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We had our house foreclosed and it finalized in August of 2015 (state of KY). After a major clean-up of our report (also used LexLaw) I was able to get all addresses but our current address (state of CO) deleted. Today I noticed that the trade line for our mortgage company states "foreclosed" only on TU - EX and EQ just stated delinquent by 4 months (or something to that affect). Plus, there is no public record on the CR. My question is: How could I proceed to get the trade line removed for the mortgage company so there is no foreclosure showing on the report? Yes, we did have the house foreclosed (fact). And, yes, I want that one trade line removed I was thinking about sending a "goodwill" letter asking the mortgage to delete the trade line, but wasn't sure if I should just send something to the CBs - not sure what I would ask for though.

Amendment form for motion to appear & answer I believe I may have been misguided by a volunteer attorney in filling out my "Motion To Appear And Answer". Question 1. My understanding is that if I write anything but "Deny" on the form, it automatically puts me in a position to receive a judgment. Is this correct? I would like to amend my motion but have been unsuccessful in locating the form even under the proper sublink on the Circuit Court of Cook County website. Question 2. I would greatly appreciate if someone can direct me to where I can print out the amendment form or would be willing to put a link to the form here in reply to my post. Question 3. Once I fill out my amendment form to reflect the change to "Deny", do I then need to file another motion to appear and answer or is that already a part of the amendment form? Thank you!

Would like to switch judge for my Illinois foreclosure case I've been unsuccessful finding the proper form on the Circuit Court of Cook County website. Question 1. Anyone know where else I could locate this or who could provide the form for me in your reply? Question 2. I believe I may have been misguided by a volunteer attorney in filling out my "motion to appear and answer form". My understanding is now that if I write anything but "Deny" on this form, it automatically puts me in a position to receive a judgment. Is this correct? 3. A judgment has not yet been placed against me. I'm under the impression that I must submit the Switch of Judge form prior to the judgment. Otherwise, that option will no longer be available to me. Is this correct? If this is correct I would greatly appreciate anyone who could quickly direct me to this SOJ form so I can submit it promptly. Thank you!

Long story short, I was doing a friend a favor and did a contract for deed (paperwork written up by a lawyer). Well, it ended up in foreclosure and listed on my CR in 2013. So now I'm trying to get a mortgage and was asked when the sheriff's sale date was. Honestly, I didn't have one because the bank or lawyer did not contact me by phone or mail. So I called the sheriff's office, nothing. Finally ended up at the circuit clerks office in which she said "Well that's weird". Your house didn't sell. There is a dismissal order without prejudice signed by the judge on Feb 19th, 2013. She said don't ask me what what it means because I honestly don't know. So my question is, is this too old to report to the CB's? Could it possibly improve my score hopefully?? Has anyone else experienced this? Thank you very much!, Wendy

Hi All, I have a rental in WA state that we bought in 2007 with Countrywide as the lender. They sold the loan to BofA then now Nationstar is the servicer. I'm doing a strategic default on this and my last payment was Jan 2014. Looks like they are finally getting around to the foreclosure and I'm posting to see if anyone can recommend a method to challenge the integrity of the note/deed of trust. According to a reply from Certified Forensic Loan Auditors, I may have a case since the deed of trust was never assigned to anyone, ever. I just checked my county recorded records and the only filing (after the original DOT in 2007 for the loan) is the successor trustee mentioned below. So does anyone have any thoughts as to whether I should fight this? @shellieh98 any comments are welcome, thanks in advance! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From Certified Forensic Loan Auditors: The loan has been securitized into the Lehman XS Trust 2007-7N. No Assignment of the Deed of Trust was made into this trust by the closing date as required by SEC governing documents. In fact, no Assignment of Deed of Trust has been recorded at all regarding this loan. -------- e.g. Trust Agreement (the term Lehman Brothers used that is equivalent to Pooling and Servicing Agreement). http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1398201/000114420407032126/v078505_ex4-1.htm Section 2.01 Creation and Declaration of Trust Fund; Conveyance of Mortgage Loans. (a) Concurrently with the execution and delivery of this Agreement, the Depositor does hereby transfer, assign, set over, deposit with and otherwise convey to the Trustee, without recourse, subject to Sections 2.02, 2.04, 2.05 and 2.06, in trust, all the right, title and interest of the Depositor in and to the Mortgage Loans. -------- The trust agreement was dated 5/1/07 and Depositor Structured Assets Securities Corporation did NOT make any recorded Assignment of Deed of Trust. Instead, a Substitution of Trustee was recorded on 11/13/15 by one Carol Davis of Nationstar Mortgage for the above trust, which has NOT been Assigned a security interest in the Note. She also stated the trust was Attorney-in-Fact and failed to state the party for whom they are Attorney-in-Fact. The trust is an unauthorized party and the document is invalid. Bank of America only acted as a servicing agent followed its acquisition of the operations of Countrywide. Countrywide was one of the primary originators for this trust. But because of the securitization, Bank of America has only acted as a debt collector, and not as a principal, and as a sub-servicer for the trust. Nationstar Mortgage took over the master servicer role for Aurora Loan Services (a Lehman Brothers company) after purchase of their servicing operations. http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20120629005057/en/Nationstar-Mortgage-Completes-Acquisition-Servicing-Assets-Aurora

I went through a Michigan foreclosure which was completed 4 1/2 years ago through a sheriff's sale. Without my knowledge, my mortgage company is now reporting that I owe them $30,000 because the sale did not cover the mortgage amount. While I understand that there are deficiency judgements, I never received any kind of notice of legal proceedings. In addition, and this is the biggest issue, I paid mortgage insurance (PMI) for the life of the mortgage. Everything I've read about foreclosure law states that a deficiency judgment cannot be pursued of the borrower paid PMI. Does anyone know what the steps are for me to have this rectified? I will truly appreciate any information on this subject. thanks!

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I wasn't sure if I should post this here or in "Legal Issues" but I hope someone can help. My husband & I purchased a "deeded" timeshare in FL. Almost immediately after, after my husband began ship rotation & extended deployment (Active Duty). After my husband left the ship, he had a change of assignments and my job was eliminated leaving us with significantly lower income. We had trouble paying. I tried to sell it to no avail, give it away, ebay, all a no go. Last year, I called the company about a "deedback" only to be told they could not while there was still a balance but could work out a payment plan with them. After 6 months of payments they stopped taking the auto payments out. I called and was informed my account was sent to the foreclosure department. Apparently, the maintenance fees were not part of the payment plan I had been paying. The foreclosure dept. ended up being a title insurance company in Nevada that refused to accept partial payments and wanted the entire amount immediately. Bottomline, it foreclosed in less than 6 mos. & reported it on credit reports as "closed, foreclosed". There are no public judgements on file and when I looked up the public records, I discovered it was a non-judicial foreclosure by a "trustee foreclosure process". A new law in Florida enacted to speed up the foreclosure process on timeshares only. After doing some research, I also discovered Section 521 of the SCRA (Servicemember Relief Act) provides all service-members protection against default judgments while on active duty and if I am reading it correctly, a creditor cannot foreclose/repossess property for active duty service members without a court order. Wouldn't an expedited non-judicial foreclosure violate this law? The last letter I received from them did have a clause from the Florida Statue that read "If you do not object to the use of the trustee foreclosure procedure, you will not be subject to a deficiency judgment even if the proceeds from the sale of your timeshare interest are insufficient to offset the amounts secured by the lien." I did not object but I am pretty sure they skipped a couple of steps by notifying us after it was already filed. They are not currently trying to collect on this and I don't want to, necessarily, awake a sleeping dragon but wish there was a way to get them to change the status on our credit report. My husband is retiring soon and I am nervous this will hurt his security clearance. Tell me if this is stupid or not: I want to send the creditor some type of letter informing them that they have violated SCRA. They can keep the timeshare but I want the tradeline deleted from our credit reports. Is this a bad idea?

While out of work we got behind on our HOA assessments. The HOA Board (our neighbors) decided to file suit against us 4 months after a payment had been made when all that was owed were the 2013 assessments and a few late fees. The excessive collection fees, attorneys fees and late fees added up quickly. So we added fees (about $3000) into a Chapter 13 that was really filed just to get our mortgage lender to modified our loan. That strategy worked and this past August our mortgage lender modified our loan so we ended the chapter 13. At that time we also began trying to negotiate with our neighbors who are on the HOA board for a settlement payoff amount (like we had tried to do in the past). We suggested $1000 towards the junk fees (instead of $3000). They said $1200 but they demanded it be paid in 24 hours. We told them that was not enough time and to instead give us 30 days to get it in (as we knew we would have the money at the end of the month). they never responded and stopped answering our communication. In the past the collection attorneys (who are in Austin) that were handling the case normally always sent any notices to us in the regular mail and we always received them. But when they wanted the case to be re-opened (since the 13 was no longer holding them up) they did not send us notice of a hearing via regular mail. So unfortunately we had no clue that they were seeking a summary judgement. In November we received a notice from the court saying the case was closed but there was no other information. We thought ok great. Then for some reason in last month I decided to google my name. I saw that there was a "Sheriff Sale" (foreclosure) scheduled for February 3. Of course I panic. These collection attorneys did not contact my mortgage company about this and they did not contact me. It is my understanding they have to contact the 1st lien holder. WF says that they checked the title and there was no lien on the property...but it appears a lien was requested in November. So none of it makes sense. They also did not send us a copy of the lien they filed back in November. We looked it up. Since we had always received notices before it seems shady that the notices stopped. I contact these people about this and their response was we sent it certified and to your email address. Well I had never given them an email address. And they knew that I had not picked up any of the certified letters previously but did confirm with them that I got notices via regular email. Then come to find out they were sending an email to a family members email account. They were no longer willing to negotiate and refused a settlement pay off amount. So yesterday we filed a motion to set aside the default judgement and request a new hearing. The judge signed the order to set a hearing on the motion to set aside the default judgment. The judge also set aside the order of sale pending the result of the hearing. The judge said I cant tell you what objections to make...but you can go to the law library and research. I feel as though this judge is for lack of better words on our side in a way...by giving but not giving that advice. He also told the attorneys they could only get $500 in atty fess instead of $2500 like they requested in the default judgement. So I think we may be able to get this to be set aside. But I need to know how to do it and be pointed in the right direction. Is there a law or rule that can be used in this situation? At the time they got the summary judgement the amounts they requested were still questionable and being disputed. At that time we owed the 2014 dues and the disputed late fees. We have since paid the 2015 dues and have shown good faith all along to negotiate a deal. But these collection attorneys are not taking the offers - even the previous offer that the HOA suggested. It seems odd that our HOA would be willing to negotiate in August and now a few months later refuse to negotiate. I think it is the attorneys trying to get as much money in their pockets as possible as none of these excessive fees are going to the HOA. Any help, advice or direction would be so greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Hi all, first post, but been reading forever. Need advice. I have a solid appeal on the finding of Summary Judgment on my mortgage. (New Mexico) 3 recent NM Supreme Court cases, have recently come out, and mirror my main argument, that the court erred because there was no evidence of standing at the time of the complaint. (The note provided as evidence wasn't indorsed) However, now that I've appealed, the Plaintiff, DB has just filed a Notice of Sale. I have already filed the Notice of Appeal, and Docketing Statement, and waiting for the case to be calendared. Need advice, and/or suggestions. Thanks!

Hi Everyone, I apologize in advance if I am in the wrong forum. I am posting on behalf of a dear friend of mine. Here is what I know: We are in Arizona 2007 Refinanced and took out second mortgage 1st = 200K 2nd = 85K Approx 2009 they filed Chapter 7 which included discharging the 2nd mortgage (Nov 2010). They were advised at that point to file Chapter 13 a few months later to remove the lien on the second, but they never did. Fast forward almost 4 years later. They are CURRENT on their first mortgage with a balance of approx $180 They received a letter from Trustee Corps the trustee for "Partners for Payment relief" stating they will foreclose on the SECOND mortgage unless they do one of the following: do a loan mod with PPR, forebearance, Deed in Lieu, repayment plan, reinstatement of loan, short sale, assumption of loan. Basically give us your house. The biggest unbknown right now is whether they have equity or not. googled PPR and they sound REALLY BAD. Here's a page a found: http://www.complaints.com/2012/janu...ss_with_Partner_s_for_Payment_Reli_263057.htm Sounds like JDB to me Looked at county recorded docs and they have indeed foreclosed on people here in AZ. And the paper trail is ridiculous: Bank assigns to a trustee, trustee assigns to PPR, PPR assigns to Trustee Corps, Trustee Corp files foreclosure sale paperwork, foreclosure occurs, Trustee Corps assigns back to PPR. In some cases PPR assigns deed to some investor (this may be the assumption part), who then may foreclose. They also have a few lawsuits out there in AZ and other states. What I am wondering is there anything they can do besides a Chap 13 (so long as they are underwater on the first) or 11 to stop the foreclosure. I posted on "lawyer will answer your question" website and one lawyer stated: We have had some discharged lenders holding second mortgages and their debt buyers threaten foreclosure even though the debts were largely or entirely under water. We have suggested to them that this technique is a violation of the discharge order since it is a bad faith effort to force collection of a discharged debt. We have also suggested to the debt buyers that they are violating the FDCPA as well. So far, they have all backed off. Anybody ever deal with this? Sued people like this? Won? It seems like this should be illegal, but I havent heard that yet since the second lein is still in place. I also believe this is going to be a big thing in the near future - Note buyers on defaulted mortgages - since some housing areas are on the comeback. Thanks Much in advance

My mortgage lender is sending a lot of mixed signals, so I am trying to gauge their intent and come up with a plan. I was 2 payments late and then filed Chapter 7 due to crushing CC debt and upcoming CC Trials when my 3rd mortgage payment was due. After paying all the attorney fees, I did not have money to pay my mortgage payment, so I got to the point where I was 90 days late. A couple of weeks later, I sent all of the loan mod documentation, have been cooperating with them and been sending them all the documents they'd request. I also do have a fairly good income/job now (finally!), so I put all those figures in the loan mod, saying I can pay regularly from now on, but that I have hard time closing the 3-month payment gap without the mod/some help from them. Then, I kept wondering if they'd reject my single month payment in October (since I am 90 days behind), but I sent it anyway. To my surprise, they actually took it, and continued to work on my loan mod, and there was definitely activity. But, then, BAM!, they filed a motion for relief of automatic stay and used the section of the code that lets them give me and the Court only 14 days notice before hearing, instead of 28. In their motion, they also completely ignored the fact that I made a payment in October. I told all this to my Lawyer, who is working on an opposition brief. He's confident he can beat their motion, but the whole experience left me a bit shaken regarding the lender's true intent. Now, I keep wondering if I should send any more payments or just hang on to money and catch up later in the foreclosure process. I am fearful of a scenario where I am making payments and not letting myself fall more than 3 month behind, yet the lender denies modification. If they deny the loan mod, then I really have no financial means of closing the 3 month gap. I don't want to keep throwing good money after bad and still lose the house, But on the other hand, I've heard that if I stay at 90 days late, I have a much higher chance of getting a loan mod then if I slip even further behind. What do you thiink the bank's true intent is here? Aggresively foreclose or get the stay lifted, so they can get the loan mod done more easily (without the restrictions of a stay)? The dual tracking (foreclosing on the owner while there is pending loan mod is now prohibited in California as of Jan 1, 2013), so even if they get the stay lifted, they can't record a notice of default until they approve/reject my modification and comply with HUD counseling requirements for Calif. Another thing that also puzzles me is why they're spending money on a motion for relief of stay when I am about to get discharged from Chapter 7 just around 40 days after the motion hearing anyway? Are they that antsy to begin foreclosing? Aren't they spending a lot of money on those motions for relief considering they only save 40 day by it (provided that they win). I'll never understand their ways of reasoning...

Just curious if anyone has had any experience defending against foreclosures in California or in any other non-judicial foreclosure state. I am currently 3 months behind on my first mortgage and have filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy recently. The automatic stay is currently in effect, and the lender has not filed the motion for relief of stay (not yet). I have sent one QWR request and got the note, deed of trust and other basic stuff. I have also sent the loan modification docs, but was told not to expect too much to happen on it while I am in chapter 7. I have sent one payment this month (that's all I could do), but was told by the servicer that they need to consult with their lawyer to see if they would accept the payment. I'm not too optimistic that they will take the payment. Anyway, I am not really expecting much from the loan mod, and am trying to see what my strategies are to delay the foreclosure for as long as possible. I do have a BK attorney who has filed my case right before the lender got a chance to record a notice of default, so the foreclosure clock hasn't started yet. Once I get my debts discharged and the stay is lifted, I will still have those 90 days before the notice of Trustee sale, so I could try to catch up on my payments. My financial situation is such that I can keep making a monthly mortgage payment, but have hard time closing that 3 month payment gap unless I delay the foreclosure some 6-12 months out, which would give me a chance to catch up. My attorney has recommended filing a Chapter 13 in good faith shortly after Chapter 7 to save the house, but Chapter 13 is really my least favorite option, and I'd almost prefer to lose the house than to go through two bankruptcies in a row. I had to do chapter 7 because of various other debts (long story), but I realize that Chapter 7 only delays the inevitable (foreclosure) and is not really designed to fix it. However chapter 13 bankruptcies have such a high failure rate, so I didn't really want to go that route. With all the debts and high mortgage payments, it seemed like I would have had a really tough time surviving the 3-5 year payment plan. Now, I've seen a bunch of blogs online with people in non-judicial foreclosure states filing the Quiet Title complaints, other injuction actions, TILA actions, etc. etc. Has anybody here done any of it? I am trying to use my automatic stay wisely and read up on all defenses before the stay is lifted in my case. Also, I am seeing some of the securitization defenses, etc. but since my lender is a Credit Union, I am not really sure how to find out whether my loan has been securitized at all. I've tried searching through EDGAR, but there's nothing there. Apparently, with a credit union not being a public company, I am kind of a loss at how to even get a hold of the pooling and servicing (PSA) agreement for my mortgage. If I file any sort of lawsuit (quiet title) against my lender and do any discovery, they'll probably object the heck out of me trying to get a hold of the PSA. Does anyone know of any good foreclosure delay strategies? Anyway, I'm willing to fight it all the way through the unlawful detainer Court (if the lender forecloses), but would like to concentrate on all I can do to gain several more months of time before the foreclosure. Somebody here has commented that Unlawful Detainer Court is pure hell, so it'd be nice not to get there in the first place. Thanks.

I'm in Florida - I am currently in foreclosure. Case was filed 8/2012. I did not request an extension of time and filed my answers and affirmative defenses (all 28 of them) within the 20 days. One defense was the non-resident cost bond issue. At the end of December, I filed motion to dismiss for failure to post cost bond. End of January, they filed motion for extension of time to answer my answer/affirmative defenses. End of April, they posted cost bond. Neither of us had set a hearing for either motion. About a week ago, I received a notice of hearing on my motion to dismiss (not their motion for extension of time). Since they (finally) posted the bond, should I still fight for the MTD, as the bond was posted almost 6 months past the date of filing the complaint? I'm also assuming that they will bring up their motion for extension of time. Should I fight this as well, since they have already had almost a year to answer? I am really hoping to have it dismissed, as the 5 years since my last payment just passed, as well as the new law requiring the banks to jump through hoops to file a foreclosure complaint. What should I expect to happen at the hearing? (not looking for the outcome, of course. Just want to know how the hearing is structured for something like this)

Hi folks, I origionally posted this in Is there a lawyer in the house, I thought this might be a better forum. It's been a while since I've posted here, but the following has me somewhat confused. I have tried to explain the details to the best of my ability, and I would really appreciate some input on your thoughts and what to do next. Our primary residence is in Foreclosure with an attorney handling the case on our behalf. It seems to be in a stalemate position at the moment. I received a letter from another attorney/debt collector regarding the 2nd Mortgage/HELOC on the property, I have sent the letter over to my attorney for their files. I sent the attorney/debt collector a debt vaidation letter, to which they first replied with an Affidavit of Debt as debt validation (it is written on the top of the Affidavit) also the affidavit is marked "Exhibit A" although there was no other paperwork/documents supplied. They have not filed a law suit in this case. I would like to mention at this time that I have also checked my current credit report which states that the account is CLOSED. In our debt validation letter there is a paraghraph regarding arbitration. It reads....If the alleged agreement has any arbitration clause that waives your litigation rights over this alleged debt, I hereby envoke it, elect arbitration,and waive (banks name here) and it's assignees right to litigate in this matter, per the underlying arbitration clause. The Banks Attorneys have now sent me a AAA supplementary procedures for consumer-related disputes form which they have filled out, IN MY NAME, and paid a $1500.00 fee. It is marked as a request of the consumer on the form. There is no signature on the form from me and I have not contacted AAA to request arbitration. My question is: Can they file an arbitration request in my name without my permision? All I have said is that I want to envoke the arbitration clause? Also does anyone know if Florida is a Security First State? Many thanks for you help and advise. Mick.

HI All, I've been getting so much help out of this forum. Like many, I was hit hard by the economic crisis. I had a number of investment properties that turned sour and had to let them go. Thanks to the advice here, I've already gotten 3 foreclosures removed from my reports because the bank never responded to the CRAs. So, I have a few second mortgages that I am working on getting off my reports next. So, here is my question. BOA purchased the horrid Countrywide and PNC bought not-quite as horrid National City. CW and NC were my OCs. So, are BOA and PNC CAs or are they OCs? Anyone dealt with this situation? Thanks!

The ex-husband was awarded the marital property in the divorce decree. The mortgage deed contains the name of the husband and the wife. The mortgage loan was under the name of the wife ONLY. More than 3 years has past and the ex-husband announced 2 weeks ago that he has built another house in another county and the marital property is about to go through foreclosure. Again, this mortgage loan is in the ex-wife's name ONLY. The collection agency has apparently been searching for the ex-wife but no communication has yet been made. Until two weeks ago, she was not aware that the property was in collections. All correspondences have been to the property address even though it was addressed to her. Nothing was ever given to her to advise of the situation prior to two weeks ago. It is understood that the mortgage company has compiled a large amount of fees and penalties associated with the bad debt. The rumor is that this group of investors buy bad debt, sues for everything they can get from the debtor, forecloses on the property to obtain some insurance policy, and then resale's the property at the market value. The ex-wife would not object to paying off the balance on the loan to save her credit but the collection agency does not want to talk with her unless they get all of her personal information first. The questions needing answered are as follows: 1) What are the laws associated with the Ex-husband not transferring the debt to himself and abandoning the property even though the divorce decree was clear that this was his responsibility? 2) Is there anything more than contempt of court that the ex-husband can be held responsible for? 3) What type of lawyer should the ex-wife hire? 4) Can the new husband be held liable for any of the debt from the previous marriage and this foreclosure process?

Hi there, I'm not even positive how I ran across this site, but I'm glad I did. Lots of great ideas and positive support from one another. I'm looking for some advice; I see all sorts of conflicting information on how to eliminate and/or improve bad things on your credit report. Too much time on the interwebs!! Here's my story. Bought a home in 2006, was self employed in the real estate industry. Income went from 80K to almost nothing. A few p/t jobs & contract work and I 1099'd about 12K in 2008. Lost the home to foreclosure after attempting a failed short sale....yada yada yada Citi took the home in 2010. I got sued by Citi for my 2nd mortgage, even though Citi took the home because they held the first mortgage. I settled with them about a week ago for about 15% of the balance, which is better than 100%. Anyway, I'm back on my feet now with a good job that pays regularly (as opposed to the ups and downs of Real Estate sales). Now the battle back to the top begins. I'm not even sure if it's unrealistic to have "decent" credit with foreclosure on my record, but I want to rid my report of as many negatives as realistically possible. Those negatives you ask? Portfolio Recovery balance of 1700.00. (Old Orchard Bank/HSBC credit card). HSBC Bank. No balance but "bad debt/collection", but its the above referenced credit card that "Portfolio" has purchased (I guess?). So it appears I'm getting dinged 2x for this one account. Capital One balance of 2300.00 (credit card). I get mail all the time from "Northland Group" trying to collect this. Citi 2nd mortgage (or HELOC as they call it, even though it was given to me the day I got my home as "second"). $36,000. This is what I settled for last week. I am going to pay the settlement amount in full in March and be done with them. Citi FIRST mortgage is still showing up on my credit report. Will this ever turn into the foreclosure? Its status is "120+ past due" even though they've had the house now for 2 full years. The balance is zero, so maybe this is credit report speak for foreclosure. 2 Collection Accounts: $443 to AT&T "assigned to" Enhanced Recovery". $602 for a very old DirecTV account. I can't figure out who the collection agency is but it says "401YC18884". I realize I can't really do much on the foreclosure. The Citi 2nd is going to be paid in full (settlement amount) so hopefully that will help as it will turn from a bad debt of $36K to a paid (albeit settled) amount of $6K. My questions: HSBC: who do I deal with - Portfolio or HSBC? Should I try to settle? Cap One: I consistently get letters from "Northland Group" over this debt. Is that even legal as they don't show up on my CR, but CapOne does. Again, who do I deal with and should I try to settle? Both collection accounts - same thing. It appears these collection agencies have been "hired" to collect these amounts, per my myFICO report that just ran a couple of days ago. Track them down and try to negotiate? I do have access to capital to where I could pay off the above accounts. What I don't want to do is pay them and have them still be negatives on my report. Lastly, how exactly do I negotate with these professionals without getting swindled. I assume not phone, but rather via snail mail. Sorry for the novel, but I wanted to paint a clear picture for anyone so inclined to help a guy out with any advice, tips, things-not-to-do, etc. If you have questions, post them and I'll check back frequently.