This topic contains 29 replies, has 6 voices, and was last updated by 
fontanaman 5 years, 9 months ago.
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I have seen on this forum where debt has been paid and it was agreed by the creditor or collection agency that they would delete the item from the credit report upon payment. I know that all companies don’t agree to this, but I wanted to know for those of you who have been successful at this. Did you pay the whole amount in one lumpsum or payments or did you negotiate a smaller amount then owed? Also, was it a large amount, hundreds, maybe even thousands?
I’ve had one pay for delete several years ago. It was a cable company account but less than $150. It had gone to a collection agency and I wrote them and asked that if I paid the amount would they delete the item from my credit report. They agreed and the account was deleted. I have larger amounts I need to resolve. Less than $1k, but I can’t pay anywhere like that right now. Just wondering if those who have been through the process, what was your experience like. I really want to get my reports clean never to return to dirty reports again! Thanks.
I’ve had two pay for delete accounts, they were both medical bills, one was for $75 and the other for $230 (this last one I paid a few weeks ago so I’m still waiting for deletion).
I also settled a credit card debt a couple of years ago (it had been written off by the bank already). if I could negotiate the whole thing again, I would be happy to pay the full amount so it could be deleted from my report, but I didn’t know then what I know now about all this stuff. It still on my report showing as a Paid Write-Off, which is one of the worse things that can be on your report (but a little better than unpaid charge-off though). And it’ll be there for 4 more years!
Are these non credit card bills that you are trying to get deleted?
They are credit card bills. I’m worried that if I do pay them and they don’t agree to a delete, the 7 years might start over again. I thought it did here in FL.
also, I know it just looks so much better if the debt is paid, maybe not to a computer, but a a physical person yes….sigh
How old are the debts? It definitely looks better when they’re paid. I read some lenders will actually make you pay all debt before offering you a mortgage. If they are old enough then you could just wait for them to drop off your report.
I would start by doing a debt validation request through the credit bureaus. If the collection agency cannot validate the debt, then they cannot continue collection and they have to delete it from your report.
If they validate, then try to settle. I’m not sure if you are aware, but collection agencies pay pennies on the dollar for those accounts. So you can definitely en up paying 50% or less of what you originally owed. Ask for a deletion and written proof of all this. Don’t call them, always communicate with them through regular mail.
Have you received any settlement offers?
They are all pretty old…i’m talking default dates in 07, but some are still reporting monthly. Guess i’m just overwelmed. I did some disputes with the credit bureaus and they came off but looked like activity was shown on my reports and new ones have come along. On my reports it says i have recent delinquencies, in reality they are not recent at all, but just have popped back on my reports from being sold to another collector. 50% less than what I originally owed on these debts is about $150, but they have bumped up the amounts to around $700!!! I was all gong ho earlier this year, I didn’t know what I was doing disputing, but I made some leeway somehow. I’ll keep reading and chopping at. Thanks so much for the tips, they are very helpful! I will try to negotiate pay for delete, but I think I will start low and see if they will take it…at worst it will be a paid charge off or collection (which is the worst). I have a mortgage already, but I do not ever want to go into a car dealership again shameful of my reports or anywhere else! Hopefully I don’t have to go into one soon, but I’m just saying.
I hear you, it’s such a drag to be dealing with all this credit stuff.
The original debt I had for the credit card I think was around $800, and when I settled it had gone up to $1700, apparently because of unpaid interest. I ended up settling for $400. At least it doesn’t appear as “settled” on my report, but as “Paid” (I don’t know if it makes any difference but at least it sounds better). I wish they had deleted it from my report, so do whatever you can to get them off.
What dates do the recent delinquencies have? Could you dispute them as inaccurate?
Well, if you go by the date i started defaulting, they were back in 2007, but this recent one has that they started reporting this year like 2-3 months ago and the denial letter i received said you have recent deragatories and on the credit monitor for negative factors it says you have deragatories 0.2 months old. I want to attack the most recent negatives I have because I know they affect my credit the most. So I gotta figure which ones are the most recent, by report date or the actual account like last date of activty? As I stated, I disputed them, one seems to have fallen off, but not sure of score change as I have heard your FICO could have changed, but not your FAKO and I don’t have money to buy my FICO all the time like that, like $20 a pop. I’m going to just keep at it. One of the other recent ones, the collection agency wrote me and asked that I provide them with documentation for my dispute. I think that says “we have no documentation of your account”, it’s an old cell phone bill again from 2007 and I think they just bought the account and have no documentation. We’ll see what happens on that, but I’m planning to do pfd for the ones that I know are mine and are not budging. I’m ready for clean reports. In the past two years, the only negative thing I had was that I was late on my car note a couple of times due to major car repairs. Other than that, I have never been late with my Cap One card, student loans, store cards, or my mortgage, so I’m dealing with things in the past. Most are scheduled to fall off my reports in 2014 (7 years reporting), but I can’t wait that long! I’m about to pay off my car and I want to be able to keep it up until I need to buy another one!
Have you tried disputing with the bureaus instead of the collection agency?
Yes, some yes, some no. On this particular one, I did both and when I sent it to them directly it seemed to be ignored, but when I disputed with the reporting bureau, that’s when I got a letter from the creditor asking me for documentation.
Oh, okay. I was gonna say if you reported it with the actual bureau and the collection agency can’t confirm it should immediately come off. It seems to me that they have you in a strange sticky situation.. Sorry I couldn’t be more help.
Ok so today I received a letter from the company that said they needed more info. It said they were deleting from all 3 reports YAY! Moving along- I need to make sure I scan n file in a safe place! Now I gotta wait for it to be deleted.
Congrats! Im still working on getting some collection accounts deleted from my report from past medical bills. They are just so expensive, when I can get the money I am hoping the come off completely.
That’s great ambersun. Lots of good news lately around here!
I’ve had great success with “pay for deletes.” Probably about a 80% success rate. It’s been my experience that collection agencies as well as creditors are more than happy to clear any debts from their books, especially if it means collecting the full amount of the debt instead of a decreased settlement amount.
Most creditors are willing to work with you whether you make payments or pay the amounts in full. Amount of course based on your financial situation.
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