Pay For Delete – Does Negotiating Credit Report Removal Work?
Hello Michael. I really enjoyed your YouTube video How to Settle Unpaid Bills with Debt Collectors and Collection Agencies. My wife is in a similar predicament where a medical office appears to have hired Transworld to collect on a debt. I am more than happy to negotiate a settlement and come to a payoff figure. However, it is imperative that this either not go on our credit report or is deleted. What is the best way to go about negotiating this? Thanks again. Your video was really helpful.
Can you get debt collectors to delete information from your credit report if you pay them?
—Josh
I have been meaning to record a video about the concept of agreeing to pay a debt collector, creditor, or debt buyer, in exchange for their agreement to delete the collection item from your credit report. This is often referred to as pay for delete.
I have some updates at the bottom of this article about several major debt buyers offering pay for delete.
It sounds as though the medical bill Transworld Systems is collecting on is not yet appearing on her credit reports. But please confirm that in the comments below.
If your wife has not looked at a recent copy of her credit reports, check to see that Transworld is not on their now.
Assuming there is nothing on the credit reports, I would recommend getting this debt settled or paid with Transworld before it shows up on them. The best way to resolve medical bills, and prevent the credit reporting by the debt collector, is to deal directly with the medical service provider, or the medical billing company they use. This can include when the account you have is already with a debt collectors office, and even when the debt collector is already showing on your credit reports.
Getting debt collectors to pay for delete is not common.
Pay for delete is not necessarily an urban legend. But the sitings of examples of how often a debt collector will agree to take money in exchange for deleting something off of your credit reports, and put that in writing to you, is not all that common.
Until recently, it has been unreasonable to expect a debt collector to put an agreement to pay for delete in writing. But you can often get utility companies and the like to agree to stop reporting the collection once you pay your old bill in full. And the same can go for other small local service providers, which medical debts can be part of. I can have more to share with how to approach medical debt collection if you post in the comments more of the particulars, like how old the debts are, what the amounts involved are, the name of the debt collector, how long the debt collectors have had the accounts, etc.
When it comes to debts like credit cards, personal loans, auto loans gone wrong, debt collectors and lenders are just not that forgiving. You cannot get them to agree to remove the derogatory item from your credit report, but that is not really necessary depending on your goals.
You can resolve collection debts by paying them, or settling them for less, and that fact will get updated to your credit reports. This will allow you to push through a home loan that may have been declined, and can also start the healing process for your credit scores. In fact, both FICO and Vantage score have newer credit scoring models that do not factor paid collection in to their credit scores. These are not widely used yet, as they are too new and lenders have not adopted them, but they will be in years to come.
Pay for delete is not necessary to accomplish your credit and finance goals.
You can post more about the particulars of your situation in the comments below and I can offer more drilled down feedback. Be sure to include your primary concern for a collection account to appear on your credit.
Anyone with questions or concerns about paying a debt collector to get something removed from your credit report, or what the impacts of paid collection accounts on your credit reports will be, is welcome to 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.
Resurgent Capital Services LP has on their website that they will submit a delete request to the credit reporting agencies after payment resolving the account is processed. You mentioned this above in your 4/2020 update. Have you known of them honoring this policy after being paid in full?
Yes, they Resurgent and LVNV are following through on this.
It does not matter if you pay the debt in full, or negotiated a discounted settlement.
If it were me I would settle it for less and get the same benefit.
Hello! I have 1 collection with Transworld Systems Inc.. which lowered my credit score very low. Current score is 679. After I followed the steps to delete account- will it be deleted on all 3 bureaus? when should I see any changes? is it 30 days?
thank you so much!
What steps did you follow for them to delete it from your credit reports?
Did Transworld Systems agree to delete?
Hi There. I’m in the process of re-financing my mortgage and just found out that I have a medical bill for $91 from 2 years ago that is showing up on my credit report with Transworld Systems. I have no recollection of actually receiving the original bill for this or the subsequent collections notices, as the services were provided right around the time that I moved. I’m guessing notices were sent to my old address and never forwarded but there’s no way to prove this as far as I can tell. In any case, I’m willing to pay the debt – just wondering based on your experience and expertise what are the chances that Transworld would agree to remove the collection notice in exchange for payment? Thanks for your help!
I have seen pay for delete work with small medical bills, so it is worth a shot.
Hello, this year I had 2 unpaid medical bills (500 ambulance and about 1200 hospital bill) go into collections. I simply wasnt get paid enough to try any payment plans at the time.
They both just showed up on my credit score about 2-3 months ago and dropped my credit score significantly (about 50 points after I had spent the last 2 years working to get my score where it was).
My main concern is to raise my score asap! Which would be the best way to despite these for that result? Should I go through the actual hospital/EMS that originally billed me or the debt collector company?
Thank you!
I see people have success dealing with the EMS or service provider, and even getting these off in some cases, but having them on there showing a zero balance/paid collection will still allow you to improve your credit afterward.
I am trying to clean up my credit to get a mortgage. I am currently in the process of getting a loan actually. I have a Verizon account from 3/16 states closed balance $67. And a collection with LVNV FUNDING dated 2/19 balance $588 I have already dipute and has been validated. I want to know if i should try a pay for delete, or a settlement, which will help the most. I plan on just paying Verizon either way even if it still shows on credit report. But I need to know how to deal with LVNV FUNDING. Should mention its list with LVNV but RESURGENT actually has it. Thank you in advance.
I would settle it if it were me in this situation. They will update that you resolved the account on your credit reports. They are not doing pay for delete at this time.
Hello, I have a medical bill that has gone to collections over a year ago. I contacted them and they told me they would delete the account from my credit report as long as I pay the balance by a given date. I asked for them to provide that to me in writing and they did so in an email. The email contains the account number, the original physician and the balance, as well as the individual I spoke to, and the date I need to pay it by to do so. Is this email legit? Or should I have gotten it in an actual letter. Should I just pay the debt off through them anyway?
I would rely on the email if it were me. If they don’t follow through with what they said be sure to post an update and lets go from there.
Thank you very much for the advice on these pages. It is very helpful. I had a few questions. I am the process of trying to rebuild my credit. In 2013 i rented a home in my name with my daughter and another couple. I never had any issues with them. Our lease came up for renewal and they decided they wanted to purchase their first home. I was in a crunch to find 2 new roommates because my rent was $1200 a month. A friend recommended another couple I knew so I said okay. very long story short the girlfriend loses her job within a month of moving in. Boyfriend gets fired 2 weeks later. I paid the rent and utilities and supported 4 people for as long as I could. They kept telling me they had interviews and they were trying. I had to close a secured loan to access the $5000 I had put down to pay the rent and utilities for a couple of months. I was supporting 4 people and going broke. This continued for about 7 months. I had furniture I had financed to try and build a steady payment history. I financed it for $4500 and had been paying on it and always more than the minimum payment for about a year and a half prior to these new roommates moving in. I stopped being able to make the payments and surrendered my furniture. They charged me the full amount even after getting it all back. I got to the point where I couldn’t carry everyone anymore and got evicted in November. My daughter and I moved in with a friend and paid half the rent there. March rolls around and I get served with papers. The landlord was suing me for $18,000. We had an inground pool. There was a bad freeze in January that year and the pool pump busted. The landlord felt it was my responsibility since the house was vacant. I was too broke for an attorney so I went to court without one. The judge instructed us to try and work out an agreement between us before our case was called. The landlord kept threatening me that he could postpone the hearing get his attorneys involved and I would be on the hook for everything. It said on my lease the first year I signed it that the carpet had stains and needed to be replaced. He tried to charge me $7000 for new carpet after the eviction. I showed him my walk through paperwork where he had written the carpet needed to be replaced and signed. He changed the amount that I owed to $7,800 because I said I wanted to see his receipts. I finally agreed to the $7,800 and I pay $150.00 a month directly to him. He agreed as long as I make the payments he will not report it and I accepted because the last thing I wanted was a judgement on my record. He apologized to me and said he hated having to do it but because I was the only one with a job and steady income I was on the hook for the balance and suggested I sue the other two. All the utilities went into collections.
Gas South collection for $378 (Paid) Removed from CR
DirectTV collection $686 still collection but now under Receivables Performance Management
AT&T collection $156 (paid in full 9/2016 under AFNI)
AcceptanceNow $4,500 C/O (disputed last month and it was removed fro CRs)
Capitol One $423 CL $300 C/O 2015
Commenity Bank $0 balance $400 Limit (good standing)
Wells Fargo Secured Card $23 balance $300 limit (good standing)
Infinity Group collection $247 (Paid in full 9/2016)
BiCounty Ent Collection $352 (Paid in full 9/2016)
Medical Services collection $513 Still in collection
I have tried to pay everything I have off. I have 3 now and one Collection Agency ( Durham & Durham) sending me letters from an emergency room physicians bill from last year for $1,180.00. . I got the bill 2 months later saying it hadn’t been paid. I called my insurance company and they called me back saying that the hospital billed an old Insurance that was closed and my insurance was handling the claim. I checked when I got a letter from the CA and BlueCross never paid it. Now they say it is past 180 days so they will not be responsible. Can you please give me any advice on how to possibly negotiate a PFD on the medical bills? I am the same person who asked you about the Capital Once multiple C/Os and over the limit reportings every month on stale debt since the card was charged off a year ago.
Is it Durham and Durham reporting the medical collection? If not, who is it? Can you call the hospital or billing service for the medical center and confirm whether or not the debt has been sold, or simply placed with the debt collector? Let me know what you learn before doing anything else.
I have 1 open collection account that is supposed to come off my report at the end of this year. I have a 740 credit score and I’m trying to get a mortgage. The mortgage company requested a letter on why I had an collection on my credit report. If I pay this now, will it stay on my report for additional 7 years and lower my score? Or will it fall off after the original 7 years.? Thank you!
It should fall off soon. Resolving old debts that appear on our credit reports does not breathe any new life into them for credit reporting.
You could see a small drop in your credit score once you pay the account, but not always, and likely not enough to stop your loan. But not resolving the debt could prevent the loan from going through.
I am a student and have had a credit card with Discover for less than a year, I opened it in April of 2016. Around that time, I also opened up a Victoria’s Secret Rewards Card through Comenity Bank and put a small charge of less than $50 on it. I thought that the website was set up for automatic payments, and I also thought that I would be receiving e-mail alerts for when a bill was due, but instead was receiving paper statements. Since I was out of town at my internship over the summer, for three months I was charged a late fee on the card and paper statements were sent to my home address and I never saw them. Thankfully I saw my credit score go down dramatically after that, went and looked around to see what was wrong, and immediately paid off the bill that I had on that card. In the end however, it put a serious delinquency notice on my credit card and my credit score has been slowly declining ever since.
I have paid all my bills on time, but am trying to see about negotiating with that bank to try and have that removed. I know that it looks much more severe on my account since I had almost no credit to begin with anyway, but I also don’t want to start out on a rough patch and want to be able to make purchases in a few years without that showing up or giving me high interest rates.
I am nervous to do this especially because I read the reviews on the bank and almost everyone has struggled with their customer service or has not been able to get the delinquencies off of their account. I don’t know if I should tackle this on my own, bite the bullet and just try other ways to get my credit score up, or have an agency do it for me, so any advice you can give would be helpful!
The only other bills that I have to my name are our monthly gas bill with Vectren – No student loans, car payments, etc.
Thank you!
It is not common for banks and lenders to remove negative reporting, even after you catch the account up. But I have seen one off situations where you can write a good will deletion request with a compelling story. You write into the executive office and mail certified. Lay it on as thick as you can. And know that this is a long shot.
If not successful you are looking at letting time heal and making good credit building decisions from here.
I have 3 different cc debt collectors who I would like to settle the debt with. Two are of less than 2,000 and one is less than 7,000.
I have left them unpaid for almost 2 1/2 years due to job struggle and then just fear of what to do. Now I would like to settle them to buy a home at the end of the year. Can you please assist??
Fill in the talk to Michael form in the right column. I will email you to set up a phone consult. You can also call me at 800-939-8357 ext 2.
Applying for a government job. I heard one of there criterias is for me is to at least show that’s I’m paying on them. Is that possible??? Don’t want to waste money. But want this job
If you are referring to credit checks that show unpaid collections, there are some situations where you will not make the cut because of this.
Post more details about your situation and I can offer better feedback.
It is not a realistic expectation to think you will be able to pay collections and get the negatives removed from your credit in return. And it is not common for monthly payments on old collection accounts to be updated. Settling for the least amount to get your credit to show paid off collections is sometimes the best option.
Hi Michael, been researching various sites and this one is unbelievable… so much information! I’ve started to negotiate a private school loan that is held by Wells Fargo. It’s for $22,391 cosigned by my daughter and I. I never paid on it due to them sending a wrong address while I had a student loan for my son. Essentially I got confused thinking it had been combined. WF charged it off on 10/2013. They have sent me an offer letter saying I can settle for $4200. I’m fine with that but asked them if they could report it as Paid in Full or Settled in Full. They told me what they report is Paid less than full amount. From experian I see Paid in Settlement” on 2 others I negotiated years ago… thankfully they will come off my report Nov and then jan. My question is, for my credit score does it matter much what they report? Would there be any option to dispute it, or just let it go? My score is 700 so I’m not sure how much this will improve that.
Also for your readers what I found out is they will send me a 1099 that I have to report to the IRS so although it appears this will only cost me $4200 it will require me to pay taxes on $17,000.
Settling with Wells Fargo will result in the update to your credit reports similar to the other accounts you settled in the past. How much of an impact that will have on your credit score I cannot say. Your report is different from the next persons. I would not expect much from it.
You can dispute a credit reporting item any time. But Wells Fargo is not likely to relent and allow it to be removed after your payment on the settlement is processed.
Here is more on how and why you may not owe tax on forgiven debt.
Hi Michael!
I have a $50 medical debt from Transworld that I disputed with the credit reporting agencies once I saw it appear on my account a few weeks ago. I did not recognize the debt and I never received mail about it. TransUnion removed the collection, but Equifax did not.
Since then, I realized the collection is the result of a mixup with my HSA card.
My end goal is to have this removed from my credit reports. What is the best way to proceed? PFD does not seem like an option Transworld accepts.
Paid collections for medical debt do not factor much into your credit these days. If you are going to pay it, I would do that and not think twice about it.
this might have been an anomoly but maybe not. i had a lot of collections due to some circumstances beyond my control. after reading some of Michael’s posts i went and paid all my bad debt via settlement. then waiting 30 days and disputed everything i paid using some advice i had read online. to my surprise out of the 15 items i disputed including a judgement and a forclosure except for 2 items the credit agencies removed them all. i was blown away. a
Maybe I luck out. the only thing i have been told is its possible becuase i paid these except for the forclosure obviously the collectors might have let them be removed becuase they were paid? Again this all might have been luck. the short term is my credit score has improved almost 60-70 points and now they i was able to get a couplr small balance credit cards and a couplr small loans the score should hopefully increase more over time.
i know this is probably not the norm. Hopefully this is something that is going on now but again Michael would have much better insight and thout i would share this for that reason.
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Hi Michael. I’ve been searching high and low on how to remove a car loan debt owed to Bank of America from my credit report. Back in Jan of this yr, I got into the car accident and did not have GAP insurance and was left with $4000 of the loan to pay in 60 days. I could not meet this so around March I set up good faith payment arrangements of $200 a month which I have being paying on time. I asked them multiple times, if, after paying everything off or accepting a settlement amount would they remove it from my credit report and they said they cannot remove anything from a credit report because they get audited. Right now the debt is on my credit report as a charged off closed car loan. My concern is having this removed before I go to buy a new car in Dec. If it won’t affect the outcome of my new car purchase then I will no longer pursue the situation, but I do know that it is affecting my credit score. Should I try a pay for deletion letter? Will that work since they already said they cannot remove it? Or should I take the settlement offer and then try to dispute it after payment ?
If it were me I would look to settle it for the best savings so that it updates on my credit report to show it is a resolved collection. You will typically get better financing options from that result, than from what will appear to be an unresolved collection (even though you are making payments).
You will likely not get this removed other than organically, and over time. That does not mean it has to hold you back from your goals.
Thank you so much
Hi Micheal, I have received a letter in response to a pay for delete offer I sent to Scarier,Tolin, and Wagman LLC. The firm is located in Rockville MD and represents Cavalry SPV, LLC for a Care Credit Account. The agreement contains all of the bullet information required as well as the following:
“Within 45 days of after receipt of a fully executed copy of this agreement Cavalry will request that the national reporting agencies (the credit bureaus) to which it reports delete Cavalrys trade lines associated with the Cavalry account provide proof of the same to Counsel for defendant . This request will be submitted via a Universal Data Form. Defendant acknowledges that Calvary cannot guarantee warrant or take responsibility for the performance of the credit bureaus with respect to changing deleting suppressing or making entries regarding any credit information or other information regarding Calvary account. ”
I interpret this as agreement to delete for payment , but just wanted your opinion.
Thanks for any input.
I don’t interpret the letter that way at all. I read it to say Cavalry is going to do what they are legally required to do, which is furnish accurate, current and complete information to the credit bureaus. They did not say they would delete it.
Why are you hung up on the deletion? What financing goals are you trying to accomplish?
Hi there,
Thank you for the great information. I’m hoping you will offer me advice on two matters: an open account and a closed account.
Closed account
Goal: get this removed from my credit report early if possible.
Original creditor is Sprint
CA is convergent outsourcing
$126 reported as paid less than full
Opened March 2012 by CA.
Not sure when original delinquency was back in 2009 I think.
When will this fall off? Seven years from when I made last payment to sprint (2009 I believe)? Or will it be seven years from March 2012 (date this shows as being “opened” on credit karma)?
Is convergent likely to remove this wilfully if I ask? I’d like to refi my car in December this year and would like this gone.
———-
Second issue = open account
I was incarcerated in 2009 and my ex messed up my Time Warner cable bill.
As a result of being incarcerated I never received notice from time Warner or the CA about this. I only know about the collection due to seeing it on credit karma.
Original creditor Time Warner
CA Credit Management
$596
Opened Aug 2012. I think this is when it became delinquent.
*** Last reported Nov 2012 ***
This apparently hasn’t been reported in years??? Nobody has contacted me ever (that I know of).
Goal is to remove this from credit report and possibly negotiate reduced sum. Wish I could get out of paying it since she messed it up. I live in Ohio.
Since the collection agency is listed on credit karma I assume they reported it??
Should I contact time Warner and see if they’ll recall the collection then negotiate lesser amount and pay them directly? Wouldn’t the collection have to be removed from report since I would no longer owe the CA if time Warner reassumed the debt? I’m assuming the CA reported this to the agency since they appear on the collection.
Am I thinking correctly? My main goal is to remove this and the closed account from my report. My secondary goal is to pay least I can on the open collection. How can I prevent this from reappearing later on my report.
Should I just dispute the open collection with agency and see if it’s removed? If so will it reappear?
Why hasn’t it been reported in so many years? Who owns this debt now?
Like I said, my primary goal is for these to be removed, if possible, and never show up again. If I have to pay this debt (prefer not to) my secondary goal is to pay the least I can.
With those goals in mind what would you advise?
I hope my comment isn’t overly long and thank you so much for your time. I truly appreciate it!
Regards,
Johnny
You would base the credit report deletion date by when you stopped paying Sprint. Convergent should come off at the same time as Sprint.
You can contact Time Warner and see if they can deal with you directly. If you can get this done with them, I would indeed dispute the collection agency. With no connection to the creditor or the account, it could come off that way. I would try this first. Let me know the result and lets go from there.
I have a medical bill with AmeriFinancial Solutions opened on 1/1/2016 in the amount of $382, and it showed on my report on the 11th of feb, I was unaware of the debt till it was reported… I was researching to find how a bill went into collections and came to find that the bill where being send to a previous address, leaving me in the unknown about it.. I just want to know if there’s a way I could call or write to them so maybe it can be removed if paid or can it be settle? I don’t know I need any advise you can give me
Call them and let them know they had the wrong address and would they kindly remove the debt from your credit… and pay the bill.
If they don’t take it off it is not something I would get overly worked up about, as paid medical debts do not set your credit back like they once did. Let me know how it goes in a comment reply and I can offer some more feedback about getting the collection deleted.
Hi Michael-
Thanks for the time on the phone today as I am working my way through my CR I can tell you that the HSBC card is currently with Calvary Portfolio Services. I don’t see anything on them when I do a search.
Based on our conversation regarding AFNI, does it make sense with the other Utility bills and smaller medical bills to go directly to the creditor and pay them and then try to have these collection agencies removed?
One that I am thinking of specifically is the last month rent payment from an apt that I moved from in 2012. If I go back to them and they accept the payment from me would the collection agency then have to remove that from my CR since they did not collect the debt?
Also, if you could do a post on how to possibly remove negative reporting on credit cards that I was simply an authorized user on and the account holder filed bankruptcy, that would be very helpful.
Thanks
Audra
I am skeptical you will be able to both negotiate a lower pay off, and pay the property company directly, but give it a go and post an update with how that goes. If you are able to deal directly with the property management company to resolve this I would soon after dispute the collection agency being on your credit reports. This is not a pay for delete like we talked about on the phone.
You may be able to negotiate a deal with Cavalry and prevent the entry on your credit report. But I have seen accounts get settled – that were not appearing on credit reports – show up later as paid collections.
I will be looking to get a post up about efforts to remove authorized user accounts from appearing on your credit reports.
The Bill for National Credit Adjusters is very recent according to the original creditors it was delinquent in October 2014 but I was trying to pay it while National Credit Adjusters were sent thier 1st notice to validate the debt…before they put it on my credit report. I was afraid MCM would try to sue for the 300.00 since it was so close to being deleted. ..I wouldn’t want that to happen
Thanks. I would also look to resolve the debt with National Credit Adjusters quickly.
As far as MCM suing, what state do you live in?
Tennessee
I do not see much concern for MCM suing to collect when your states SOL to legitimately do that is 6 years. If the debt collector is getting deleted from your credit report in a couple of months than it is highly likely the SOL to use the courts is up.
Thanks so much for everything Michael
I was sent a letter from a debt collector that was validating a debt and giving me 30 days to dispute. my question is can I pay and delete before this is on my credit report? It’s only 436.08. I tried to call and settle with the original creditor but they said once it’s been sold they agree not to take any payments? Also I owed MCM but it’s supposed to be removed at November 2015. Should I pay?
Pay for delete does not work with Midland Credit Management or Midland Funding (same company for most purposes) once they appear on your credit report. MCM is one of few companies that will give you a chance to resolve an account with them and keep it from appearing on your credit reports in the first place though.
Your account with MCM will typically need to be one that is newly purchased to qualify for this type of “non reporting”. Call and confirm this with Midland Credit if you did not get a letter from them confirming such an offer and/or do not currently see them on your credit reports.
Do you have credit or finance goals you want to accomplish between now and when this is scheduled to drop from your credit report?
I do have credit goals I am trying to accomplish I would like to increase my scores…at least make it to 600…I am currently at 562…I was hoping that the MCM falling off in November would increase it. The new debt that hasn’t been reported is from National Credit Adjusters …I called and told them I would pay before it went on the report but they stated they don’t report to the credit bureau but I’ll pay just in case. .. I just looked on my CR and saw MCM and target (which is the same acct) is due to fall off my report in November 2015..I called to do PFD and they declined earlier in the year but haven’t made contact since…I just wasn’t sure if they would sell the acct again.. This was 2005…
Unless you are buying a home or refinancing there is little reason to try to get the debt with MCM updated to show it is paid or settled… not when you only have about 2 months to go until it is scheduled to be deleted from your credit.
How old is the bill from National Credit Adjusters?
I have a judgement for almost $2800 on my credit report. It is 4 years old but the date does not show on my Credit Karma output. It may even be 5 years old. My CK scores are 576 and 578. I don’t know what the third score will be (CK does not list all three). I also have a few accounts in collections, and am paying on those monthly and have been for over two years. I am currently trying to determine how best to proceed to be able to get a home loan done, probably a USDA if that is the best way to gain approval in the rural area I am looking at (everything except my credit score is acceptable there by their rules, assuming I have income to pay the mortgage payments).
Who are the debt collectors you have payment plans set up with? How long are those set to last?
Who is the judgment creditor?