paid off creditors butt there still posting as negitive

[jmhunter]

Hi everyone thanks for the info on the credit score from my last post. I rechecked my credit and it dropped 10 points not sure if that was from the credit card I had two collections that i did not see on my last report. so that may have been the reason for the drop as well. But my questions is When i saw those collections i contacted the creditors and paid them off in full when i first saw the collection they only posted it maybe once a week but now every day i get an email from the credit site that i have subscribed to saying that i have a alert when i check its the same collection seems that as soon as i contacted them the started to report it every day even though it has been paid i contacted them and they said it takes awhile to catch up on there records even though there records say zero balance. And when i checked my credit report it still says that i owe the amount they have listed. This has all taken place within the last month seems like the more you try to work with them to pay your debt they still try to get a couple of hits in while they can. Was wondering if this is normal for them to keep posting as a major derogatory every day or if i need to start sending letters to the credit bureaus myself to take care of it. It seems like a never ending battle what ever i do to try and fix my credit ends up going in the wrong direction. Again thanks for all the help

[fontanaman]

Hello jmhunter,

You should never trust collection agencies. The first thing you should’ve done is request a letter stating that they would delete the negative tradelines from your report if you paid in full. Collection agencies are only after your money, and once you pay they usually don’t have any interest or reason in helping you out anymore.

Did they tell you they were going to delete the collections from your reports? If so, cross your fingers that they will follow through with what they said. Some will, some will not. That’s why you should never trust them and ask for everything in writing.

I had a bad experience with a collection agency recently. They said they were going to delete if I paid in full. I was naive and trusted them and didn’t ask for this in writing (I actually did and they ignored me). I should’ve been more insistent but decided to pay anyway. They just updated the status of my collection to “PAID”, which is almost as bad as not paying, because it still stays on your report for 7 years. For 5 months now, I’ve been sending them letters and asking them nicely to delete (which is pretty much the only thing I can do now). They have deleted from Experian and TransUnion so far, not from Equifax so I’ve been somewhat successful, but it has been a pain. I just sent them another letter 3 days ago hoping that they’ll finally delete from Equifax.

The best thing you can do is to try to deal directly with the original creditor or collection agency. The credit bureaus will not delete your tradelines, because they are reporting correctly: You didn’t pay on time, it went to collections, then you paid.

When negotiating you got to be patient and try not to get nasty on these people. You need to have them on your side so they can work with you. Communicating by mail is most of the time the best way to deal with them, as you have proof of everything.

I had a totally different experience with another agency. I said I would only pay if they sent me a letter sating that they would delete from my credit reports if I did. They sent me the letter, I paid and they proceeded to delete the collection from all my reports.

[Christie0909]

Did you do anything special when you sent out the letter. I mean did you put tracking on it to make sure they received it or did you just type up the letter and send it out the regular way and wait for a response.

[fontanaman]

From what I’ve read, you are better off sending your letters via certified mail with return receipt. This will provide a paper trail in case you need to dispute or keep records of your negotiation. I have sent some certified, but not all.

Also, try not to copy the letters you see online. Use them just to have an idea of what you are going to say, but in your own words. Make it short and get to the point. I’ve had better results this way.

[Christie0909]

If you don’t mind me asking how exactly does certified mail work?

[fontanaman]

Certified mail by USPS provides proof of mailing, proof of delivery and a copy of the recipient’s signature. Return receipt is additional and provides a receipt that is mailed back to you by USPS when the collection agency receives your letter as proof of delivery.

[Christie0909]

Okay Thanks.

[fontanaman]

no problem

[Christie0909]

Did you pay the full balance or offer a lower amount in exchange for the removal?

[fontanaman]

Hi, sorry for the late reply.

I paid in full for the two collections I had. The amounts owed were not high (one was less than $100, the other one was a little overt $200) so I was willing to pay in full in order to have the tradelines removed without much negotiation. If it had been over $400 I would’ve tried to settle for a lower payment.

A couple of years ago I settled a credit card for less than 50% of the debt, but I didn’t know about pay for deletes back then…now I have a paid charge off on my report.. Will be there until 2015. I’ve tried doing the goodwill thing, with no results. So I recommend you do everything you can to remove them. There’s really not much you can do after you’ve paid.

I’m going to try to settle some collections my wife has that are over $500, so I’ll report back as soon as I have news. Let us know how your pay for delete went.

[Christie0909]

Thanks for the feedback. I am still writing up my letter and everything. I have two on my reports one is for 300 and the other is for 685. I couldn’t decide if i should try and settle for a lower amount. I can’t really afford to pay them in full right now. I was wonder what percentage I should start at or maybe do a pay for delete in full but see if they will set up a payment plan and remove the debt after the last payment is made. What do you think?

[fontanaman]

I’ve read that if you are dealing with a collection agency, you should start negotiating at 25% of your debt. If you are dealing with the original creditor it might be different. Just make sure that whatever percentage you agree on, it counts as full payment of your debt. Otherwise they might try to collect the balance later on.

I found the following articles very helpful:

– Pay for delete: http://www.creditinfocenter.com/debt/pay-for-delete.shtml

– Settle a debt with a collection agency: http://www.creditinfocenter.com/debt/settle_debts.shtml

– Negotiating with original creditors: http://www.creditinfocenter.com/debt/originalcreditor_debtsettlement.shtml

[Christie0909]

Thanks for all of the info. I am going to put together a letter and send it out. I will let you know how it goes. I have one final question though. The two collections I have are with the same agency. Together the totals are 985 dollars. Should I try and settle for 25% of both or try and settle them separately?

[fontanaman]

I’m actually looking into this myself, as we are in a similar situation. My wife has two collections with the same agency that sum up to a little more than 1000. I’ll try to see what info i can find, but we are going to try to settle both at the same time for a lower amount. I will start at 25% to see what happens. Let me know if you have more information on this.

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