. I had a few credit accounts that went delinquent in Sept/Oct or 2008. I received letters from Transunion throughout the credit repair process and since then all of the negative accounts have been removed from my Transunion credit report. However there has been no change in my Experian or Equifax credit reports. I spoke to someone who does settlements (because I thought that was the route that I should take). He informed me that once one agency deletes the negative accounts then generally the other agencies should have done it as well. Its been almost a year and the information just says disputed. I live in Florida and I believe the statute of limitations is five years. Any idea on how I could go about getting Experian and Equifax to update my report. Or maybe I’m thinking about this all wrong.
Sasha – The SOL for collections to remain on your credit report is typically going to be 7 to 7.5 years, not 5. It is common for credit reports to contain the same information, but that does not extend to how each agency will handle disputes you file with them.
What are your credit goals over the next 18 or so months?
HI Michael,
The statute of limitations I was referring to was in regards to when I could be sued for the delinquent debt.
As far as my goals over the next 18 months I am looking to purchase a home. The cost of renting a small two bedroom apartment is not that much for than buying a three bedroom house in my area. I got a preapproved for a mortgage about a month ago and began looking for a home. After weeks of no luck I finally found the perfect house. We made an offer and started the process of finalizing the loan. I got a call from the lender saying that the underwriter would not approve the loan because I had too many accounts on my credit report with “dispute” comments. I double checked and they use Experian when they pull credit reports. I asked how I should handle this and was told that I needed to contact the credit bureaus and have them remove the dispute comments from my reports.
Now I thought this was simple enough process and that I would give them a call; but before I jumped the gun I started doing some research online to try and figure out how stating that “I am no longer disputing these accounts” would impact me. The lender said she was not sure what removing the dispute comments would mean. I looked through a few blogs online like ficoforums and there was a lot of details about how to go about removing the dispute so that you could get approved for a mortgage; but no one was clear about what the impact of removing it is. One thread I came across mentioned that having them removed would lower your score.
So I guess my question is what does it mean when you have a dispute comment removed from your credit report? Would I be acknowledging that you owe this debt that is 6 years old? Does removing the dispute information now re-age the date of last activity and will the debt now be on my credit report for another 7 to 7.5 years? Would I now have to pay the collection agency?
My lender said that she had never had a loan not be approved for situations like this. However according to my research online it seems like it is fairly common. I decided to hold off on getting a home until next year. I am not in a rush to move nor do I want to jump the gun without knowing what the consequences would be.
Thoughts? And thanks in advance.
Your removing disputes from your credit reports do not breath any new life into how long they can report. Those disputed entries will still fall off as scheduled.
I do not think you will impact your credit scores overly much with fresh activity related to really old debts.
If you have put your home purchase plans on hold for a year, and will wait for the collection accounts to drop off from age, that should get you where you need to go. If you were doing something earlier, and relying on the dispute removal, be aware that the collection balances themselves are often the cause of underwriting hiccups. Those balances do often impact your debt to income ratios, and can hold up approval until the collections are resolved (paid or settled). In this instance, it is not your credit scores that hurt you, but the debt being there at all.
If I were not in a hurry, I would do what you are doing… wait.
Hello Michael, Great advice in this thread. I am currently trying to purchase a home and the mortgage company is holding me responsible for a debt that has aged off of my credit report (all three). They insist on telling me that the debt is still on my report when I have spoken with a representative from all three bureaus and each has said the particular debt is not on my record. Is it legal for a lender to make me pay a debt that is no longer on my credit report? Thank you for all of the great advice you’ve given.
Corey – Is the debt a court judgment, or some other type of public record (tax lien)?
No Michael, the debt is similar to a personal loan. Not a student loan. No court judgement or anything like that. The mortgage company (USAA) is trying to make me pay this debt in order to close on a house. I really don’t think I should be made to pay this debt as it has legally timed off of my report. It almost seems as though they are in cohoots with the collection agency.
If the loan officer from USAA is looking at a recently pulled credit report, and can see what others cannot, it could somehow be related to the provider. USAA may use a tri merge credit reporting product specific to mortgages. Find out who they are pulling their reports from and let me know. I may have some additional feedback.
As far as USAA wanting to see collection accounts resolved before getting your loan through underwriting, that may have more to do with new “ability to repay” rules for home lending, than lender cahoots. All debts, paid or unpaid, can impact your ability to qualify for a loan.
When I was 11 or 12 in 2008, I took a book from the library and never returned it. I accrued over $100 of debt. A collection agency started to pester my family but I hide the letters from my parents. Can this collection debt affect my credit now? I’m now 17 and want to start building my credit but I am apprehensive about this problem. Would it be on my credit now?
I doubt it, but you should come clean with your folks. It might be on theirs if they are part of the account with the Library.
I recently have been served with papers for a court appearance due to a debt i owed from 8 years ago. I purchased merchandise paid on it then gave it back when i could no longer afford the payments. After 8 years i get served with papers is there no timetable for someone to go after a debt like this???
Eric – What state are you in? When was the date you last paid? Is what you were just served with an initial summons or complaint, or were you served with something more like notice of an asset hearing regarding an existing judgment?
Hi Michael well I had a a question back in 2002 I got credit cards some store cards and some bank cards like Bank of America and chase I was first making payment then got laid off so I completely stop paying them I went to collection but since them I have not hAd a credit card for about 9 or 10 yrs but I recently went on credit karma and I check my credit score which was very bad 588 to be exact and it shows I had 12 cards from different place but 11 are closed and it says I have one open account from capital one with a ballance of 2k but I’m wondering why if I never had one from capital now and why is it still on my credit if it’s been more then ten yrs since I ever had a credit card should it be gone or should I call them and pay it
Did you have an HSBC card?
You may be able to dispute this collection account successfully, so try that first.
It sounds like your credit score is so low partly due to lack of establishing new credit, not just the fact that there were things sent to collections.
When you say creditkarma shows 11 closed accounts, how are those appearing exactly? There might be more problems with your credit profile and rating than just the CapOne account.
Hi! I am hoping you can answer a few questions for me. I apologize if these are repeat questions.. In 2008 I got divorced and became a displaced homemaker/mother. I ended up using credit cards to make it through some rough times. Eventually, I made it through nursing school and found a loving fiance with whom I live and we now have 2 more wonderful children.
So while in school,and while a single mother, I ran up lots of debt that I could not pay. I even had a car repossessed. Late fee’s and overage charges piled up and snowballed out of control. I had hoped to repay everything once I got out of nursing school and started a good job.
Now, I have a job but it doesn’t pay what I had hoped – I am trying continually to get something better but in the meantime I am on a tight budget. I don’t know what to do. Should I file bankruptcy or ride it out until the SOL runs out? All of these debts are from 2008-2009. I have been afraid to marry my fiance because I wouldn’t want anyone coming after him. Would they be able to do that? I also have a judgement from a major bank’s credit card in which they have been garnishing my wages for over a year now.
I guess I am just not sure of what steps to do at this point. It feels like such a burden and I’m a little lost. Any advice would be very much appreciated!
Kristen – I can offer the best feedback if you post a reply answering the following:
What state do you live in?
What is the name of the plaintiff in the collection action that you are now being garnished for?
List the rough balances of all collection accounts, and the collection agency you last heard from on each?
Sure!
I am in Arizona
Plaintiff named is Unifund CCR (original creditor was Citibank) amount I owed was $2,218. after judgement it is$ 4,754.26. I have paid about half of the judgement balance off through my garnishments.
Rough balances:
Wells Fargo $10,000 – Equifax estimated removal 02/2016
Credit Union (from car repossesion) shows balance of $6,000 est removal 02/2016
Utility Company $275 est removal 01/16
Bank of America $20,000 (ouchy) est removal 02/16
Amex $475 est removal 07/15
Medical Bill $291 – est removal 08/2016
Old cable bill $141. removal 02/2016
– all of the cards where opened during my previous marriage. Also should mention that our house foreclosed during the divorce as well. It is to be removed 07/2015.
I also have about $20,000 in student loans that I owe Sallie Mae. I have been able to defer them so far….
Such a mess! Thank you for your time and advice! My fiance is wanting to plan the wedding but I am scared – I don’t want him directly affected by my past mistakes! And I really want to clean up the wreckage that is my credit history and start fresh.
Unifund is not likely to budge if you tried to settle with a lump sum offer while they are garnishing you. You may be able to impact that ability to garnish by requesting a hearing to show that the garnishment is creating a hardship, and getting it reduced or eliminated, if the numbers add up according to a set parameter. You could also land that better job you are looking for, and that would mean your current employer would stop paying, giving you a settlement opportunity.
Wells Fargo is likely sold to a debt buyer by now. I would estimate you need 4k to settle the Wells account, regardless.
The car repo may be sold off too, but many credit unions hold their nonperforming accounts. Let’s assume you can settle this collection account for 50%.
Utility company collections is pretty low. You may have difficulty saving much through negotiating a settlement. Ditto on all of the smaller balance accounts. That said, they are all likely either sold off to debt buyers, or are assigned out to a collection agency. Are there any collection agencies appearing on your credit reports? If so, can you associate the debt collector with the accounts you listed?
You need more than 9k to settle all of these collections. Doing that would help get collections shown as paid, and a zero balance owed on your credit reports. That could help with a home purchase. Is home buying something you have as a goal in the next two years? What about a car purchase?
What are your options for pooling together the cash you need to settle the debts in collection? How long would it take to pull that together? If you need to do these one at a time, what would the cash flow look like over 12 months (saving up from paychecks, sell a personal item etc)?
You can file chapter 7 bankruptcy, and it would be quite a bit less cost than settling, say between 1500 and 2k. And you can do it separate of your fiance. But you are looking at the damage to your credit from chapter 7 for a whole new, and longer set of years. So… affordable, but not necessarily in line with your credit improvement goals.
Depending on your answer to what your financing needs and goals are, it may be better to lay low, and only address debt collectors if there is a clear indication that you are at risk of being sued for collection.
Thank you for the advise!
There is only one collection agency showing on the report at this time and it shows a date of 2011. I do however get random phone numbers calling me that I do not answer – assuming they may be collectors and I have been advised before to never talk to collectors.
My fiance owns our home and our cars are in his name as well. We are in no hurry to move or make any major purchases.I am just embarrassed that my credit is in shambles and that I owe money to so many places. It looks like trying to ride it out and stay low may be the best way to go unless I am sued again. I am currently only working part time but doing all I can to get a better job. Saving up 9k would actually take me a really long time unfortunately.
So last thing – if we were to marry this year – he and the house/cars would be safe from the collectors right? Since they are my debts before marriage? Would getting married flag my credit and cause the collectors to start looking at me again?
Thank you so much Michael!
Kristen – Given the info you have shared so far, I would not consider your getting married as a reason for collection companies to target you any more than they are going to already. Keep your financial affairs separate for the next year if you like. Once the collections are either passed the SOL to sue in Arizona, and certainly once the accounts drop off your credit, it is business as usual.
Arizona is a community property state with the provision that what you each bring to the marriage (assets and debts) can be viewed as separate. Anyone suing you, but including him, would have a really hard time overcoming arguments your attorney would make in defense. I do not see it happening to begin with though.
Hi Michael!
Again many thanks for all your wonderful advise. Quick update on my situation. Apparently the credit union that repossessed my car back in 2009 reported the debt as written off to IRS in 2012 – to the amount of $6,000.
I got a nice letter from the IRS stating that the $6,000 then counted as income and I now owe $2,700 in back taxes! I don’t even have a clue what to do with this. Do I have any options? I don’t understand how they’ve come up with that number! The IRS is the last people I want to be in debt to.
Thanks again for any help!
Kristen
Do you file your own taxes, or hire out?
You may be able to show that you were insolvent at the time the credit union wrote the debt off, or at least partially. It would be a great benefit if you have all financial records from that year, in order to tally up all debts, and compare that amount to the value of all assets. Remember that all of those unpaid bills are a liability/debt. This may be an issue where you can benefit from your debt (sounds weird… I know). Read this article about debt forgiveness and taxes for more info: https://consumerrecoverynetwork.com/debt-forgiveness-taxes-settled-credit-card/
Michael-
I see you give great advice to others, so I have decided to ask for your help. I have a pretty low credit score. Pretty much made some bad decisions when I was a teenager, and it came back to haunt me! Working on cleaning up my credit now so as too prepare for a better future. Now, there are some things on my credit, that are showing up as being opened n 2011, when I set stuff up in my name, in 2008. Can you explain why it would take 2 years from the time I actually had the issue, to when it was opened please?
amber – Can you post more details of about each account showing on your credit reports that concern you?
This is a piece off my actual credit report:
RJMDVD
Current Balance: $301
Original Balance: $301
Account Condition: N/A
Reported as: RJMDVD
Original Creditor: 01 COLUMBIA HOUSE DVD CLUB
Date Opened: 11/28/2011
I actually received a notice today in the mail stating that the date that the account was opened was on March 25th, 2008, and the date that it was purchased by RJM was November 28, 2011.
I am just mainly trying to understand whether or not this would fall off from the date that the account was opened (in 2008) or does it go by the date RJM purchased it in 2011? Why is there a 3 year lapse of time in between?
The date you first missed paying on the account is what you set your credit report clock to. When that original collection account falls off your credit, it should be accompanied (fall off at the same time) by the 2011 entry from RJM Acquisitions. RJM on your credit report with an open date later than when your account went to collection is not uncommon. Just make sure you are checking your credit reports to be sure all negatives, no matter who is reporting (unless a judgment) on the same account, drop at the same time. If need be you can dispute items off of your credit report that should not be there.
I have had over 30K in debt since 2005-2006 when I stop paying them due to job loss and other circumstances. I recently checked my credit score on a few different sites from Credit Karma, Experion and one more. They all had my dilequent debt for years on my report, I just checked today and finally they have dropped off – none of them show up anymore and they’re all gone. Not only that but my credit rating increased over 100 point since to around 670 from 568 years ago. Never again this will happen to me, but what great news to hear this beautiful spring season. I feel bad not paying them, but my original debt was only 9K but it soared to 30K in penalties and other fee’s. Keep the faith people, I suffered long enough for the mistakes I made. AMEN!
Hi.. my fiance and I are looking into getting into the home market. My credit score is at a 660. The lower of us two. I have two accounts in collections and one public record. These debts are about 6 to 7 yrs old now. Does this mean we will not be able to get into the market until these debts are taken care of? Might be a dumb question but how harshly will mortgage lenders look into these accounts in collections and the public record?
justin – What are the debts from, and the balances owed? What is the public record debt about?
Home loan lenders do care about collections that are unpaid, and less about ones that are paid. But with yours being so close to falling off the reports, is there a reason you want to be in the home buying market in the next year?
660 is not an impossible credit score to work with in home lending. FHA underwriting will roll with that (when collections are paid/settled).
Michael, the debts are from credit cards. About 12k. the public record was also from a credit card balance. Are you suggesting to either wait for it to fall off the report or work with collections to settle before entering the home buying market? How long does it take for public records to fall off.. assuming they do?
justin – I know very little about your situation, employment, life style etc. But just based of the debts, how long its been since these were paid, the cost to settle, the interest rates on home loans today vs speculating where they will be next year, and FHA type underwriting, I would wait until next year for the non judgment debt to fall off of my credit report. I would settle the public record credit card judgment appearing on my credit report. It has its own fresh set of 7 years for reporting, and will certainly calculate into debt to income ratios that will impact my loan down the road.
Who is the judgment creditor (name of plaintiff)?
Hello, im 26 years old and when i turned 18 got a couple credit cards of $300 and $500 limits. i was 18 years old and not ready to have these cards but i didnt understand that then haha. i never paid anything to them and maxed them out right away, on my credit report it has them as Estimated month and year that this item will be removed as 09/2014. Should i try and pay this off? or after this date do they go away, in return improving my credit score? i know its bad not to pay off your debt but i want to be smart about this. im more responsible now than i was back then and could afford a credit card. So if i wait until September will these just go away and allow me to apply for a credit card and “start over”?
Michael – Yes, your credit profile, and probably your credit score too, will improve in a few months when the charged off credit cards and collections fall off. Be sure that any debt collectors or debt buyers that are reporting on the same accounts fall off at the same time as original creditors reporting. Also, keep a complete copy of what your credit reports look like now… just in case anything pops back up later (it happens).
You can be doing things today (and yester-year for that matter), to improve your credit score and reports. Do you have any other items appearing on your credit reports besides these 2 collection accounts? If so, what?
Yes. I have 17 negative things on my report it says. I looked at this and all but 3 are student loans related. I’ve had my student loans consolidated but it still has all of the original student loans on my negative report as paid, closed. Then my consolidated loans on there as current and never late. Also under my good reports I have my dads cc that he put me on as an authorized user years ago but also took me off of that 5 years ago. It seems like my student loans are doubled on my negative report side because they were transferred to another company. I also have one student loan that says being paid by insurance which I have no clue what that means. I really trying to fix my credit problems so I can start to apply for things that I need improved. Like a car. But as of now it looks like I’m in bad shape and I really don’t understand what I’m looking at 100%
If you have steady work, I would suggest looking at an auto loan come September/October as a credit building tool. You will want to look at getting an unsecured credit card too. Use it little, and pay it off each month. If you do carry a balance on it, just try to not let it exceed 30-ish percent of your available credit limit.
I really like the free credit report card tool you can use with http://www.credit.com that will help you get a handle on what you can do to improve your credit reports and score.
Good Morning,
I am here to ask for your help. My husband has a Maryland state tax lien that is on his credit. It was placed in 2007 but according to the people at the tax office in Maryland it is from taxes that he owes from 2002-2003. We asked for proof because they are saying he made $950 in state taxes for working 3 weeks there. That seems awfully high. With interest and penalties they are asking for $1500. The only paper they sent us stated the amounts owed. We can not get any other proof from them that he owes this, like anything showing where he was working then or how much he made etc… what can we do? we need this off by August because we are buying a house but don’t feel as though he should pay for taxes he doesn’t owe and we don’t really have the $1500 to send them right now. Please give me some guidance 🙂
Have you talked with them about any compromise to resolve the debt (settle the tax lien)?
He has tried but they wont work with him. They won’t provide anymore proof either about the amount. I didn’t know if we would go by date taxes were incurred (2002)or by date filed (2007). I also thought if they couldnt provide proof then they had to remove?? My husband is saying he only work there 3 weeks making $500-$600 bi weekly gross before moving back to PA and he was having taxes taken out during that time. He just wants proof that he actually owes this but getting no where.
Date filed would be what I set my credit reporting clock to.
Have you contacted any grievance or complaint center for the state of Maryland? An internal consumer affairs type of department? If not, that is where I would begin. And I would follow up all calls with written communications.
I have debts that went to court. I’ve paid them off, but they still show up. How long will they be on my record?
Judgment debts will most typically stay on your credit report for 7 years from the date of entry in the court record, but with some variables depending on the state, and situation.
How can the law changing the SOL be applied retroactively to a contract signed prior to 2011? I thought that contract law implies that you are signing a contract with knowledge of the law at the time the contract is signed.
Can you offer more context to your situation?
Hello, I have paid the majority of my debt but I have one left, $1600 from a big box store. I contacted the original creditor to pay off the balance but the creditor advised me not to pay due to the age and it was over CA’s SOL. Last payment was 12/09 I don’t want to wait for the debt to fall off but I also don’t want to reactivate the account. What should I do?
justin – How is the collection account showing on your credit report? Is there someone other than the retailer or bank that serviced the card showing?
Michael, I need your HELP! I recently did a credit karma profile to check my credit. I’ve been out of work for some time but recently graduated from college and I’m thinking about getting married so I wanted to sort out all my paperwork. 2 store accounts from 2008 showed up on my account as Charged Off. They are fairly small amounts off money both under 500. I called up the stores and they said they dont have my accounts anymore and the customer service actually told me to call the credit bureau. Strange? I was wondering if they even wanted the money or not because I was prepared to pay. On my hunt I did an Experian credit profile and again I saw the 2 store cards charged off. They did say one would “this account is scheduled to be on record until Feb 2015 and the other in March. What exactly does this mean? Will it be gone completely and my score will go up or eventually recover? or should I pay it and the 7 years starts up all over again? I am so confused. I also have another store card that has been closed by the company a few years ago but I pay regularly. I was thinking of paying this off soon this immediately would this change anything in my score? Also I checked my score last month and it was 640 and when I checked today it was 628. Is this because I keep checking it? because I havent done anything financially. Lastly, my experian is showing both cards, but transunion is only showing one. What does that mean? After I make my next move how can I improve my credit? Waiting your response I cant get anyone to answer my questions! lol not even the people I owe money to ! THANK YOU
Patricia – It sounds like the original creditors sold the debts off. That is normal. Your credit reports will often show an additional collection entry by the new owner, while the originator, having sold the legal rights to the debt, would now show a zero balance owed them. Is that what you are seeing?
I would not be concerned if Transunion shows one less collection account. That is a good thing 🙂
If you have the money, I would encourage you to pay off the one creditor you are making monthly payments to. That will help a bit. The unpaid debts that are set to fall off next year are another matter. Paying or settling super old accounts is not always the best thing for your credit scores. But first, what state do you live in?
Yes I am absolutely going to pay off the one I make every month. I live in New York the 2 older accounts that are charged off are from 2008. Or atleast that’s when they went delinquent. The experian says they will “come off 2/2015” so I was confused as to what that actually looks like and why they didn’t want the money from me. If the 7 years mean it’s not going to show then I rather not start up another terrible 7 years . I’m finally finishing my masters and am praying for a teaching job with my own home and car soon to follow. Just trying to get out of this debt and very thankful that it was minimal under 2k. I just had no idea what charged off means, I always thought just paying is the best thing I’m learning that it’s not I think? Right ? Lol
It isn’t showing the new collections or creditor. It is still showing macys and bloomingdales but says charged off. I figured they sold the debt when I called macys directly and they said they don’t have my file or any info for me. When I asked where I should call to pay they said call the credit bureau. Then I spoke to experian and the customer service was more interested in trying to sell me a membership and wouldn’t give me any specific info about macys or bloomingdales. I went online got a hold of the free report from experian and trans union and that’s how I saw the “charged off” and the dates they would come off. Actually pretty confusing and worry some considering I’ve been saving up to pay them off. Now I’m figuring that might not be a good option and use that money to pay off a current account (well not current bc the company closed it) but I’m current with payments.
Thinking about getting one of those preloaded or secured credit cards after the charged off accounts blow off in 2015. What do you suggest?
I would be inclined to leave the two unpaid accounts alone at this point, unless the proper owner contacts you for collection. At the same time, I would view any collection effort, this far down the collection cycle, with skepticism. As in – there are debt collection scams out there that prey on consumers using info they somehow get a hold of from your credit reports or elsewhere. Post an update to this comment string if you hear from anyone about collecting the really old debts. If nothing happens for the next year, they will fall of your credit reports. But collectors can still try to get paid after the debts disappear from your credit reports.
I would encourage you to use a secured card over a preloaded one. Your bank may offer a secured credit card option, so check into that. If you want to look at options for rebuilding credit, I would recommend using http://www.credit.com for matching you with credit cards, both secured and unsecured.
Hey Michael! I have not heard from creditors regarding these two “charged off” accounts thank goodness! I’m just waiting out the time till they come off my report. If experian says they will come off in Feb 2015 and March 2015 would that be true? The one other card that I was regularly making payments on that was closed, I finally paid off in full shortly after I first contacted you. Its been a few months since then and I checked my CREDITKARMA report today and it was still showing the same score of 629 (“poor”) and still showing the 2 other cards which are charged off as “closed” and a credit inquiry for a capitol one card i tried to get in june 2012. Shouldn’t there be a change in my score since i paid off the one card I had regularly been making payments to? ?????
Second question.
I received a “pre approved” letter from capitol one in the mail, you know one of those deals that says pre-approved and you have to call in or go online for a decision. I think thats what I tried back in 2012 and they in fact did not give it to me and now its showing on my report. I do want to build my credit but is it worth the try to see if this offer goes through? I wouldnt want to be rejected and then have it show up on my report after all the work ive been trying to make my credit better. I would really appreciate your advice. Thanks so much.
There are many data points that go into calculating your credit score. How much was the balance you paid off for the closed account? How many other open credit accounts do you have (not out for collection)? Are you making monthly payments on student loans, or are those differed?
It is hard to say whether Capital One would approve you now. Probably the only thing different with your reports is the positive of paying off a closed account that was not in collection, so whether the preapproval was based on data prior to that being paid off, or they go to get updated info, it makes sense that they would approve you. If you do go through with applying, request the lower end of credit limit available.
Patricia, did Experian remove the debt as specified on the free annual credit report? I am in the same boat as you and the Experian free annual credit report states my debt will be removed July 2015, but it is still showing so just curious if yours fell off a week after end of Feb or something along those lines. Thanks.
I have back credit card debt showing on my report that the last payment for one was April 2007 & the other was june 2008 I think. I checked my credit report on credit karma and they say they are open & the date is April 2008 balence 992 & the other is May 2010 with a balance of 2901. Im trying to get my score up so im able to get a home loan but because of the I cant. I live in NY state. How do I go about getting them of my credit report if they have passed their sol?
Thank you
Crystal – Credit card charge offs have the potential to stay on your credit reports for up to 7.5 years from the date you last paid.
Start with determining the exact date you last paid these accounts. Also post what the credit reports are showing as the dates these accounts will age off.
From what you shared, one of the accounts may have been reaged to reflect a last paid status of 2010, causing it to stay on your reports for longer than should be allowed. Is that what you are seeing?
Ok here’s what I have found.
on my citi bank
Asset. Acc. is the collection agency
says its schedule to continue on record until Jun 2015
Says it was opened on 3/2010
I know my last payment was jun 2008. Due to moving out of the state. It took me over 6 months to find a new job.
Then Capital one is listed two times.
The original says opened 8/2006
The charge off on April 08 to May 08
They list my last payment August 07.
Portfolio rec. Ass also has this same account listed
The opened date is April 2008
Says it will continue to be on record until Jun 2014.
I really dont know much on this one because last I knew the last payment was April. But I was young & dumb bc this card was in my name but my parents had it. I know I shouldnt have let them it also looks like the account was also opened befor I knew it was…
I also found on the report
Ge Cap.
it says charge off Dec 07 to july 08
last payment was June 07. This account I thought was paid in full it was a pay pal card I must of still owed more then I thought.
what should I do? I really want to fix my credit. Should I make a deal and pay them or am I better off waiting it out? Would it make a difference when I apply for a home loan. Im just confused. Im in my 20s and I dont know where to begin.
Thanks for all your help
Thanks for the follow up details Crystal. Here is how I understand what you have shared:
Asset Acceptance is showing on your credit report related to one of the old collection accounts. Even though Asset Acceptance says account opened in March of 2010, the credit report shows this will fall off in a year. Based on your first comment, it would appear that Asset Acceptance is reporting accurately. More on whether this will impact your goal of buying a home below.
Capital One is reporting to different trade lines? Did you have two different accounts with CapOne? If the credit report entry from Capital One is singular, it should (like the original creditor for the account Asset Acceptance now has) be showing as a zero balance owed to CapOne. Be sure that is the case. Portfolio Recovery Associates has the Capital One account listed as opened in April of 2008, and aging off the credit report in a month or two.
The GE capital account shows charged off. What does it say for a balance owed, if any? Is there any other corresponding collection entry in your credit reports that you can associate with the GE capital reporting?
Buying your home in the next year:
If your goal is home ownership in the next year, and you can qualify with FHA type underwriting standards (credit score thresholds of say, 620 or higher, Debt to income in good shape to afford the mortgage payment, etc.), you could negotiate settlements with the debt collectors (PRA is going to fall off in a month so maybe not with them) and the negatives would be immediately passed the credit reporting limit for paid collections in New York.
If you are not shopping for a loan in the next 12 months or so, you could let all of this fall off and then start your home hunt and mortgage shopping?
Thoughts?
Hi There Michael,
I’m trying to fix my credit score FINALLY! The last activity for my accounts was probably mid 2008, but when I checked creditkarma tonight the collection agencies my listing them opened from 2009 to as recent as 2013.
Midland fund (bank of America)
10/15/2010
Pin cred see (verizon wireless)
6/20/2013
Midland fund (citi bank)
2/8/2011
Ltd fin svc(citi bank)
5/22/2009
Midland fund (citi bank)
2/12/2010
Rjm acq llc (target)
10/12/2009
These accounts were opened in Maryland which I believe has a 3 year SOL and I now reside in Florida that has a 4 year SOL. I’ve been doing a lot of research on the matter and came across your sight. I’m not really sure what the first steps to take would be. I know I’m getting close to the 7.5 but according to the above some are just getting started. Just so you know it’s not really a time sensitive matter, I just want to get the ball rolling to hopefully have something accomplished 6 months to a year from now. I’d really appreciate any and all advice you might have on this matter.
Samantha – I would start by sending a written dispute regarding each account that has been inappropriately reaged on your credit report that will cause them to stay on your reports years longer than should be the case. You want to send the disputes to the credit reporting company that has them on there, and to the offending debt buyer (all of those listed are debt buyers). Send all communication certified mail return receipt requested. Keep a copy of all letters you send, and the green return receipt card in a safe place. Post a follow up comment with what gets corrected on the firs letter volley. Anything not reflected accurately, that still chooses to report after the dispute response time frame, will need some more attention.
I live in Louisiana and I recently checked my credit report. I have a debt that was charged off and the opening date is 11/01/2006. I was told it would stay on for 7 years but as of yesterday. It is still there. How can I have that removed from my credit report?
Kantrell – What was the date you last paid the account in question? The clock starts not from when the account was opened, but from when you missed your payments.
Ok, I see. It says I was delinquent in 2011.
Hi, a collection company from TX called me 2 months ago regarding a car loan I had that was last paid 6 yrs ago and still owed $9000. The car was already repossessed. I got scared and made payment arrangement. So paid them $300 down then $50 a month. Then I checked my credit report and it shows that this acct is already closed. I looked up this company online and saw lots of complaint against them. And that the company already filed chapter 11. Also, everytime I call them, they never answer the phone. I was thinking to stop making payments since I don’t trust them. Can they still go after me even the acct tho is closed? What should I do?
Paula – What is the name of the collection agency? While you say the account on your credit report is closed, does it still show a balance owed?
Commercial recovery system is the company. I use credit karma for my credit report, and it does not show any balanced owed. It just say it’s closed, and payment status is 0%.
I suggest you talk with an experienced consumer attorney with fdcpa, or collection defense experience. I can email you contact info to some if you post a reply with the name of a large city near you.
From the information you shared, the deficiency balance on the repo was passed the SOL for you to be sued, but not passed the SOL for it to appear on your credit reports. You may have reset the SOL to be sued for collection (not for credit reporting purposes) by making those payments. But talking with an attorney about all of this will help you make an informed decision.
I’m from Reno, NV. So I would say Las Vegas?
And also, with them filing chapter 11, can they still legally collect money from debtors? Cuz I read some comments on other site that any collection actives against them should stop. And is there any way I can find out the exact date of the last payment I made? I think the place I got my loan is already closed.
Not sure on the chapter 11 preventing them from collecting. It may depend on whether they are liquidating, or reorganizing.
What does your credit report say about the date of last payment?
I don’t kno about the lasts date of payment. But it says it was opened on April 2007 with a balance of $7021. Then it was opened on March 2010 with a past due of $5217 and it was charged off. I have no idea what means. I would say it was last paid around middle of 2008.
And also I saw that some of my credit cards was opened 2009-2014. But I haven’t use any since 2007. Or maybe even before that.
I meant it was reported on July 2010.
Michael in this site, you’ll read under the subject “Does partial payment restart SOL?”. It says that even with a partial payment, in some states, it doesn’t restart the SOL unless the agreement is written. Which we didnt have. Only by phone. But it also says this “Please review the exact state statutes and the fine print associated with them before relying on this website’s info. Your situation may not apply.” Where can I find the exact statutes?
Paula – Ideally, you will want to talk about this with an attorney whose practice is active in this area of law. You can read legislation, but may interpret incorrectly, or case law in your state may have developed to a place where you have more strategic options than a statute can imply.
What is it you meant by “in this site”? I do not recall responding to a reader, or writing an article that covers the topic in the way you have quoted.
I’m sorry. I tried to copy the link to the site about statute of limitations for debts.
Paula – The comment you posted with a link to credit info center went straight to the spam folder for the site. Not sure why.
Paula – After sending you contact details for the attorney in Las Vegas, and the one dual licensed with a practice in California and Nevada, I sent another with details for a Reno attorney.
Thank u so much. I will definitely call one of them. I just really want to fix my credit. But I kno that it’s gonna cost a lot to settle since I have other credit cards that was closed. And me and my fiancé r planning to get married soon, but now I’m not sure if that’s a great idea. We bought a car together 5 months ago with credit scores of 575 for me and 576 for him. Since then my score went up to 605. The loan is for 54 months. And were planning to pay it off before the end of the year. So it’ll be paid in less than a year.
Just curious what kind of car did you buy? My score is a little higher about 600 and I’ve always been so scared to even attempt to try to buy one. Maybe I’ve been freaking out for now reason lol.
Hi Michael!
I am currently in the beginning phase of trying to buy a house with my boyfriend. The mortgage consultant said that when we come to possibly closing on a house, old collections could come back. Is this true? I have had several that have dropped off all my reports and haven’t reported again for over a year or two. It has been some years since I have even received a letter or phone call from an agency to collect a debt. We live in Idaho and I am not certain on the limitations the state or even Federal gov. have in place. I keep hearing this 7 year stuff and thought I would be safe. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!
JP – Were any of the collection accounts lawsuits that resulted in judgment? If not, you should be in the clear if the collection accounts went negative more than 7.5 years ago. You can pull your credit reports and take a look at what a mortgage lender is going to see. Post an update with what you find to the comment string here.
None of them were lawsuits that resulted in judgment. I had my report pulled on Monday and none of the accounts that are older than 7.5 years are on there. So I shouldn’t worry that somehow they will come back? Thank for the reply!
Actually JP, you should worry. The error rate with credit reports is high. I encourage you to monitor your credit reports every 4 months by pulling a free one from Equifax, followed by your free report with Experian 4 months later, followed by pulling TransUnion’s free credit report 4 months after that. Then repeat that process. You can do this through the website the major credit reporting companies set up to comply with federal laws requiring them to give you access to 1 free credit report every 12 months: https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action.
I hope nothing pops back up on your reports, but if it does, post an update here and lets go from there.
Hello Michael,
I am trying to clean my credit. I live in California and I just ran my credit report and I show 3 credits that are still on my credit. One has offered to a deletion from my credit if I pay the full amount, is that true can they completely delete that from my credit report?
Jamie – There are some instances where a collection account could be deleted by the collector or creditor reporting it. It is rare to have one solicit that from you in their collection efforts. So rare, in fact, that I would caution you to be absolutely certain you are dealing with a legitimate debt collection outfit. What type of debt is this, and who is the debt collector making the offer to remove credit reporting in return for you paying them?
Hi There Michael,
I recently paid off two debts. One on February 18th and another got paid on February 24. They were both reported to the credit agencies as paid in full on March 18th, but they are still showing as non paid on my credit reports. How long does it typically take for reports to be updated as paid in full?
Thanks, Coreen.
Coreen – Can you be a bit more descriptive and detailed with what is happening with on your credit reports regarding the two collections?
Who is reporting? Did you pay the full amount to the collectors,or did you negotiate a lower pay off? Are there entries from the original creditors you are questioning, but the collection agency you paid the money to is showing correctly?
Your comment above is contradicting.
Yesterday I applied for a car loan and was told that I have a repossession from 2002 on my credit report. At the time I lived in NJ. I thought that a car repossession fell off of your credit report after seven years?
Lavon – Repo’s from 2002 should have fallen off your credit reports several years ago. Pull your credit reports and tell me if they are showing a deficiency balance being reported by a debt collector as a result of the repo, or if it is the original finance company still reporting. Either is a problem, and should not be happening. And both can be handled effectively with some disputes, and perhaps by filing some complaints too.
There definitely is no balance. I actually bought the car back a few days after it was repossessed by paying the balance off in full.
Thanks. So it is the original finance company showing up on your credit reports then?
Yes it is, its the bank who held the loan.
So im trying to get a house and have been cleaning up my credit for months now. I realized that an unpaid credit card (capital one) has fallen off of my report. I havent spoken to them or the collection agency (forster & Garbus LLP) at all. They sent me a letter today telling me I need to pay and that they have a settlement for me. Can they sue me or go into my account and take my money even though its fallen off of my credit report? Or should I just ignore them? I am in rochester New york and im not sure what to do. Please help.
Jessica – What is the date of the last payment made on this account?
Michael,
I dont recall the exact date but it was in 2005. Plus, the letter they sent me has no details on the account and it says they have a settlement for me but it doesnt say what it is. It was also dated as March 31 and said it should be paid on March 31 but I didnt recieve it until April 10. Im just so confused on what to do because I dont want it to magically re- appear on my credit report.
The way I read your situation:
You last paid Capital One in 2005. The limit for a negative to remain on your credit reports, and the SOL to legitimately be sued for collection in New York, would have passed. If anything does reappear on your credit reports regarding this account, post an update and lets go from there.
I just pull my credit report and noticed that I have a past due Credit card on my credit report from 2006(open date), I also have a collection agency on there for the same bill but the open date for that is 2013(open date), Is the collection agency able to sue me? should I just pay on it or can I depute this?
Sara – What state are you in?
2 years ago I was notified by GA Dept. of Labor that they had overpaid me nearly $8000 in Unemployment Benefits. I did not have the money to repay this amount. I just received a letter that I need to pay $440 a month towards my dept or they will send it to collections. I cannot pay that either…I’m still unemployed. My questions- Will this affect my credit score? If so, how much will it affect my score? What can they do? What can I do? I have very good credit and hate to see this ruin my record since I had no way of knowing they were paying me incorrectly for 8 months.
Casey – If this winds up on your credit report it is going to hurt your score, ability to qualify for loan products, and the price you pay (interest rates) on loans, and for some time. Have you talked with them about any other payment options? What was their response?
Hi, I’m trying to clean up my credit report and I noticed a few things.
1) RGS Financial is reporting on my CR twice for the same debt, same account number but each debt shows a different amount. Is there any way to dispute this?
2) I received a letter from Convergent wanting to settle a debt that I was only an authorized user on. How should I go about this? They also sent settlement offers on debts that are due for age of my CR 5/14 and 6/14. Should I take the offer or let the accounts age?
Thanks!
Natasha – There is often little reason to settle or pay off older collection accounts when you can no longer be sued, and when they are already, or about to fall off of your credit report. Is there something particular you are doing with your credit in the next several months?
You can dispute the RGS Financial credit reporting entries, or at least one, as a duplicate. Send your dispute certified mail with a return receipt requested. Keep a copy of your letters and the green return card in a safe place. I would also send a credit reporting dispute direct to RGS. If your credit report is not corrected (a duplicate entry removed), post an update and lets go from there.
I have a lot of problems and it was 5 years this year about my credited pls any answer me and what I can do ??? My question is :
1. If I paid of my collection debt amounts it’s stay in my credit report or not?
2. My student loan office report to debt collection office and I have to deal with that thing so badly can any answer me what I should do about these thing and I want credit back..pls …pls……pls..
Steven – Paying off collection items will not generally result in those items being removed from your credit reports. Most negative credit report entries in most states will come off the report in 7 to 7.5 years from the date the negative item occurred (such as missed payments etc).
What will it taketo get your student loans out of default? Is it feasible for you to do that? You can often help your credit reports when it comes to different types of student loans.
Hi Michael can not get away from about my situation rightnow . and I would like to asking you this.?
I did let some one do my income tax for me alright. And I did by papers to IRS on 03.21.14. Until now I didn’t get my fund back and it was different from last year . so I did checking on IRS website to know my refund status finally my refund status results said..these..
Your refund has been applied to a past due obligation such as child support, another federal agency debt or state income tax. The financial management service who issues IRS refund will send you a notice informing you of the reduction that’s all .
Like I asked you about my student earlier that it was on default right now and I did spoke with the collection agency and I did make a payment for them to pull me out from default so I think only problem is student loan and why I can not got my refund please tell me Michael i ‘m so dump with these situation…thank you again
Sincerely
Steven
Steven – I cannot know whether what is happening with your tax return is related to your defaulted student loans, or not. Have you contacted the DOE about your situation. Have you written to the student loan ombudsman?
If the intercept of your tax refund is related to government backed student loans, it would mean that whatever arrangements or payments you made to a debt collector in the past, did not bring them out of default.
There is no such thing a making a payment to take a loan out of default. Some lenders do allow for a lump sum payment to be made by a certain date to be removed from the offset list.
Call 800-304-3107 IRS tax offset seizure line
I have been contacted via mail by a collection agency for a debt that I don’t believe is mine. I phoned them and asked them to send me the info to review the validity. They said the would contact the original lender and have them send it to me. The debt collector said it was a loan and gave me the name of the original creditor/bank. I have had credit cards before. However, as far as I can remember I have never taken a LOAN with this creditor/bank or any lender other than a loan to purchase my first car some 30+years ago and it was a different bank. The collector mentioned that the debt had been sold off three times, them being the third. The last payment made was in 2003. They didn’t have the date the loan started. And they acquired the debt in 2013. My questions are: Does each time a debt is sold off to another collector, does it renew the debt? Since it its been 10years, can they still pursue me for collections since they’ve had the account less than a year? And, if I am able to determine the debt is not mine, what are my options? I live in California so the SOL is 4 years if I’m doing my research correctly. The debt occurred in Texas, where I lived at the time of the loan commencing. Honestly, I don’t remember ever taking a loan out with the original creditor. My first thought was identity theft when I received their letter in the mail. However, when I spoke to collection agency on the phone….they had my right info at the time I lived in Texas. I’m perplexed.
Thank you
Lucky – Each time a debt is sold to a new debt collector, it does not renew the debt for credit reporting purposes. It would generally not reset the clock that is ticking for someone to be sued for collection in their respective state wither.
Debts can be pursued, and collection attempts made, anytime after it ages off of your credit report, or passes your state SOL. Debts do not become invalidated after a date passes on a calendar. Debt collectors are not limited in their collection efforts based on how long they have owned a debt, so this one only having the debt a year, means nothing by itself.
If you determine the debt is not yours you can tell the debt collector to cease communicating with you, but do it in writing and sent that demand certified mail return precept. If they continue to try to collect after that, your copy of what you sent, and that green return receipt card will come in handy. Even if you are given enough info to then recognize the debt is yours, you could still demand communications cease, but I caution against this unless you are 100% sure the SOL in your state has passed (in Texas it would have).
Check your credit report for any anomalies and things you do not recognize. Identity thieves can often procure accurate info about you when they go about screwing up your life, so I would not discount this.
hi, i want to buy a house in the coming months, i have paid in full all my debts except one, a resident collection from an apartments i defaulted on a lease and they are reporting negatively on my report from 2007 for $1500 . Should I pay this? wondering if the debt can be sold to another agency but its not really a debt i wasnt extended any credit i just broke a lease. anyway i broke my lease early due to personal problems. this is the only derogatory mark on my file. please give me some guidance
Joseph – Are you working with a broker, or loan officer yet? If you are, ask about how a single unresolved collection account this old is going to impact underwriting. It may have little to no impact. If you are not working with someone on your loan already, this may be a good time to start.
These types of debts can be sold to debt purchasers. But many apartment management companies are content to place negative items on your credit report and make only halfhearted efforts at collection. Settling with them should not prove too difficult (though account location might), if you learn it is important in order to get your home loan approved.
I checked my credit and see that a truck I bought in 2004 is still on my report. I paid it off in 2008. I was wondering how long it stays on there because even though I paid it off eventually, it shows up as repossessed or reclaimed and I’m sure this will hurt me when purchasing a home. If it stays on for 7.5 years, is that from the day that I bought it or the day that I paid it off? Thanks!
Blake – It sounds like the truck was repossessed, but that you reclaimed it and continued paying off the auto loan after that happened. Is that correct? When was the exact date of repossession? What is the date the repo is showing on your credit reports?
Michael, that is correct. I reclaimed the truck and ended up paying it off. It was repossessed late 2005/early 2006. I paid it off early 2008. There is no date of repo on the report, it only shows the dates that I opened the account (April 2005) and the date the account was closed (January 2008). So do I have to wait 7.5 years from the date that the account was opened or the date that was closed? If it is the original date, it should be off already. Thanks!
The negative aspect of the trade line is more than 7 years old, so if it were me, I would dispute that part of the credit reporting as too old. Who is the finance company doing the reporting?
I have two accounts charged off through Navy Fed Credit Union. One is 10k credit card and one is 8k loan. The 10k one shows no balance. Not zero, but nothing at all. Date of last activity is 5/09 and 9/09. My score is a 656 presently. I got behind as I was hospitalized for four months back then. Fast fwd… I would like to get a house. Any suggestions??
Brandon – Call Navy Federal on a fact finding mission. You are not calling to discuss account resolution, but want to know the status of the accounts. With no balance being reported on the one, it may not be owned by NFCU any longer. Once you know who owns the debt, if not Navy Fed, post an update and lets go from there.
Also, post what you can come up with to settle these debts.
Hey Michael. I have a question? I went to my bank yesterday to make a deposit and the teller asked me if I would like to update my credit card for some new perks and such? The only problem is to my knowledge I have never had a credit card with this bank. They said it was opened in 2001 and had a $1,000 balance on it! I was floored. Long story short, I sat down with a bank officer and am going to be in touch with their fraud division either today or tomorrow. In the past 13 years I have never received any mail or phone calls from collection agencies nor did I see anything strange on my credit report from several years ago. In the highly unlikely event that this IS my debt would I still have to pay it after 13 years? From my understanding there is a statute of limitations in my state of NY that says I cannot be sued for this debt after 6 years.
karl – Pretty odd thing to have happen. No, a 13 year old debt is highly unlikely to be sued on, and your response would be really brief and to the point, so not a big worry.
If u pay on a collection that’s 9 years old and off your credit report ..will it reappear on it again?
Sean – A paid collection account should not reappear on your credit report after it has already aged off. But do not let credit reporting threats be the measure you use to pay, or not pay a really old debt.
I’m having a collector call me with different phone numbers all over the state.The debt is from 2005 and is not on my report anymore..I contacted the original owner and they said it was sold and they could not tell me who owns it now. They also said sine the 7 year SoL was up that I don’t have to pay for it..The collector will not email or mail me any info about the collection just tell me over the phone until we start the payment process.my question is this..
1..Can this be re-open on my credit report since they have contacted me after 9 years.
2.. what is this threat he is taking about having someone bring papers and serve me with over a 9 year old debt…
3..I made a mistake calling with guy back on Work cell phone Cause wife was freaking out over the home message they left..how can I get them to stop calling it..I’ve block 5 numbers now
Thanks
Sean
Sean – A negative item that falls off your credit report – when it is too old to stay there – should not show up again. Not if you paid it off, settled, etc.
The threat about suing you is likely an empty one. If your states SOL to legitimately sue is passed, that threat is empty and can be considered harassment. It is a good idea to run what is happening here with an experienced attorney who sues collectors for violating state and federal laws. Many attorneys of this type will take on your case with no cost or retainer, so it is worth taking the time to talk to one and learn about your options. I can refer you to some if you like. Just let me know the name of a nearby larger city.
You can stop the calls with a cease communication letter to the debt collector in most cases. But if you are dealing with a collector who has already shown a willingness to harass, I am not sure how effective that will be. If you do talk with them, get as much information from them as you can, and post that here for further discussion and/or share that with an attorney you may consult with.
Hello Michael,
I am back again, so I have gotten more of my debt settled, and settled with pay to delete! Everything left on my credit report is all over the 6 years SOL for Arizona (for taking me to court) but I want to stop the reporting and finish settling. I am wanting to dispute a few things because the dates are all messed up and different credit agencies have different dates and amounts. How do I go about sending these letters? Do I send it to each individual credit reporting agency (experian, transunion, equifax) or to just one main company? I also have a question when it comes to the 30-day rule. If they delete it from my credit report because they were not able to verify the debt, can I settle the debt still (I know I owe it) and will it prevent it from showing still? Or will it show back up because its now a settled debt? Thank you for your help!
Jennifer – Very cool that your original question that started this page, and our comment exchange, is from nearly a year ago, and you are back to update with the progress you made. Congratulations on those successes!
Send all of your credit report disputes certified mail with return receipt requested. Document your disputes in a file with all copies and green return cards. Send the dispute to all relevant credit reporting agencies, and I like to include a copy to the offending furnisher who is giving the CRA’s the bad information.
If your disputes do not result in only accurate, complete, and correct info being reported, post an update and lets go from there.’
There are real concerns for settling debts that are no longer appearing on your credit reports, but that are still within the 7 to 7.5 years to legitimately show up. Standardized systems can mean a debt settled; account is updated with current debt collector/debt owner; an update to the credit reporting systems can occur.
How close are these debts to the 7 year marks?
Michael,
These debts have just hit the 6 year mark so another year and a half before they drop off, so I want to settle them so they don’t keep reporting but this will be over the next 6 months. Also there are old accounts that are showing closed/written off but their dates dont match either, they are showing a later date then what they really are. I want to correct those closed/written off accounts so they fall off accordingly. The others I do owe but its not the amount they report and the date shows pretty much as the date the collection agency received the debt which is anywhere from 1-3 years later. If those debts can’t be verified for some reason and the credit reporting companies remove them isn’t there a chance they can show back up later after verified? I will work on the letters to each individual reporting agency this weekend and send out. I was told by someone to originally start them all as “not my debt” , then once they can verify that, then go from there on then sending for the dates to be corrected and the amounts. Also are they allowed to add interest after they have taken on these accounts or should they be the same amounts that the original lender last reported? Thank you for all your help Michael, you really are doing something so amazing with this site and helping people get their lives back on track, and its amazing you don’t ask for a thing in return.
Jennifer – Sorry for the delay in responding. I moved, and things did not go smoothly.
I would not raise disputes with the accounts you still have to settle as it can (but not always), raise the collectors/debt owners awareness that you care about your credit and have a goal. If you have already sent those letters, do not worry about it, you can use talking different talking points if something gums up the process.
I am not a fan of disputing something as not your debt, if it is, or across multiple accounts in the same letter. That strategy is less and less effective,m and can also lead to your later follow up disputes being tagged as frivolous (based on prior dispute behavior).
Debt collectors and debt owners can add interest and fees that are allowed for in your original creditor agreements, or legal interest if a judgment. It is has been hard for them to prove their calculations up,and we are currently looking at rules and regulations changing soon that could cause all collections fees, charges and interest to be fully detailed and transparent. But those changes are not likely to come before you achieve your goals in the next 6 months.
I do not ask for anything in return… unless someone brings it up. And because you did, if you believe you received something of value from the site, please consider picking up some extra food on your next grocery trip and donating to your local food bank – And for that I will thank you!
I just received a call asking me to settle an account where I last gave payment in 2003 which is what the lady said on the phone. I honestly can’t remember since its been years since that last card and now I gave good credit. I told her I wanted to dispute it and had no info regarding that account anymore since it was over 10-11 yrs old. Can this still affect my credit now? What do I have to do to make sure it doesn’t affect it now and have them stop calling me?
Brissy – This collection debt should not reappear on your credit reports now.If it does,post an update as soon as you discover it.
Sending a debt collector a certified letter (send with a USPS return receipt green card too), where you request they cease any and all further communication with you, is much safer to do when your states SOL has passed. If you are certain of that, it means they cannot file a legitimate collection lawsuit. If that same collector calls, or writes, after they receive your letter, post an update.
I recommend you monitor your credit reports regularly. You can do that free through http://www.annualcreditreport.comusing one free report for the three major bureaus every 4 months. SO pull one today from Experian, another in 4 months from TransUnion, and the third 4 months after that from Equifax. This time next year you would be pulling Experian again.
How is the FCRA compliance date set for medical collections accounts. I have 2 accts from 2007 with DOFD listed as 2009. I disputed several times and keeps coming back verified. The bills are from two ER visit co payments
Melanie – Most any negative entry on your credit report is going to have a 7 to 7.5 year shelf life. There are some limited exceptions to this, but the fact that this is medical debt is not one of them.
Add 7, or 7 and a half years to 2007 and the debts would age off this year. If 2009 is the starting point the credit reporting agencies are using, even longer.
What is the position you are using in your disputes?
Ok, so my husband and I have taken on the responsibility of tackling our credit and cleaning it up. We paid off 4 debts that were shown on my husbands credit report. Now all of a sudden other creditors are on the credit report that were not there 2 months ago. One of them is from a Collection Company that acquired the acct from the original Cellular Company. Now if the Cellular Company ever reported this as a charge off on my husband’s credit report, how can the Collection Company that now owns the debt report to the credit report. It’s like getting slapped twice for the same debt. Is that legal?
Selyn – Unfortunately yes, and it is all too common. But be sure only one creditor or debt collector is reporting a balance owed, as multiple credit report entries for the same account balance due is wrong, and can be fixed.
🙂 that is such great news to hear…Thank you so much for your help.
thanks for your reply…Im in the process of cleaning up my credit to get a loan for a house in 3 years or so…so I want to get rid of all negative accounts on my file and keep them off…but I know this process is going to take time I started last year Jan 2013 with my credit clean up so far so good just a few loose ends.
You do not need every negative off of your credit report to qualify for a home, or to get the best available interest rate. These days, with new mortgage lending rules, you do want to have unpaid accounts resolved. You have a huge head start over most folks who look to repair their credit to make a large purchase like a home. I suspect, from all of your comments about your current situation, resolving all collection accounts; maintaining good accounts on your credit reports now (or obtaining a couple if you are light on credit trade lines); saving money for a down payment; and maintaining a healthy debt to income ratio, you will be golden in 3 years.
I have a 8 year old collection and the old debt is resolved but the new collection agency has picked it up and has added an additional 2 grand to the account. Do you think i should send in a dispute or leave it be?
marcus – It sounds like the old collection is passed the point of showing on your credit reports, is that correct?
When was it you resolved the old debt? Who did you resolve it with? Who is contacting you now?
I can offer better feedback if I know the answers to those questions.
btw thank you for your reply and your welcome 🙂
Will – Depending on the credit scoring model, your score can go down some with a paid collection. But some models do not hit you for a paid collection. The ones that do, only temporarily. Are there other debt collectors showing on your credit reports? And how long ago was it that these debts were paid?
The debt isnt paid yet thats the thing I was going to set up a payment plan but its no longer on my report there was three other ones but they got paid off last year they were small balances ..are they able to keep deleting a account then keep putting the account on back on the report?? and if so would I be able to dispute the account if if does show back up ?
Will – Once you pay it, and if it does show back up on your credit reports (I suspect it will), it may not be that big a deal, and less of a deal (credit score hit) over time.
Do you have a big credit or loan product you are seeking in the next 3 to 6 months? How about in the next year?
What would be the premise of your dispute if the collection account shows back up after you pay, or agree to make payments?
well is a collection account that had a balance of 412 that i was looking to make a payments on but when I seen that it wasnt on my CR that kinda messes things up because if it some how get back on my CR it will drop my score right?
Hi Michael I been reading all your reply’s for ppl answers which I think is just awesome you give nothing but great advice…I have a question I had a At&t cell phone bill that was put on my credit report by three different creditors each with different amounts march 2013 I disputed the incorrect amounts and different accounts down to one account which is accurate that i know of they are reporting to EQ and Ex I pulled my CR again just a few weeks ago feb 25 2014 the account is no longer on my report is it possible who ever took it off can put it back on my CR?
Will – Thanks for the thumbs up. I am assuming the reporting you want back up there is a positive trade line? Who was reporting it? What is the reason you are sensitive to it being back on your credit reports?
They are very old credit card debts. I think I will just ignore the letters. Thanks for you response Michael! You have been very helpful.
I received two collection notices today, both of which are for debts that are over 10 years old. They both don’t show up on my credit report as I just had my credit report pulled yesterday. Should I ignore the notices or respond to them and dispute? I could pay them if I need to but I don’t want them to show up on my report after the fact.
joanne – What state do you live in? Were the debts ever taken to court? Are you certain that no payment was made for all of those years? What are the names of the debt collectors contacting you?
I live in California. The debts have never been taken to court and no payments have been made. The name of the collection agency is Convergent.
Thanks!
Joanne – If the debts were unsecured debts, like credit card or similar bills, the SOL to legitimately sue in California would have passed. What types of debts were these?
If indeed unsecured debts, and passed the SOL, sending debt collectors, like Convergent, a cease communication letter, will stop collection calls and notices from them. The danger in sending cease communication letters is that it leaves creditors and collectors only two options to try to collect from you:
1. Violate federal law (often state consumer protection laws too), by ignoring your cease communication letter and continuing collection efforts over the phone or in writing.
2. Limits the contact they can have with you to collecting through the courts, which means suing you, and that is something most of us would choose to avoid.
You are passed the risk of being sued, and if you were sued, you would have a simple time of putting that to rest. And if they continue trying to collect from you through the phone and mail, you have an action you can bring against them.
You could also just do nothing.
My husband took a car loan 7year back in which he defaulted to pay. But after 7 year collection agencies are calling me at my office for default even though i don’t live with my husband. but collection agencies are harassing me for not paying loan taken by my husband and collection agencies are calling at hr department. it is really frustrating. how do i deal with this?
please help.
Somya – Did you cosign for the loan back then? Was there ever any lawsuit filed to collect on the deficiency balance? What is the name of the collection agency calling your HR department? Did the debt collector mention anything about the fact they are trying to collect a debt to the the person at your job they spoke with?
I am asking all of these questions so that I can offer more focused feedback. Also, what state are you in?
I went through a divorce a few years back as well as the loss of a business. I used a settlement attorney to settle out my debt, all except for one debt with chase was settled. The balanced owed is right at $10k. The SOL in NC appears to be 3 years and the last payment activity on the account was back in early 2009. My understanding is that if you contact the creditor after that SOL they can use that as a recognition of the debt and restart the clock. My credit score has begin to climb from the low of 520 to about 640 now (even with this out there) and continues to get better each quarter. My question is regarding this aged account, is it worth calling them to settle? Or should I continue to let it age off entirely? My wife and I are planning to purchase a new home next year and suspect that by the end of this year my score will be at about 670, not great but reasonable enough for a mortgage. I have a secured and unsecured card that are helping to rebuild my score and a car. I have never been late on a mortgage in my life, no bankruptcy, no lates on car payments etc. I am unsure how to proceed on this one particular debt, any advice would be great. Thanks
Mike – That unpaid account with Chase showing on your credit report will skew debt to income calculations, and that could mean an impact to how you are viewed using the “ability to repay” rule – new this year. You could also find that the existence of an unresolved account (regardless of the SOL expiration), could be a concern with loan approval.
Can you come up with the money to settle this? How long will it take to pool together, say 4k? Are you comfortable calling and negotiating the settlement yourself? If you do circle back to settle this one, I would wait to wake up that sleepy little bear until you have the money together.
I can pull cash together quickly I was not sure what a reasonable settlement amount would be to close this quickly.
Mike – If it were me, and with how aged the debt is, I would start with an offer of, say 25% to settle with Chase (if they still have it), with an expectation that it could be higher, up to 40%. If you find out Chase does not have the account, ask who does, and for contact details if available. Post an update and lets go from there.
You may want to consider talking to a loan officer about your credit profile, and the unpaid collection. Just to round out the feedback you are getting.
I have been trying to dispute an auto loan that I opened in 2005 that was originally with Americredit that is now with GM Financial. That account is paid in full and has been for over 3 years. In the begining I did have some 30 day late payments but not toward the last 3 1/2 years of the loan. These late payments are still affecting me when I try to apply for credit. With the exception of these late payments I have an excellent payment history and have been able to make several new car purchases however some lenders won’t take me due to those late payments. My question is since this account is almost 9 years old from the opening does the SOL apply and should the credit bureaus remove it?
Adam – Negative information has a shelf life of 7 years in the instance you are describing (if I interpret what you shared correctly). What are the precise dates of the lat pays showing on your credit? And are these late pays showing the same on all credit reports, or are they not showing on some?
Oh, and the $500 (or $7000 total balance) from the Wells Fargo card IS NOT ON my husband’s credit report!!! Which was another reason I couldn’t believe they were so aggressive.
Hey Michael. The weirdest thing happened today. I got a phone call from an atty’s office trying to collect on a credit card my husband had TWELVE years ago!!! They were actually trying to verify our information so they could have us served with paperwork to go to court. Yup, we were fixing to be sued for a Wells Fargo card my husband had. Talk about ironic, huh? If I did’t know any better, I’d say they knew we were trying to settle our finances, and now was the perfect time to come knocking! Twelve years ago, my husband had this Wells Fargo credit card with a limit of $500. Today the atty’s office wanted close to $7000! After I calmed down, I did some pleading and groveling and got the balance down to $501.23. I had to pay it while on the phone with them today, but it was worth keeping us out of a public record judgement in his name AND saving us from the $7000! I couldn’t believe they were coming after him twelve years later! Anyway, back to the game plan…
The credit cards we have been talking about have been turned over to collections.
The CapOne card shows to have been charged off 11/10. ($1302)
The HSBC was charged off 11/10. ($380)
The Old Navy Card was charged off 7/10. ($359)
All three also show to have been purchased by another lender. (I’m not sure exactly what this means.)
I’m just going to list the medical debts to try to answer your timing question:
8/13 $478
8/13 $438
8/12 $253
7/12 $165
12/09 $164
6/12 $163
8/13 $122
2/11 $99
8/12 $76
12/09 $67
We DO want to settle all of the above issues; however, we owe about $1000 in local bills right now (in addition to the $594 that remains from the Citi Financial Sears judgement settlement from before) that we will pay first. We are looking at about 3 months before we can start to whittle on the debts above, BUT we will get to them!
Amanda – Debts that are beyond the SOL to sue you, and to appear on your credit reports, are off the radar. Anyone trying to collect on debts that old can be sent a cease communication letter as long as you are certain that the SOL is passed.
It is not an “as if” that debt collectors somehow appear to know that you are settling or paying collection debts. They often actually do know. There use software and/or services from companies that can alert them to changes in your credit reports. When an account gets updated as paid/settled, or you apply for new credit, they can be alerted. This is sometimes why people seem to get bombarded by new collection calls and notices on debts they had not heard anything about for a couple years. If any more collectors call about debts that old, post about it here before taking any action. It would be good to hit priority debts, like those appearing on your credit reports now, in order to reach your goals sooner.
The credit card debts shown as purchased by another lender – It would be good to know by whom, but generally I target settlements with debt buyers at somewhere between 30% and 50%. I would look to settle those credit card bills you listed first, then circle back with the medical bills.
When you are ready to get started, I may have the second and third stage settlement with debt collector sections up on the site. Check back for updates on those new sections that will have tips for what you will be working toward. You can subscribe to the RSS feed on the site to get email updates of new sections being published.
Moving comment discussion:
Amanda said:
“My immediate goal is to get my credit score to a minimum of 620. We are hoping to buy a new house using my husband’s VA benefits in the next year. As of two weeks ago, my credit score was 587. My husband’s is 640, so we are good to go with his credit. I am looking at my credit report, and of course the judgement was the biggest obstacle on it. However, we have a $1300 closed Capital One credit card balance, a $380 HSBC closed credit card balance, a $359 Old Navy closed credit card balance along with about $3400 in 11 different medical bills tht have been reported to my credit. That was the end of the derogatory items, thank goodness!!! Our home is in my name alone. (Ironically enough when we bought our home, our credit situations were reversed.) We have 2 vehicles and a $6300 loan in both our names that is helping my credit situation. We owe about $3000 on that loan (We will be paying off as soon as we have the judgement situation taken care of.) I have a Capital One credit card, a Best Buy (Capt One) Card, and a Credit One credit card in just my name that have ZERO balance on them. Soooo, after all that, can you suggest a quicker route to increase my credit score? THANK YOU AGAIN FOR YOUR ADVICE!!!”
Amanda – Are the accounts you listed as closed (CapOne, HSBC, Old Navy) still receiving payments, or are they collection accounts. If in collection, for how long?
How old are the medical collections? Are you prepared to settle them as well?
Settling the judgment we discussed on the other thread is part of the picture, but depending on your answers to the above questions, these accounts are holding you back as much or more.
The quickest route to improving your credit will depend on the answers to your questions too.
I just check my credit score, which I haven’t done in 7 years plus because I already knew my score of low from debt. I got all my Debt while living in Ohio at a young age. I’m 30 now and moved to Florida going on 8 years in April. I have no had any new credit cards and all the ones from when I was 18-20 have been closed for years. All of these old credit debts have also been in collection for at least 8 years. Will they ever go away? How can I get them off my credit report and start fresh?
Bethany – Can you post a list of who is appearing on your credit report today (names of companies, banks, debt collectors), the balances reported as still due, and the type of accounts you had back then (credit card, store card, personal loan, utility bills forgotten)? I can offer feedback once I have a better picture of what is showing.
Hi I have a couple of questions:
1) I have a private loan $21,000 that shows up on Transunion report only. It is due to go off my credit report this spring/summer. They have not contacted me in many years and the original lender is not even reporting to the credit agencies. It does not seem to be affecting my score too much, although my transunion score is a bit lower. I live in Illinois so I think the SOL is 10 years (it has been 7 years). Is it possible they will sue me even after it goes off my credit report this year? Would they have sued me by now or can/do they wait until close to the SOL?
2) I have a closed charge-off account for $3541. It is not a collection account but they are hounding me for payment. I made the mistake of picking up their call but told them I have to do some research before I consider paying them. It now states ” Deragatory charge off occurred in 2/14″ on my identity guard information page and “balance date” on my report also states 2/14. Does this mean the debt/SOL reset? I believe that it become derogatory initially in 2009 and I have not paid anything since before it was derogatory. I’m not sure how this account is affecting my credit score.
3) I have raised my credit score 20-80 points in 2 months by paying all accounts on time, opening up 2 credit cards totaling $2500 and disputing incorrect information. However, I have several late payments on my several student loan accounts (60, 90, 120 days late) over the years with the last being Oct 2013. I’m wondering if I pay everthing on time for 2 years if this will significantly improve my score?
Thank you
1. Some creditors and debt owners are more prone to place accounts with collection attorneys, with authorization to sue in order to get paid, in the 6 months leading up to the SOL expiring. But that is not always the case, and some (larger banks and smaller credit unions) are prone to more aggressive collection efforts long before the SOL need be considered. How sophisticated is the lender? Does your local court see them listed as plaintiff in many cases? Is this a business loan, or personal? These are just some of the questions I have in order to help you assess how likely they are to sue now, or for the time remaining with Illinois SOL on written agreements.
2. If you could post the name of the creditor with the closed charge off showing on your credit report I would be better able to offer feedback. Generally, the SOL for credit reporting is not going to reset, though a court judgment for the same account gives a collection account a new and different type of shelf life. It is possible to reset the SOL in your state to be legitimately sued for collection, but from the sound of it, that did not happen (need to know more here too).
3. Paying all existing accounts showing on your credit report on time, and for 24 months, would likely improve your credit scores. The negatives you have now would age off by then, which is going to help too. But what are your scores now, and what are your credit goals, or loan product you will be looking to get approved with fair pricing, in the next few years?
Hi! Michael I found a form letter that I think will solve a lot of peoples aggravation, including my own. I did look at the form letters that this website had to offer, but they didn’t seem to have enough to get the information one would need to fight off a debt collector. Please let me know what you think? I do value your comments. I haven’t sent this letter out yet, just waiting for your feed back. Again thanks for all of your help. Here it goes!
To Whom It May Concern:
I am sending this letter to you in response to a notice I received from you on 02/10/2014. Be advised, this is not a refusal to pay, but a notice sent pursuant to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 USC 1692g Sec. 809 (b) that your claim is disputed and validation is requested.
This is NOT a request for “verification” or proof of my mailing address, but a request for VALIDATION made pursuant to the above named Title and Section. I respectfully request that your office provide me with competent evidence that I have any legal obligation to pay you.
Please provide me with the following:
• What the money you say I owe is for;
• Explain and show me how you calculated what you say I owe;
• Provide me with copies of any papers that show I agreed to pay what you say I owe;
• Provide a verification or copy of any judgment if applicable;
• Identify the original creditor;
• Prove the Statute of Limitations has not expired on this account;
• Show me that you are licensed to collect in my state; and
• Provide me with your license numbers and Registered Agent.
If your offices have reported invalidated information to any of the three major Credit Bureau’s (Equifax, Experian or TransUnion), said action might constitute fraud under both Federal and State Laws. Due to this fact, if any negative mark is found on any of my credit reports by your company or the company that you represent I will not hesitate in bringing legal action against you for the following:
• Violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act
• Violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
• Defamation of Character
If your offices are able to provide the proper documentation as requested, I will require at least 30 days to investigate this information and during such time all collection activity must cease and desist.
Also during this validation period, if any action is taken which could be considered detrimental to any of my credit reports, I will consult with my legal counsel. This includes any information to a credit reporting repository that could be inaccurate or invalidated or verifying an account as accurate when in fact there is no provided proof that it is.
If your offices fail to respond to this validation request within 30 days from the date of your receipt, all references to this account must be deleted and completely removed from my credit file and a copy of such deletion request shall be sent to me immediately.
I would also like to request, in writing, that no telephone contact be made by your offices to my home or to my place of employment. If your offices attempt telephone communication with me, including but not limited to computer generated calls or correspondence sent to any third parties, it will be considered harassment and I no will have choice but to file suit. All future communications with me MUST be done in writing and sent to the address noted in this letter.
This is an attempt to correct your records, any information obtained shall be used for that purpose.
Best Regards, Max
Max – This debt validation/dispute letter is much longer than it need be, but that is not a problem per say. My concern about such letters are the expectations people have when sending something like this. People tend to think they will receive something responsive to all of the points in the letter, but that is not realistic. I also have never understood the point of sending a letter with threats of suing in order to protect your rights. Any debt collector that has been in operation for more than a year should be real familiar with their legal obligations under the FCRA and FDCPA. No threats are necessary.
There are a ton of letters out there like this that people use. But people often send them out not understanding how simple it is for a debt collector to meet their obligation to validate a debt. And folks may not quite understand how sending letters like this may actually lead to more aggressive collection steps being taken, like suing to collect a debt, or that you may actually prefer to resolve a debt (if that is your goal in the first place) with the specific collector contacting you, as opposed to the next place the account may land (account gets placed or sold elsewhere for collection as a result of a letter like that being received).
I suppose if you are going to use a template letter, you might want to go with one that the CFPB has on their site. You can review those letters here. Some of those letters are even longer than yours. But vusing them will let the collector know where you got it. And I suspect that would lead them to the assumption that you know how to file a complaint against them with the CFPB. But most collectors will look at all of this the same way regardless.
You referenced form letters you found on this site in your comment, but I have not really published anything like that. Mainly because I focus most of my time, and the content on this site, to helping people resolve legitimate debts – not fight off a debt collector. Form letters like the one you posted, or most any letter sent to a debt collector, can be used as part of a strategy to resolve debts. But they tend to be used, at least in my opinion, as a tool to make debt collectors go away and chase someone else. And to that end, I find using these letters to be a mixed bag.
What exactly is your goal with any legitimate debts you have out there in different stages of collection?
I recently ran my credit report and noticed a collection agency on it. It apparently got turned over to them in March 2013. I never received a bill from the originator or had any communication regarding this debt. It stems from a medical situation and didn’t even know that this particular company was involved. The debt is only $387 and I would have gladly paid it if I had known about it. Is there anything I can do (aside from paying it, which I will immediately) to get it off my credit report and raise my score back up? I currently have a 734 and am typically around 780.
Christine – Before calling the collection agency to resolve the debt, call the medical service provider or their billing company, and see if you can pay this debt directly and get it removed from your credit reports. Explain that there was a misunderstanding, billing error – or something – and it was never your intention for a bill to have gone unpaid. Only after you have tried that (even with a few phone calls), would I look to pay the debt collector.
Hi! Michael
Thank you for your prompt reply. I do have a question. Should I send the Collector their original Statement back or a copy, together with the Cease Communication letter? Sorry just one more question. I find it odd that the Statement doesn’t show any account numbers anywhere on it, only the payment stub is there an account number. If I was to have paid this Collector, I would have never had an account number for reference. I looked at all of my banks, and credit card statements, and other bills, they all have account numbers on both. Michael, is this a bit unusual? Thanks again for your help, Max
Max – With such an increased awareness of debt collection practices, information easily obtained on the web, new collection guidelines that will be applied nationally later this year/beginning of next, what you have going is a bit less usual, than say 10 years ago.
You could send a copy back with the letter, but keep the original for your records.
Hi! Michael. I received a call and a person told me my name, and ask if this was me, I said yes, and then she said is this the last four digits of your Social Security, and I said yes. This ended up being a Debt Collector, she called on February 3rd 2014 at 2:42pm about a Citibank card, I thought the lady was talking about an AT&T Card, that I closed out sometime last year, she got agitated, and said when did you pay it, and to whom. I told her, I’m a little confuse, I had close that account, because my wife had past away, and I didn’t need that card anymore. The lady said I’m talking about a debt you owe back in the 1990’s. I kinda laugh and then said, I have know idea what you’re talking about, my credit is perfect, and I owe no one anything. She went on and on about what they will do to my credit, if this is not paid off. I told her she’s mistaken, it’s not me, and I hung up. She call again today, from a different number on February 7th 2014 1:34pm, but in a more threatening boiterous voice, and more things about what this will do to my perfect credit. I got angry, I told her I have know idea what you’re talking about, an hung up. Today February 11th 2014 I received a letter from this Creditor, I won’t mention names, but the letter states you currently owe $6703.05 with accumulated interest, it also states the Original Creditor, this is about a Visa Card. I don’t remember having, and I don’t believe I ever did have this card, but it’s possible. This is 20 plus years ago, and I’ve had many Credit Cards in my life, but I know I never defaulted on any of them, and I don’t understand why or believe it’s mine. I have Identity Theft Protection, with a company, and they e-mail my an alert during this time frame. So I went on line to see what it was about, same Collection Agency that call, and the one that sent the letter. I got nervous, and got all of the three Credit Reports, only one Equifax shows this Collection Agency, the others showed nothing. Equifax showed that they were only inquiring. My credit report goes only back to 1996, with 19 still active, and all in good standing. Not one single late payment, in all that time, everything paid as agreed. Can you please give some incite on what I should do. I don’t want something like this to come up, and bite me in the ass, just because I ignored it. Thanks.
Max – Mistakes happen with debt collectors. Even if this debt were valid, and you knew it to be yours, I would still consider any collection attempt on a debt 20 years old to be a mistake.
If it were me, I would send this collection agency back a a cease communication letter. I would send it certified mail return receipt requested.I would keep a copy of the letter and the return card I get from USPS together in a safe place. You can use the sample letter language from the Cease Communication letter available on the CFPB website here (last bullet item).
If you hear from any one at that collection agency after you know they received your letter, post an update to this comment string and lets go from there.
The debt collector soft inquiry on your Equifax credit report should not impact you.
Crystal….As a general rule, private loans are NOT sold, but assigned to CA’s. Your loan balance is going up because your interest is accruing and capitalizing on itself. Plus as the loan ages, the collection fees go up. Also, private loans do sue, generally right before SOL expires.That can affect your credit up up to 20 more years and will end up costing you more in court and legal costs. Also it is normal for student loans to have multiple trade lines…the lender, the guarantor and then the CA/or law office.
Hi,
I was wondering if you may have some insight into my current situation. I live in NY and had a private student loan go into default about two years ago. The original loan debt owed was $19,000. Since then it has been sold over and over again multiple times. Each time it is sold a new collection account pops up on my report with a newer collection date and a higher amount owed. It is now listed as just over $34,000 debt with a date of 12/13. It is also currently listed on three times (the original debt as a charge off, then twice by two different collection agencies for roughly the same amount, one being about $400 higher than the other). How do I go about fixing this issue? And should these collection reports eventually be removed when the original charge off account will be removed (in about 5 years if it is not settled before then). Thanks.
Crystal – Is the original creditor reporting a balance still owed to them, or does is show zero due? What are the names of the two debt collectors showing on your credit report. Which one is trying to collect now?
The collections should fall off at the same time the original lenders trade line ages off, but collections are sometimes reporting with more recent dates, so you have to keep track and monitor your credit consistently around that time. You can dispute those items off when the time comes. You can also dispute multiple entries for the same debt that should not appear and cause triple jeopardy. I often suggest waiting for the smoke to clear on the SOL to be sued for collection, or after you have settled, or otherwise resolved the debt, before trying to clean up collections.
What are your credit goals now and looking forward a few years? Are there other collection items on your credit reports?
Hello,
I have an account that is now 6 years old. The original creditor was HSBC, a Best Buy store card. As of this Month it has been sold to NCB Management, a debt buyer. The date of last activity is now January 2014. I have had no activity in 6 years. Waiting for the SOL to expire is not an option..but I am unsure of how to handle this. This is actually the second time this has happened. This time it has caused a 41 pt drop in my credit score. Any help at all would be greatly appreciated.
Whitney – How many times is this same debt appearing, or been reported, on your credit report? Who had it before National Collections Bureau (all of them)?
By waiting for the credit reporting SOL to expire not being an option, am I correct in assuming you meant letting the get away with reaging the collection account is not going to happen? Is there some reason you need to resolve this collection debt now?
Hi, I have several small collections on my credit some of which I paid but was never report, all of which r from 8 to 10 yrs ago and the debt keeps getting bought out, will this ever come off? And they all r still affecting my credit
michael – Generally, any collections 8 plus years old (that long since payments were missed) should already be off of your credit reports. I suspect you may have had a few debt collectors reage your accounts when they started reporting the negatives years ago. Can you post some of the collection companies still showing up and indicate whether you paid or settled with them, and also if you are able to tie that collection account with an original creditor that is still showing on your credit report?
Hi,
Yesterday I recieved a collection letter on a Sears card balance that had been charged off in June 2006, I recently pulled my credit report and it is not showing up on it anymore either. My question is since I live in California I’m i still legally required to pay this debt now that I received a collection letter and should I respond with a validation letter request or should I just ignore it now that is has been 7.7 months since it charged off.
Cristine – From what you shared, your debt appears to have reached an age where many would define it as a zombie. If the state SOL to file a legitimate collection suit has passed (4 years in California), and the credit reporting limit of typically 7.5 years is up, meaning the collection account cannot hurt your credit, it’s dead, but still walks around from one debt collector to another.
I do see people circle back and settle or pay off debts this old, but for personal reasons. Any meaningful collection leverage is gone.
The quickest way to stop collection efforts with zombie debt is usually sending a cease communication letter certified mail return receipt to any debt collector that writes or calls. Some of the less than exemplary debt collector tactics are used on debts that are really old. If something pops up that doesn’t seem right to you, post an update and lets go from there.
Thank you for your response, I would like to settle the account I just have
worked so hard to get my credit solid again I didn’t want anything to
jeopardize it now.
Christine – Settling an account at this late stage of collection is usually pretty straight forward. What is the name of the collection company that is contacting you?
The letter is from Capital Management Sevices, Buffalo NY, and the balance is approximately $1000 with their interest.
Christine – If I were ready to settle this debt I would probably not offer more than 25% of that balance. Be sure to get the deal documented before you pay anything. Read this report for more information about getting everything in writing.
Michael
Thank you for the advise, it definetly has put my mind at ease and give me a game plan to finally get this behind me.
Can you tell me how long a repo stays on your cr in tx
Matt – I am not aware of anything in Texas that would change what is typically a 7 credit reporting shelf life for the auto repossession, starting from the date of the first missed payment.
Hi if I have a debt that does not show up on my credit report anymore and is a student private loan not a student federal loan. Do I still have to pay that back?
yousef – Who is the lender? When was the last payment sent in? What state are you in?
Hello, I have the same problem and with a student private loan that is old. I filed for a ch.13 bankruptcy which held them off from collecting from me and now I am finished paying the bankruptcy. I finished the bankruptcy in 2013 and am now recieving phone calls from collectors for the private loan. I live in California and the Experian report does not show a start date. It’s NCO Financial Services and says its a closed account. Lately I have been getting phone calls from an attorneys office about it. I’m not sure what to do. I don’t know when it started being reported as late but I did start my bankruptcy in 2008. Any information on what I should do or to better understand it would be wonderful. Thanks!
I made an agreement to pay off a debt through a collection agency and after the agreement I checked my credit report and it does not even show. can I stop payment with that CA?
tatiana – It may be that your agreement to pay off the collection account is not going to update to your credit reports until you meet the agreement (made the final payment). Who did you make the deal with, and what are the payment arrangements?
Can you tell me how to find out the original late date on a debt that is now with a collection agency? I have a few accounts that are showing opened 2006/2007 but reported 2011, 2012, 2013. if I remember correctly my last payment was in or around 2006/2007 but before I dispute I would like to verify. thank you in advance for your time.
tatiana – Which credit report are you looking at in order to determine your date of last payment?
Im getting the info from scoresence it shows all 3..
Are you able to match up the original creditors that are showing up as a negative item with those that are appearing from collection agencies?
Your date of first missed payment on the original accounts in the reports should be what you use to measure when those, and any later collection entries for the same accounts, would fall off. You can raise disputes on those more recent debt collections reporting if they are reporting a much more recent date than the ones from 2006 that are likely supposed to have fallen off, or soon will. 2007 dates may not age off until sometime this year, or early part of 2015 (depending on when the first payments were missed).
If you cannot find a corresponding entry for the more recent collection accounts you know are older, it could be that those should have fallen off with the original entries, but did not due to how the debt collectors reported. These can be disputed as too old.
If I had an unpaid debt in June of 2006 and it was charged off but sold twice, this last time in Dec. 2013 and no payments have been made in 7 years can this new collection agency that just bought it put it on my credit report as opened in Dec. 2013 (which is what they have done)? Am I able to have it removed since it was originally over 7 years old?
sandy – From what you shared January 2014 would be 7.5 years from the accounts first missed payment, so any negative credit reporting related to the account should drop off your credit reports. Yes, you can dispute things like this and get the corrected/removed. First some questions:
Is the original credit still reporting this? If so, what date to they show as your first missed payment?
Who is the debt collector or buyer that is suddenly reporting this?
Is this collection account showing on all of your credit reports? If not all, which ones have this on there?
Matt…the car was paid off in 2005?? If s, as a good debt it would continue to report for 10 years, regardless of your divorce. A divorce is a family court matter…they have no bearing on debts whatsoever. If a party refuses or does not pay what is order by a family court order, you would have to take that party back to court on contempt. To the creditor, your name is still legally responsible for the debt.
Should I do by phone , mail or computer?
Matt – If the debt aged off of your credit reports after 7 years already, it should not have reappeared. Who is reporting the collection account to the bureaus? Is it only appearing on TransUnion, or have you checked your other credit reports and it appears there too?
Your answers to those questions will help me offer better feedback. Once you are ready to dispute a collection entry on your credit report that should not be there, it is best to do that through the mail and by sending certified return receipt.
I had a dept for unpaid vehicle (divorce) it came off my cr because of age , it was back in 2005 original (last payment) . I just received a letter from a credit agency for the dept , it’s almost 9 years old , how do I get it off ? Do I dispute with the collection agency or credit agencies (transition etc) or both ? How do I go about doing that ?
I owed Chase about 10K on 2 different accounts. Hired an attorney who helped us settle other credit cards. All others are settled and we get a copy of a 1099-C for each account showing Chase has written off the entire amount. Now that shows on our credit report as a much more negative than the others that we settled for less than the total balance. We were very surprised becuase we were willing to settle. How do we fix this so the reporting to the credit agencies is not so negatively affected? How do we get Chase to change the reporting to the credit agencies?
Steve – What is the date showing for the Chase charge off accounts on your credit reports? It is normal for credit cards to show charge off after 180 days on nonpayment. It is normal for Chase to report there is a balance due and still owed. If Chase sells the debt, it is normal for Chase to then show zero owed to them on your credit reports, and for the debt buyer to later show up as a collection account and show that they are now owed the balance.
Where do both Chase credit cards fit in your credit reports given that brief outline?
Credit reporting and the 1099c are not related. But there may be some options for you to pursue here. Post answers and any additional details in a follow up comment and lets go from there.
Account submitted to collection on 10-13. In April of 2012 I had never been late on a payment in over 30 years of payment history. Several credit card companies raised my interest and payments by an extreme amount. I called to discuss and I was told by two different companies that I had never been late so there was nothing to negotiate. I then hired an attorney and stopped paying these credit cards. I have settled all but these 2 chase, which I was willing to settle but instead the 1099’s showed up and they just wrote the debt off. We are wanting to purchase a home and the settled debt is OK but these two Chase accounts are a problem. I appreciate your counsel here.
Steve – With the Chase treating these accounts as forgiven debt for IRS reporting purposes, does the balance owed on your credit reports show zero? Let me know and I will have some additional feedback to share.
Michael,
The balances I owed are still showing on my credit report.
Steve – Can we connect on the phone about your issues and my feedback? I am out today and Friday. Let me know with a reply to the comment notification emails you get.
I have a collection that i paid off and its due to age off in 2015. Will this improve my credit score?
jason – Maybe. How long ago did you pay the collection account? Is it showing a zero balance owed or paid on your credit reports now? Were you paying attention to your credit scores at the time you paid the debt off? If so, what were your scores before and after paying the lender/collection agency?
Also, one of the citi credit cards I had was no interest no payments for 12 months, it was open 6/1/07 so does that mean since it technically wasnt past due until 7/1/08 that I need to wait 7.5 from 2008?
Jennifer – If the agreement with Citibank was such that your first late payment was not recorded, or considered late, until that 12 months elapsed, than that is when the first 30 day late pay should show on your credit reports. Can you verify when Citi is reporting the first 30 day late on one or more of your reports and post an update with what you found?
On this freecredit report I still have access to is only shows the date open. I could call them and find out though right?
Yes, you can call and ask about it.
Kinda weird that Citibank did not report a 30, 60, 90 day late etc., on your credit reports. Does the account show as charged off?
It does show charged off I am just trying to figure when it should fall of my report. Also I think another agency picked it up, and the original open date of the account was 6/2007 and the collection agency is saying open date of 8/2008.
Collection agency and debt buyer reporting is another thing entirely. You do have to stay on top of that and be aware of any and all corresponding entries, that relate to a single account, drop from the credit report at the same time as the original creditors credit report entry. Collections reporting has had a tendency to report a date newer so that it can stay on the credit report longer. This is becoming easier to dispute with credit reporting bureaus and collection agencies directly. Having said that, the 12 month deferment puts the first late payment on the Citibank account pretty close to what the agency is reporting.
Also just so it’s clear for other readers, from my understanding if you make a payment on something past due, say 2 years past due, and then default on it again, it WILL reset the date to the most recent date you defaulted. Is this correct?
Jennifer – Your example is too vague to respond to. Here is what I am referring to:
Monthly credit card bill cannot be paid for 18 months. Collection calls and letters come and go, new debt collectors call for a while, then another new collector etc. At 18 months you are back on your feet with a new job that pays well. You pick up a call from a debt collector on this account and agree to payments. Two months later you are told in a review that you are not right for the position and are let go. You miss the 3rd scheduled payment you agreed to because you cannot afford it. Nothing in this example allows for a reset of the negative account to stay on your credit report for a fresh 7 years. The account would still drop off of your credit reports using the date you first stopped paying the original credit card bank.
There are instances where an account can be brought current or re-aged, and thereby have longer credit reporting legs, but with credit card bills that usually needs to happen before creditors charge off debts, so accounts get turned around after only a few months budget shortfall. Even then, 30/60 day late pays on open accounts are going to age off too.
Did that answer the question?
I think so…. So when it is with original lender and you go past due and then bring current, then at that point if you become past due again then it will be a “NEW” report for a new set of late payments but the old report from the first late payments will age off for its own separate report. If an account if far enough past due for it to go to collections then that account will never change with the original past due date since you cant truly get “New” charges (other than fees).
Pretty much how you said it, yes. There are some nuances I could throw in there, but they do not apply to your situation with accounts that old.
Michael, I have done a lot to turn my credit around since my first inquiry to you. I have a new question. I had some smaller amounts that I found after running my credit report (mainly medical bills I didnt realize I had due) I paid some off and now I am wondering if I paid something off, say today, that was already 3 years past due is it going to fall of my credit report 7.5 years from today or from the original date it became past due with the original medical provider? Thank you for all your help, you have really been a blessing to me to help take care of my past debt issues.
Jennifer – Thanks for coming back to the site and participating. The medical collections should drop off your credit report 7 to 7.5 years from the date payments stopped. Settling for less, or paying in full, 3 or even 5 years later, does not reset the time for it to stay on your credit reports.
Thank you so much for all your help. I am so excited to have my credit repaired!!
What about medical collections past SOL? I live in Michigan, SOL is 6 years. All 3 of mine pass SOL in Oct of this year (2014) The agecncy told me they could not negotiate a PFD without the account paid in full. I am wondering if I could attempt for PFD again after SOL is over? Are they able to negotiate then? I only contacted them to find out my options and get the original date of delinq. They have 3 seperate accounts on me for small amounts ($279, $239) and only have 3-4 months to take legal action. I’m not really concerned with being sued at this point. I just need the items removed, but for a smaller amount. Maybe in Oct they’ll reconsider?
It is possible they will reconsider, but I doubt it. It is probably their policy. You would have to have a compelling reason for them to make an adjustment to their standard operating procedures. And even then they may not.
What is going on in your credit life that has you concerned these three small collection accounts get removed from your credit reports now, as opposed to a year and a half from now?
I really want to get a mortgage. I am sick of renting and could be saving more money by paying less for a loan. I want to own something. I just want to move on from these collections and build my credit so I can have a better financial future. I have started by adding 2 new revolving accounts as of April. I have never had revolving credit on my report and I believe this will help to build a good history. I have studied hard on how to improve my credit and I just need these collections to GO AWAY! I can’t even get an installment loan to pay them off because …. I have collections. It’s a terrible situation. I don’t want to spend the only money I have to put toward an FHA loan getting these collections removed. It’s pointless in the end – because I end up with no down payment. I’m not sure what I can do at the moment. October looks bright – but I’m not sure if this new credit history will be enough to put me over a 620/640. Eq 571 (3 collections, 1 “other” account (with a lot of late payments, utility) and now these 2 revolving lines. That’s it! Oldest account over 3 years, and AAoA just dropped to a little over a year. 18% utl.
It sounds like you either need more money, a skip forward button, or the patience to wait this out. This far along with collection items like this, you are looking at settling, or the collection accounts falling off your credit, in order to increase your ability to qualify for FHA underwriting.
Do not allow any new derogatory information to appear on your reports, keep your utilization low like it is now, and you will probably be in the shape you need to be in when the collections roll off. It is probably a good idea to locate an FHA lender and start working with a loan officer too. Just be sure you connect with an experienced one. There are exceptions to the general guidance on underwriting from the FHA. You may qualify.
I understand, and that is what I thought about the collections. I am wondering though, if these 2 new added revolving accounts will be enough to raise my score within 6 months? I’ve had a “thin file” for so long and now I actually have some credit to show. But from what I understand, it takes FICO 6 months to score me on them. Is this correct? (Or are EQ/EX scorable because they had the “Other/Open” loan for 3 years?) I’m new to figuring out my credit and I really just want to know what to expect! I don’t want to have unrealistic expectations. I do intend to make on time payments from here on out and keep utilization low. I was hoping to be where I want (620/640) by October. If you have to break my heart and tell me it’s not possible – please do so. I need to hear the truth!
I do think it is possible, but more so from a point where the older collections drop off your credit reports, than from the seasoning of the newest trade lines.
One more question (Sorry). I just found out that for 1 of the medical collections (that was for my daughter) – she had insurance at the time! I’m having medicaid send me the proof of her eligibility at the time. But it’s 6 years down the road (almost) and I know Medicaid more than likely will not pay it. But I don’t know how this mistake happened in the first place. She’s always had insurance through the state! Is there any way to clear this one up? The OC is no longer collecting, it’s a CA.
I think you are fighting a huge uphill battle getting insurance applied to a 6 year old medical debt that has reached late stage collections. More so if the debt was sold.
I received my verification of eligibility for my daughter’s insurance yesterday. I’m not sure what I can do with this document. Any recommendations?
How do I get the collection agency to settle for less for a deletion?? The SOL is up in 3/4 months. They’ve already stated to me that it would have to be paid in full to be deleted. I know there has to be some way around this. Do I just keep calling back? They have a very routine call where they notify you immediately that they are trying to collect a debt and the call is recorded. I made sure that the one time I called that I did not admit to the debt and just want to clean up my report.
I feel like I’ve hit a brick wall with these collections. There has to be somewhere to meet in the middle between letting them fall off or paying them in full. Please give me your opinion!
What is the name of the collection agency, or debt owner?
Money Recovery Nationwide. They are based in Livonia, MI.
If it were me, I would let the SOL lapse, and save up more for my initial down payment in the mean time.
I do not think you will get a pay for delete from Money Recovery Nationwide. But you can resolve the debt by either paying the balance, or negotiating a lower payoff, and get your credit report updated to show the debt is paid. This may not help your credit score immediately, but can still help you get approved for a mortgage.
I would like to negotiate a lower payoff – so how do I do that once the SOL passes? And what would be a reasonable offer? The 3 debts total $797. $239 of which I am still fighting because my daughter had insurance at the time.
I generally target medical debts at 50% of the current balance. If there are severe hardship scenarios those targets can be lower.
Read through this post and the comments for tips and timing for settling with debt collectors: https://consumerrecoverynetwork.com/question/medical-bills-collection-agency-settle-make-payments/
Hi,
My question is I had a car loan of $8000 about 6, almost 7 years ago but my car was stolen so I stopped making payments. About a month ago I got a call from a debt collector saying I owed $4000 and they asked me to make payments. I made about 4 ($100) payments but I financially I cannot afford it. I told him I am not making anymore payments and id rather wait till if falls off. He said since I made payments it reset the years of how long it would take to fall off. Is this true? And what do you recommend I do? -Thank you for all your help -Jeff
What is the name of the debt collection agency?
Question regarding account bought by Midland credit management and I am in Virginia. Original debt was to Capital one for 1500. Capital one account says closed and $0 balance, sold to midland funding. Midland funding brought a judgement against me. I hired and attorney and went to court. Because they do not have the original documentation, the court agreed I did not have to pay. It is still on my credit reports and is now $2100. any advice on what to do about this. The balance date is Feb, 2010. I have disputed it last year and my reports reflect that.
Also I have a bankruptcy from January 2005. does this automatically come off next January or do I have to call and have them remove that.
Thanks
Midland Credit Management on your credit reports will not necessarily be impacted by your getting a lawsuit dismissed, or even the court saying they could not prove their collections claim. Credit reporting from debt collectors is often separate from the court action unless you make that part of some outcome you are looking for.
The bankruptcy from 2005 should fall off your credit on schedule. You should not have to call or write the bureaus to get that removed. If for some reason the BK is not removed at the right time, post an update and lets go from there.
Hi… I’m still not sure what to do… my husband and I have been trying to buy a house, but when they check our credit reports it shows a old cell phone bill from 2000. It was with Nextel… but now Nextel is with Sprint… Sprint, is showing up on my credit report showing how much I owe them except it’s not effecting my credit score but it is on my credit report. When the banks pull my report, it shows a flag saying that I still owe them… I just read some thing about how I shouldn’t pay this because it could give them the opportunity to SUE me? Please help. ..don’t know what to do. … thnxs
Cheryl – Where did you read about paying off a debt leading to the risk of being sued? It is the opposite. Paying off a collection debt is how you keep from being sued. But before you do that, I am wondering why a collection account, from a phone bill in 2000, is on your credit report at all? When exactly was the last payment made on this bill? If the last payment was made 13 years ago, the negative credit reporting from that should have dropped off of your credit reports 6-ish years ago.
Exactly how is this showing on your credit report? And who is it that is reporting the collection?
I hired a law firm that specializes in correcting credit reports, Lexington Law. After failing to get it resolved on my own. Basically the collection agency just ignored me and the credit bureaus took the collection agency’s word, even after I sent proper documentation of the debt being paid off. I sent all of the paper work to Lexington Law showing that I paid off debt owed to an apartment complex after falling on hard times and loosing my employment then the apartment. I have a letter on the apartment complex letter head that states the amount was paid in full. The apartment complex then sold the debt to a disreputable collection agency National Credit System(s). This disreputable company increased the amount owed by about $2,936.00 or more and are now reporting that I owe them $4,376.00. My original lease contract stated that in the event of early termination or default on rent the maximum that I would be liable for is about $1,440.00, twice one months rent. So this disreputable collection company just tacked on an extra $2,936 just to make a massive profit. The original default was March 2009, the debt collection agency reported it as an account opened on 3/1/2010 a year later.
Lexington Law fought this inaccurate report and it was removed from my credit report early in 2013. I have since reviewed my credit report and found that the disreputable collection agency National Credit System out of Atlanta Ga has re-reported it with a new date of 5/11/2013 thus as I understand it re-aging it. So now there are two issues, the amount owed is incorrect even if hit had not been paid off, but since it has been paid off it is totally incorrect, and they have reported it as a new debt with a new date that it was opened.
It seems as though I have to keep getting this incorrect information off my report even after successfully fighting them and having it removed. I’m at risk of being homeless because of this disreputable company trying to abuse the system to fatten their wallets. I can’t buy a home or even rent a place. There are no jobs where I am currently residing, but I have a great offer for another state and in another city. So they are also preventing me from earning a living. Please help me stop this madness?
Thank you in advance
Jay B
Jay – I encourage you to outline all that has happened with National Credit Systems in a complaint to the CFPB. You could file the complaint as a debt collection, or credit reporting issue. If I were in your shoes I would file as a debt collection issue. Here is the CFPB complaint page: https://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint/
Take care to outline all of the issues and the credit reporting concerns too. It would be great if you posted an update to this comment string with how this all shakes out. Later readers of this page will benefit from your experience.
Were you applying for private or federal loans? Has your daughter taken out an unsub stafford?
Did you do a FAFSA?? What type of school is she going to and have you talked to her financial aid department???
Please help – I’m desperate!
I have a daughter who is a freshman in college and a newborn baby (I started young!). I am $8k short on her tuition and I’m having trouble qualifying for a student loan. My situation: Credit score ranges from 630-650, however, I have 3 accounts in collections most from 5-6 yrs ago (I was a struggling single mom). And somewhat high credit utilization. I have a mortgage of $220k but it’s not on my report as my bank doesn’t report to the agencies ($1500/mo). I also have a car I just purchased but not on my report yet ($10k, $230/mo). I make $65k and my husband makes about the same.
I can’t qualify for student loans I’m assuming for 3 reasons; score, debt/income ratio and accounts in collections ($450, $1800 & $700). What is the best possible way to qualify? And I need to do it fast – I need at least $4k by end of month. I tried to dispute the charges with no luck. Since then, one of the accounts was several years old and now has hit my report as a NEW account in collections!! I’ve received offers to settle but I don’t have enough money. I sent letters trying to get them to agree for a pay for delete for a lesser amount but no response. I think they are all scheduled to come OFF my report within the next 1-2 yrs. Should I just wait it out rather than pay if I really can’t afford these? And can the account that changed dates actually RENEW like this?
Is there other options or courses of action you could recommend? I’m embarrassed to ask my family to cosign for her and there’s really only one who may be able to do so. My husbands credit is about the same as mine.
Any help or advice is appreciated, I really don’t want to break my daughters heart, she is a great student.
Thanks
Julie – I have feedback to offer that centers on the credit reporting and collections, but I am sending this to a friend and infrequent comment contributor to the site who has had years of experience with both debt collection, and working in student aid and financing departments. Her reply, if she is available, will likely come from a more whole frame of reference, which is what you need. Hang tight.
My husband and I are in the process of trying to buy a house. When they pulled up his credit report it showed asset accept for $3,270.00 and liberty acq for $ 208.00. But does not say for who. He had a credit card that cancelled on him either 2002 or 2003. there is nothing else he has incurred . Not even medical bills. My question is is this legal since it has been 9-10 years. We live in Colorado. Also these are judgements and he was never served. How can we proceed to fix this?
Thank You, chris
Chris – The judgments get a brand new credit reporting shelf life. In most instances they will stay on the credit report for 7 years from the date of judgment entry in the court. Can you access your court records on line and see when they were entered? What does the credit report show as the entry date? If you cannot access the court record on line, go to the court house and pull the info. More than credit report calculations, you also want to look at the court record to see what date, address, and who was supposedly served the lawsuit. Post a follow up comment with what you learn. Your options for proceeding to fix this can be impacted by what you have to share.
I had a student loan go into collections in June of 2006. After being harassed by the debt collectors I was able to set up payments through my original creditor, and they would then report the payments to the collection agency. I ran my credit report in April and it showed my collections account as passed due each month. I called my creditor and they explained that the late reporting was due to a timing issue on their end of when they reported the payment to the collection agency. She suggested that I contact the collection agency and make payments directly through them instead to avoid the late reporting. When I called the collection agency several months later to make payments through them, they said that they do not report late payments, but just report that the balance has gone down, so I decided not to make payments through them and look into it further. I realized after I called them that the negative account had been removed from my credit report since 7 years had passed. I have been making steady monthly payments for 7 years and still have a balance due. My fear is that I called them after this 7 year statute of limitations and now they can re-activate the negative account on my credit report. Is that accurate? I was not sure if there was a difference since I have been making payments and have never disputed the charges. Any help would be appreciated.
Erin – The negative credit reporting from the missed payments on the student loan would not reappear.
Student loans only report for 7 years from the date of default. WThe information the creditor gave you was wrong…once you default, the account stays negative until it drops off or the account is paid in full. You might have been sending payments to the creditor but they simply just direct pay them to the CA. Continue making payments until you are paid in full…call every 6 months or so to get current balance. Keep in mind when you defaulted you were charged up to 24% in collection fees plus your interest is still accruing.
I spoke to a rep from T mobile and was told since they sold the debt there’s is nothing they can do to correct the amount. All I got was an I’m sorry, try to make the change with the collection agency. After, I told I have tried and they refer back to T mobile who reported that inaccurate amount in the first place.
Danny – What you are experiencing is the center of recent workshops hosted by both the FTC and CFPB. Debt seller passes on bogus info and data, knows about it, but cannot or will not do the right thing. Debt buyer only has the info given them.
Best thing for you to do is file a complaint with the CFPB under debt collection here. Be very specific with what has occurred. You should see some meaningful responses with a couple weeks (maybe sooner from what I am hearing).
It would be great if you posted an update to this comment string with how things progress from here.
Hi ijust recieved an offer either to pay in full obviously dont have that amount and a settlement amount…. which is better I think the first but does the second one afffect you …plus if I contact them would they settle any lower from what they offer for the settlement amount?
liza – Depending on the situation, and your goal, settling will make the most sense. In order for you to have received a written offer to settle you would already have to be behind with payments. This would mean your credit report is already being harmed. If the offer to settle is from your original lender, and you are not yet considered 6 months late, settling now will prevent a charge off and further damage to your credit. If the offer is from a debt collector and you are passed 6 months delinquent, settling or paying in full is not going to make much difference to your credit score, so saving money in the settlement makes the most sense.
I hope I addressed your question. If there is more to the situation post additional info in a comment reply.
I have an account in collections that I have disputed 2 times about the inaccuracy of the debt owed to oc. It’s a cell phone debt. Oc is over charging me $150 for early termination, however, according to their terms agreements, the fee should be $50 for canceling 30 days prior to end of contract. I sent a copy of terms highlighting the fees to both cra and debt buyer, only to have that ignored and cra sending me email that amount is being reported as correct, verified, according to cra. I contacted Tmobile, oc, and finally someone said, “oh you’re right the fee is $50.” I’m in the process of paying off my debts, but up until now debt buyer would claim that if I paid less that’s settling and not paid in full. What can I do about this? I’m requesting a copy from oc stating the actual amount due. Debt buyer still reporting those extra $150 on my credit report. Thanks in advanced.
Danny – Get the amount owed straightened out first. If the account went to collection (assigned or sold) the account getting to that stage is what causes the credit damage. Whether you settle collections for less or pay it off in full, is not of much consequence – the damage was already done.
Having a single account like this show negative on your credit is debilitating to your credit score, but that impact would be short lived compared to having multiple accounts in collections. How many collection accounts do you have on your credit report?
I have two. one already paid, it was in house agency collections and oc was the one reporting to cra. How long should I expect to see the update for this one?
On the cell phone debt, oc has agreed to change the amount I owe and they said they will get my account from debt seller. Can this really be done? I thought once account is sold to a debt buyer, the oc has no say on account anymore. Thank you.
If the original creditor collection account you resolved was recent, it can take up to 60 days for the updates to hit your credit reports. If it has already been longer than that, time to get proactive and get that corrected.
Original creditors can recall accounts if there are provisions for that in the purchase and sale. It is not common, but can and does happen when there are good reasons. Stay on top of them.
I have a debt collection agency trying to collect a 13 year old debt. I did credit repair in 2011 and it should have been removed from my credit report. Is it still legal for them to collect this debt?
laura – Are you receiving collection phone calls and letters? Is the account at issue on your credit report right now? If it is, who is the debt collector reporting it?
A debt can go unpaid for 13 years, but it does not legally go away. But it should not appear on your credit report if a payment on the debt has not occurred for that long.
Michael Bovee: You said a debt can go unpaid for 13 years, but it does not legally go away. So how can it legally go away?
Bankruptcy legally eliminates unpaid and unsecured consumer debts.
Once a debt is passed your states SOL to legitimately sue, and the account drops from your credit reports due to age, the debt, while not legally eliminated, is the epitome of dead for the informed consumer.
Paying on such debts is then a matter of personal choice.
Dear Michael,
I had a 2002 department store acct of 5k which was being paid on consistently while I was gainfully employed through 2010. With 3 lay offs since then and 275. a week unemployment, I lost my home in Feb. 2014. I requested to reduce my 85./month payment to $35. This was the only creditor that refused to work with me. I stopped paying. They sold the account to Portfolio Recovery and now it is with LVNV Funding. Their attorney put a judgement on this and I went to court where the attorney firm agreed by three way phone conference to work with me personally to discuss negotiation and payment plan. They ignored my call and e-mail 2 days later and now they want a FACT SHEET with my payroll stubs, car, etc. I have composed an “Opposition to Summary Judgement”. Yes, I’m considering a BK 7 but don’t have the filing and attorney fee at the moment.
Advice? Should I just send a good faith check for $50. to the attorney’s?.
Note: I am now doing much better with a new job, smaller apartment, and will next save for the secured credit card to try to rebuild score. Meantime this is a nightmare with the attorneys from LVNV. Very old debt. I spoke by phone with them in May to explain my situation, and with the attorneys request in June to negotiate, they are refusing thus far..
Thank you.
I would not look at rebuilding any credit yet until you know whether you will file chapter 7. If you do file for bankruptcy you would include all of your unsecured accounts. It sounds like you are making smaller monthly payments to them still? If you are, your attorney would likely suggest you stop making those payments. You could probably save up to file bankruptcy much quicker with the extra money each month.
How long ago did they get the judgment?
So then my best bet is to wait till jan 2014 and run my credit report and dispute any incorrect dates, then another year and a half they aren’t able to report to my credit any longer and I can start rebuilding my credit and they eventually fall off and wont be seen when my credit is ran by lenders? Or do they just fall off my credit report right at the 7.5 mark? Also what if I were to get married? Can any collectors come after my husband at that point?
2014 – Waiting until the SOL expires in order to dispute any collection account that is reporting a newer date of last activity than the original creditor will keep you from waking a collection in hibernation. If you are contacted about the debt before then, especially if you receive a collection letter from an attorney, then that would change things a bit. Post an update here if that happens.
2015 – all negative credit report entries related to accounts that have not been paid for 7.5 years would age off. You should check to make sure they do though, and if not get that corrected.
You can start to rebuild your credit score and improve your credit report profile by opening up a secured card, or even get approved for a low limit unsecured credit card, but wait until after the SOL expires for this step too. Collectors do flag accounts to apply new collection efforts if they see recent credit application activity.
After the SOL, there is no legitimate risk to your new husband. It would be really rare for your husband to be legally pulled into collecting an old debt in the courts. There are good arguments for that, even in community property states, so post an update if that were to happen.
Sounds like you are moving on with your life in some positive ways. Congrats!
Perfect thank you for all of your help 🙂
Ok so I have another question after talking with my boyfriend. The SOL passed in 2011, wouldnt my debt already have hit the SOL from the previous law or 3 years? I would have already gone 3 years, does it not still apply to me from then? Or do I fall under the new law now since I didnt contact then before the law passed?
I am fairly certain there was no grandfather clause for the date of last activity for accounts already delinquent 3 years.
So I have to wait until after the SOL to get married? Or I should be fine since the debt was before our marriage.
Jennifer – You definitely do not have to wait to get married!
So I have some credit card accounts in collection. It’s been about 6 years. Will they fall off my credit report at the 7 year mark? Should I pay on them or let them fall off?
They should drop from your credit reports no later than 7 and a half years from when you first missed payments.
Before I offer any feedback about paying them or not, I have some questions:
What state do you live in?
When you say it’s been 6 years, do you mean 6 years since you made any payment (I do not want to assume)?
Are there debt collectors showing on your credit reports as well as your original credit card banks?
Do your credit reports show that some of the banks negative reporting are set to fall off on a date earlier than any debt collectors reporting for the same account?
I live in Texas. It’s been about 6 years since any payment. And I do have 1 new card (up to date). Trying to fix my credit. But I don’t know if paying those on collections will help much or let them fall off.
You cannot legitimately be sued for collections on these debts in Texas after 4 years. You are in the drivers seat if you wanted to negotiate settlements or pay on these old accounts. But if credit reports and scores are your main concerns for resolving the debts I wouldn’t. It may actually be counterproductive (unless you are aiming at home loan approval between now and the accounts getting dropped).
I just had a firm contact me about a bill through T-mobile that is from 2003, claiming rights to sue me. They say it is out of Idaho, but the account was opened in Utah. How do I handle this and can they come after me….11 years later?
Can you post the name of the collection agency calling you on the old debt? Also post whether or not you see them, or any other debt collector showing up for this account on your credit reports.
The name of the agency is R & J Firm. Nothing is showing on my credit report of it. They claimed they sent a demand letter and aren’t willing to work with me any further…that it needs to be paid in full. I told them I had not ever received a demand letter and that they need to send me documentation of such bill. He claimed they could email me the paperwork, but I have yet to receive anything.
I’m sorry..the agency name is R & J Consulting Firm.
The same thing just happened to me a few weeks ago! I live in Texas and there’s nothing on my report showing the “law firm’s” name. And it’s a different name everything they call me. Total Scam – and they had my social as well.
I have researched this company and it appears to be a scam. They had my SSN. How should I deal with this?
I would first consult with an experienced consumer law attorney whose practice focuses on debt collection violations (often referred to as FDCPA violations). You can typically talk to this type of attorney at no cost, and many take on your file without charge to you (if they are pursuing collectors who step over the line while collecting, and not credit reporting).
Post the name of a nearby city and I will send you contact details for any lawyers I find in the area.
Ijusy want to say even after the sol midland collection brought a lawsuit against me i guess they were hoping i wouldnt show up and they would win a judgement against me if i didn,t show up they would win I went to court and they didn,t show up. I guess they were just trying to use the court system to collect even tho they didnt have a right to sue the judge dismissed the case so even tho they know its past the sol they still came after me
I think I’m getting your response to someone else. I’m asking about my collection accounts it’s been 6 years since my last payment. I live in Texas and I do plan to buy a home just not any time soon maybe like in 3 years. What would be my best way to go. Pay them, let them fall off at the 7 year mark? I do have new credit up to date. But my score is not going up.
If it were me Christina, I would let them drop off your credit. After they drop off look at adding one other unsecured account.
Do you have any positive credit beside the one newer account reporting (car loan you paid off in the past, student loans, other credit cards you paid but closed)?
Michael –
you seem to be so helpful. I am in PA I had some credit cards go in default when I lost my job several years ago. Collection companies do call me on a regular basis. I just pulled my credit and most of the credit cards are showing as charge offs and most show that the account is schedule to continue on record until 2016 – I am not looking to get a mortgage (I currently have one in good standing) but may need a car in the near future (before 2016). I am looking to clean up my credit and bring up my score. After losing my job I got a divorce as well all credit card accounts were in my name solely. I have two questions…. 1. do I sit tight and let them fall off or do I need to make payment arrangments with these companies in order to bring my score up? and 2. can any of these companies sue me at this point or put liens on my home?
Thanks!
If the collections are scheduled to come off your credit reports in 2016, you would have stopped paying sometime in 2008/2009. The SOL to sue on credit card debts in Pennsylvania is 4 years, so you are passed that.
Add up all of the unpaid bills. What is half of that?
I will have more to say about repairing your credit after you answer that. I want to include the costs of certain steps you can take, with the time these collections have to still hold you back credit wise.
If I add them up and divide in half it would be $11,000.
Thanks. Let’s assume you settle for less that half, as negotiating with debt collectors for the best savings is often better when you and they know they lost the “we can sue” leverage. So… say 25 percent-ish.
If you were to gather up the cash to settle for around 6 grand now, and then have to wait for the updates to your credit reports to show zero balance (a few months), and then wait for those settled debts to season and help you (a few to 12 or more months depending on what else is on your credit), you are close to the charged off accounts, and the debt collectors falling off. So you then go out a purchase a new car (if that were the goal), and get a rate that may not be the lowest available, I think you end up paying quite a premium for that car, for what could amount to maybe meeting your goal several months to a year early.
You could take that 6 to 11 thousand today and get a great dependable used car. Drive it for however long, but into 2016, and trade it in.
What are you inclined to do?
If settling is motivated by anything more than your credit reports, post what those reasons are. From a credit score to get better financing on a vehicle angle, I would wait out the negatives being taken off your credit from age if it were me.
I don’t really have the $6- 11k to negotiate with them – I am a single mom with not a lot of free cash on hand. I just want to make sure that I can raise my credit score over the next several years as I have not had bad credit and collections before so it just bothers me. I didn’t know what the best way to do that. I can wait out the car for as long as possible. I really appreciate your help.
In that case, unless dependable transportation becomes a matter of keeping food on the table, I would wait for the collections to fall off your credit reports.
Hello, I have 10+ year old collections on my credit and it looks like every few years a different collection agency just buy my debt so when u say let them fall off after 7.5 how do u legally get them permanently removed? I
I can offer you some helpful feedback to do just that. Can you tell me what the deb collectors names are that are still showing up on your credit reports for debts that old?
I have a medical debt that was placed on my credit in 2011. I have paid towards it on and off over the last 4 years. It says on my credit that it’ll be off my report in 7/2016. I want to buy a home within the next year. Should I let this fall off next year or should I pay it off? They offered to make a settlement of $1,400 verses the $2,100 I owe….I don’t know what to do. Is it a waste of money to pay them?
Many people are finding home loans are not able to clear the final approval until they pay off old collections like the one you have. Settling now for the savings could make sense if your goal is to get a home loan before the medical bill is scheduled to drop from your credit reports.
Thank you. One more question, if I wait until the debt falls off to apply for a mortgage, will the debt be removed on my credit on the date it states on my report and look like it was never there? The original debt is from 2009 and the collection was filed in 2011. Thank you.
The debt may still appear in the background of your credit files, but generally not on your credit reports for those who look to screen you for credit approval.
I do have a car loan paid off and school loans that are all in good standing. How soon will the collection accounts fall off? Last payment was March 2008. And when will I see my credit score go up?
Look for collections to start dropping off in March of 2015, but be ready for them to stay of for 6 more months, so as late as September 2015.
Your credit scores are a moving target. Your score gets calculated on many data points. Old collections are just part of the formula used. The older the collections, the less sting to your credit scores. After 2 years of accounts showing as collections on your credit reports, they lose potency. After the accounts fall off next year, I would not expect a huge jump in credit scores, but perhaps a bump. By how much I cannot say, as there are just too many variables.
Other than staying on point with my current accounts what else can I do do get my score higher?
I would have to be looking at your reports to offer up actionable feedback. I no longer offer paid services.
Some nonprofit credit counseling companies will offer live credit report reviews. You might try reaching one at 800-939-8357, and press option 1. The call is free, and you may pick up some useful tips to increase your scores over the next year. You are already ahead of the game by preparing to purchase a home this far in advance.
Hi I have a question regarding the SOL
I have a delinquent debt with capital one, and my Equifax has the SOL age date as 7/2014 Transunion is showing 9/2014. When should I expect my credit report to update no longer showing this.
Are you referring to when Equifax and TransUnion are listing the month the Capital One account will fall off your credit? With the Equifax July drop off date gone by, is it still appearing on their report? Are you relying on a third party version of your credit reports with these bureaus, or looking at the ones they provide direct to you?
i have a collection from a hospital that is located in missouri but i live in kansas. kansas debt sol is 6 years for a written contract. missouri is 10. which one applies here. also, this debt was back in 2007, was reported by credit collection company in 2008. its been more then 6 years and its still on my report. how can i find out which apply?
i just looked up the location of the collection agency that has my debt, they are in WILMINGTON, DE, would i have to go by that states laws for sol?
The CA state SOL has absolutely NO affect on this at all.
There are more than one SOL in play here and unfortunately when it comes to medical debt they can use the long arm statute to sue you in the state where you accrued the debt. So the short answer is that the SOL that applies is the state in which they sue you. If they sue you in KS where you are now the SOL would be 6 years. If they sue you in MO where the debt and the provider are located the SOL is 10 years.
As to the reporting: the SOL for reporting is 7 years from the date of default so if the medical debt was incurred in 2007 then it falls off this year. Much depends on WHEN in 2007 you saw the provider and incurred the bill. If that date has already passed I would dispute the CA trade line on the credit reports as obsolete and request deletion. DO NOT use the online dispute system send a CMRR letter to all 3 credit bureaus to dispute it.
Medical bill from November 2009, office stated in collection, never received anything.
Filed bankruptcy 5 years ago, ( not sure if this was in there or not), now they want money. Out of work at this time, how do I handle?? In Maryland.
Call your attorney or look up your bankruptcy and see if the debt was included. If it was, post an update with that info and also with who the collection agency is that is now trying to collect.
Michael,
This is the only negative thing on my Transunion report (I haven’t checked my other two yet)-they are trying to get a hold of me as of last week. This was in Florida (I now live in NC)…what is the SOL for this debt?
Thank you for your time
REGIONAL ACC
Auto
Apr 20, 2007
Closed
5 Missed Payments
$0
Account Details
Last Reported
Nov 01, 2009
Creditor Name
REGIONAL ACC
Account Type
Automobile
Account Status
Closed – Paid
Opened Date
Apr 20, 2007
Closed Date
Nov 01, 2009
Individual
Balance
$0
Highest Balance
$19,139
Payment Status
Current
Worst Payment Status
Late 60 Days
Date of Last Payment
Nov 27, 2009
Amount Past Due
$0
Times 30/60/90 Days Late
4/1/0
Remarks
Closed
48 Month Payment History
2009 OK OK 30 30 60 OK OK OK OK OK
2008 OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK 30
2007 30
J F M A M J J A S O N D
30 Days Late: March 2009, April 2009, December 2008, December 2007
60
60 Days Late: May 2009
Creditor Contact Details
REGIONAL ACCEPTANCE CORP
33859 US HWY 19N
PALM HARBOR, FL
34684
(727) 781-1992
Dispute Details
Michael,
I just checked Experian and it shows the same info for Regional except last reported 12/2011 and it looks like that is when they are showing the closed date on that report.
How long have you been in North Carolina?
I have been in NC since Jan. of 2009
The SOL for negatives on your credit report is 7 to 7.5 years. When did you make the final payment? Did you complete all payments?
AND…this vehicle was repo’d either the very end of 2008 or the first month of 2009 yet Experian and Transunion both show that I was 120 days late March-June 2009 but I no longer had the vehicle…in fact I had already bought another car and moved Dec 2008 to NC ….so I am not quite sure what is going on there??
What it looks like, based on the info I have to go on… You had the repo, the car fetched whatever it did at auction, and there was a deficiency balance. That balance is now being collected by a debt collector not associated with the original loan.
The SOL to sue is passed (at least legitimately), but if sued, your defense would put this to rest quickly.
That is the collections aspect.
The credit reporting aspect is that this should age off of your credit reports early/mid 2016. You will want to monitor your credit and make sure that it does. If not, you dispute it off. And if that does not work, post an update and I can help from there.
Do you have any major finance needs between now and 2016?
Thank you for the information…no, I do not have any finance needs between now and then (major or minor).
I also have two federal tax liens that I settled thru JK Harris two years ago that are on my report (public record), but I believe they are going to come off soon as long as they are not re-filed…once those two items fall off and the Auto thing falls off my report will be great (minus the fact that I do not have a good grade in credit longevity, but that too will get better with time)…Equifax does not show the two public records, but Trans Union and Experian do and all three show the Auto one…my scores right now are 669 (Experian), 667 (Equifax) and 683 (Trans Union) so I think I will be good to go in another year or so…
Thanks again for all of your information and advice-have a great weekend 🙂
Michael,
Do you think I should go a head and send a cease all communications with me and this address letter to Regional Acceptance Group?
If I had no intention or reason for settling the debt, and I was passed the point for a legitimate collection suit to be filed, I would send a cease communication letter in order to stop collection calls and mailed notices.