Couple of years back I let my account fall behind and me losing my job caused the account to go to collections . I did not attempt to make payments on the account or contact the creditor. The collections company called me and offered to settle for half the amount. I have never had anything go to collections so now I need advice on what to do. Should I pay the collections company or try to contact the bank who I did not pay? The collections company said after it is paid it will still show up but it will show as paid in full. What to do all might beeb? and BTW don't judge me
Usually once it goes to collections the original creditor won't talk to you. Settle with collections, as he mentioned it will show the delinquencies you had, but that the account has been paid.
If it went to a collections account from the Bank, and they are willing to settle for less than owed with late fees, interest, etc. then why would it say "paid in full." It will most likely say: Transferred to Recoverey, Profit and Loss Writeoff or Placed for Collection. Good luck, but your credit most likely took a big hit.
It's 2 years back then settle. Depending on your state they can hit you with a judgement and you don't want that. Settle with them, pay it off, then it will start to move towards "the back" of your credit file once you continue to utilize and pay on time current or new credit moving forward
on your credit report, it will still show as a public record collection, but it will show "paid" with a $0 balance. it 99% cases, it will not show as a settled amount.
It’s probably like 3 or 4 years old. I will contact them today and talk to them. They informed me that it will say paid in full but I will ask for a copy or an agreement in writing because I would hate to be denied by a company based on my credit if I see a better career opportunity because I work in that type of field So how long before I should see my credit rating increase?
I would be careful paying it off. I also had a little debt that I thought would be smart to pay of while in the middle of buying a house,thought it would make my credit look better. Well turned out that paying it off dropped my credit score and almost cost me the home loan.
Curious...how's that happen? If you paydown your debt your DTI (debt to income) goes down which helps in better credit risk.
Actually, if it's that old then definitely, definitely be careful about it. Paying off the debt, even though it's a step in the right direction, can "refresh" it on credit charts. It's a new action on the debt, so it comes back and can look like it's not way back in the past. Talk to one of the free credit management services about it; there are tons (and they shouldn't charge you). They will know the specifics of the laws in your state, probably the creditor you're dealing with, and will be better able to advise you on it than anyone here. Whatever you do, do NOT blindly listen to the collections agency, and you're right, whatever agreement you do settle on, get it in writing along with the ID of who you talked to, the time, date, and anything else you can get your hands on. My credit is absolute garbage, because I've had to learn all this the hard way.
^ +1 Depending on how old it is it may be buried in your report. I have a collection on mine from a credit card that was taken out in my name but I never had possession of. They refused to look at it as a theft issue because it was under my address and the purchases were all made near my home. I just let it sit there and it was sold several times to different collection agencies. When I asked my banker about it she said it was so far buried that nobody would see it and that paying it off would put it back on top and wouldnt change my score but would hurt my chances of getting a loan because it would look fresh. Her advice was to forget about it.
Be VERY careful. The company you owed the debt may have written it off and then sold the debt to a collections agency to make some $$ back. The debt may be outside the statute of limitations as well as beyond the credit reporting agency time limits. However, if you begin working with the collection agency, it starts the clock again on the debt. The collections agency would have no ability to record this as bad debt against you if you do not admit to owing the debt and its outside the limits. Read everything you need to know here: http://www.creditinfocenter.com/rebuild/statuteLimitations.shtml
If you do settle, go for less than 50%! Collections will go way lower. A year or so back a collections company called the shop looking for some guy (we have no idea who he was) so one of our guys said "yeah thats me" They told him he owed like 45K and he got them down to 8 grand to settle.. just something to think about.
Well it was a $1607 debt and they want to settle for $875. I don't know the exact age of the debt but I would assume it’s around 4 or 5 years. Does anyone have any contacts that I can talk to regarding my credit or someone they would recommend? It seems like it has gone through a couple of debt agencies’. I was just going to pay it off but now you guys got me thinking. I'm sure someone here has to know people that deal with that
Call your bank and have them pull your report and then ask them what will happen if you pay it or dont. My bet says your better off not paying it.
Thats really nothing that will ding your credit terribly. (maybe 50 points) If thats all you had on your report and you could afford $1400/month rent... I have a nice 2br condo in Atlantic Beach. YOu can spin the collections company around by asking for proof. Are they local by chance? If they are over off of Beach near Emerson...that agency is shady!
I think I'll do that. It's funny you say that because a local number did call me I forgot the name of the company but i will find out tomorrow
