Search the Community

Do you think I can get away with 30%?

Hello and thank you for reading/trying to help, I'm in the process of looking for a home to buy and have been pre-approved for a mortgage. I was told that no matter what I have to take care of the open/active collection I have reported on my credit reports by Portfolio. The SOL is up and they cannot sue me for it, but the account is to stay on my credit reports for 2 more years. I tried disputing it with the credit agencies but had no luck. Portfolio actually sued me for a different account a year ago, which I challenged and won; I'm guessing that's why they let the SOL expire on this one and never bothered to contact me about it, and instead reported it to the credit agencies right after the SOL was up. How should I go about contacting them to get this off my credit report? The amount owed is $1,300 and obviously I'd like to pay as little as possible and have the account completely deleted off my credit report or reported as paid in full - or whatever is best to improve my credit score. I would think that I have leverage in this situation seeing as they can't sue me for it so offering them anything at all would be better than nothing. If I contact them, would that change/reset the SOL and allow them to come after me for it? What's the minimum you think they would be happy with? How long would this process take? I know I should get the deal in writing, but is it wise to talk to them on the phone while we try to reach a deal? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Received 2 letters for 2 different Chase accounts that are a year past Charge Off offering a settlement. Their exact verbage... "We want to work with you to resolve your deliquent account, so we'd like to offer you a settlement. Your current account balance is $3200, however we'll accept payment of $320 to settle the account and stop further collection activities. You'll save $2900. You can accept this offer until 4/1/17." The 2nd letter stated the same with the balance for that account and the respective offer of 10% of balance to settle. Does this mean they will not sue or sell the balance owed if I agree to their offer? I am very surprised at how low Chase of all people are willing to accept. Anyone been successsful in getting them to delete the account once settled? I've been contacted by several CA on these 2 accounts since defaulting on payment when we filed for divorce 2 years ago. My former husband ended up losing his job a year ago so alimony was greatly reduced. I am supplementing expenses by dipping into retirement. That's where I would get the settlement payments for these accounts. With little income and only my homesteaded home, I would file BK, but for a law in NV barring guardians filing BK. Guardianship of my special needs adult child is more important than BK protection to me.

I went through this credit repair journey with success, mostly thanks to this board. I bought a home a year and a half ago! Last month, a new collection appeared on my credit report. My former landlord kept my deposit of $950, charged me another $1600 for damages, and sent me to collections. I didn't get notice of the debt, from either the landlord or the collection agency. The landlord may have sent me certified mail, but when I bought the home, I wasn't living there and never picked up the letter from the post office (my bad). So the landlord's charges are bogus. I can't definitely prove it, but I CAN prove she is charging me for at least some damage from the previous tenants. She offered to lower the charges by $300, making it $1300. While I could pay, I don't feel like I owe this. So.....I want this off my credit. I am willing to pay her 40percent just to get this off my report, even though it is bogus. I believe if we went to court, it could go either way, depending on who the judge believes (but no way it would go completely in her favor, I could probably argue/present evidence to make a LOT go away.) Please help me consider options: 1. Pay the collection, sue the landlord (that way, she couldn't countersue me and make me end up with a judgement). 2. Send her a pay-for-delete (or pulling back from collections). I would offer to pay 40 percent in order to have her pull this from collections and make it go away. She said that if anything is collected, she only gets 40 percent anyway. 3. ??? I'm leaning for option 2 and haven't been able to find a sample letter that fits. Please help!

Hi everyone, I did a search on the forums and was unable to find a scenario like mine. If there is one and I missed it, I apologize in advance for overlooking that. When it comes to my question, it originates from a medical debt collection started in 2011 that, as far as I know, came from me breaking my hand in 2010 and being of legal age. Although I signed all of the medical documents, my parents were going to pay the medical bill as I did not have income to pay for it because I was a full-time student. With that said, my parents accidentally stopped paying the debt (I believe it was being paid for on a charge card and they received new cards), and it eventually ended up on my credit report, resulting in around $1600-$1700 in debt. So, why am I worried about it now that it is almost 2.5 years away from being removed from my credit report? It is because I have a flawless credit history outside of this collection and I honestly want to correct this "mistake" so I can continue on with having my "perfect" credit history. Now that I am graduating college and am possibly looking at moving out soon, I want to be able to have a clean-slate and not run into any issues with my credit history. I am also looking at applying for another credit card or two as my credit score is slightly above 700. Now my question to you friendly folks is this, I have read about settling and seriously pursuing the "pay for delete" route because that is the best case scenario for me, but where do I start?. I have the money to offer a sizable settlement amount, but I do want to try to settle for as low as possible as I know they buy the loan from doctors for pennies on the dollar. As a side note, this debt is still owned by the original CA that filed the delinquency back in 2011. Do I send a letter of validation even though I believe the debt is accurate and all of the notes match up with the original source of debt (the hospital)? If I do and I receive confirmation, do I offer 20% of the debt and work my way up from there? Do I run the risk of having them "reset" the SOL if I try to settle for a pay for delete? I am very serious about getting this removed, and am willing to spend generously if that's what it takes, but I'd rather start low and work my way up from there. This was what I was thinking about saying when I call them, "Hi, “name" I was hoping to be able to speak with someone about being able to settle a collection on my credit report. I inherited debt that I did not know was not being paid, and am hoping to be able to make it right and come to an agreement. As a result of this agreement, I am hoping that we can also agree that this will be a pay for delete settlement and you will contact the credit agencies to have this derogatory mark removed." If you made it through this post, I want to say thank you very much for your time and hope that you can provide me with any advice on how to approach this situation. Having this removed from my credit report would be absolutely amazing for me and my mental "well-being."

Hello all, I had medications on May 2014 and it was supposed to be covered by workers compensation as sprained my ankle at work. I also had my personal health insurance on file. After receiving medications, i had to move out from the address (was in that address until August 2014 - not received a single bill or notification about anything). On April 24 2015, i ran a credit report check and found that there is a collection account for an $xxx amount which was initially reported in Feb 2015. So i called in the CA to get the break-up of the bill & they said the medical debt has been assigned to them from the OC and they don't have any bills or statements. So i called in the OC and they were aware of what happened, saying that the bills returned to them saying undeliverable and that's the reason they turned it to CA after 6 months. I told, the workers comp insurer should have paid, apparently i did not know any of these cuz i changed the address and the claim results, bills were all sent to my old address. Anyways, i called the respective accounting/billing person of the OC, questioned her if the debt has been assigned or sold to CA, she said assigned, then explained what happened and willing to resolve it sooner by paying the debt in full & in-turn want the collection listing on my credit report to be removed. She accepted immediately and said "i will inform the CA to put a hold onto this account and will tell them not to call or disturb you on this." I said, ty, please send the agreement to me in mail and gave her my current address and i can . She told, "it won't be like an agreement or sorta like that". I was like, but i want the listing to be removed, anyways, mail me the document first then. *What kind of document should i expect.? like an agreement or contract or just a document.? *should i call her and record the conversation (informing her prior). I live in KS state by the way. Not sure if i can and will it work? *I will update the document once i receive it from them. Nothing has been finalized in writing, guide me if you have a better way, please put in your inputs which will be really effective for me to handle this situation. Thank you all for your time.

I have a debt in the $1400 range. I responded to the debt collectors original communication by sending a letter for debt validation. By the way, the SOL has not passed as this debt is only about 3 years old. In response to my letter, an attorneys office responded that represents the collection agency, validating the debt. They have not threatened to sue yet, and as of this point we have not communicated any more. In response I have prepared a variation of the pay for delete letter to the collection agency and attorneys office. The version to the CA: Dear Collection Manager: This letter is in response to the debt referenced above. As I am currently trying to correct my past mistakes and fix my credit, I wish to save us both some time and effort by settling this debt and avoiding all unnecessary further actions. I am aware that your agency, (COLLECTION AGENCY) has the ability to report this debt to the credit bureaus as you deem necessary. Furthermore, (COLLECTION AGENCY) has the ability to change the listing since (COLLECTION AGENCY) is the information furnisher. I am willing to pay this debt in full in return for (COLLECTION AGENCY)'s agreement to remove all information regarding this debt from the credit reporting agencies within ten calendar days of payment. If you agree to the terms, I will send certified payment in the amount of $1xxx.xx payable to (COLLECTION AGENCY) in exchange to have all information related to this debt removed from all of my credit files. If you accept this offer, you also agree not to discuss the offer with any third-party, excluding the original creditor. If you accept the offer, please prepare a letter on your company letterhead agreeing to the terms. This letter should be signed by an authorized agent of (COLLECTION AGENCY). The letter will be treated as a contract and subject to the laws of my state. Please forward your agreement to the address listed above. The version to the attorney: Dear (ATTORNEY): This letter is in response to your letter on (da te) related to the debt referenced above. As I am currently trying to correct my past mistakes and fix my credit, I wish to save us both some time and effort by settling this debt and avoiding all unnecessary further actions. I am aware that your office and/or (COLLECTION AGENCY) has the ability to report this debt to the credit bureaus as you deem necessary. Furthermore, (COLLECTION AGENCY) has the ability to change the listing since (COLLECTION AGENCY) is the information furnisher. I am willing to pay this debt in full in return for (COLLECTION AGENCY)'s agreement to remove all information regarding this debt from the credit reporting agencies within ten calendar days of payment. If you agree to the terms, I will send certified payment in the amount of $1xxx.xx payable to (COLLECTION AGENCY) in exchange to have all information related to this debt removed from all of my credit files. If you accept this offer, you also agree not to discuss the offer with any third-party, excluding the original creditor. If you accept the offer, please prepare a letter on your company letterhead or have (COLLECTION AGENCY) prepare a letter on their letterhead, whoever applies, agreeing to the terms. This letter should be signed by an authorized agent of (COLLECTION AGENCY) or (ATTORNEY OFFICE). The letter will be treated as a contract and subject to the laws of my state. Please forward your agreement to the address listed above. I have questions about this, however. Is there a point in sending this after I have received my debt validation? Is there anything in these letters I should add, rephrase, or omit? I really want to avoid any lawsuit and want to settle quickly and preferably save my already tattered credit score. Just looking for suggestions since I don't know the proper response after receiving a validation of debt.

Hello, I am in need of some serious help. I have never checked my credit report in my entire life until two days ago when a collection agency called me and informed me that i had student loans in my name. *this is sadly a case of family fraud but i did attend school so I'm dealing with that, it only prompted me to check my credit report to see what else may have happened. I did credit karma (transition) and to be safe got the experian report as well. I am going through all this information still as it has been pretty overwhelming but have noticed a few pretty serious concerns already. First big issue: on the experian report under my personal information it says "also known as" and it is not my name, possible typo on someone end at the original creditor or during the transfer of information I have an account in collections with the improper name on my report. EOS CCA filed collection account for AT&T mobility for $900 You have to have the correct information to even have an account started in your name so Im not sure what to do. second: Multiple accounts in collections that are not mine: AFNI is reporting $297 for SPRINT as well as TRIDENT ASSET MANAGEMENT and NATIONAL RECOVERY reporting columbia house dvd $58 for different dates one in 2009 the other in 2010 and i have never had a columbia house dvd membership of any kind. I have two different agencies SW CRDT SYS and STELLAR REC reporting COMCAST debts for three different amounts and three different dates for consecutive months in a row. but each time that i have used the company i have closed out the accounts and paid them off to a 0 balance. SWIFT FNDS reporting a golds gym membership from 2009 for $202. third: FBCS is reporting EMCARE CENTER EMERGENCY PHYS $528 and I cannot find this company anywhere on the internet to get information to even have an idea of what this might be, ALLIED COLLECTION has two different accounts in collections for RADIOLOGY ASSOCIATES with multiple amounts: one has an original balance of $68 then current balance of $72 opened 10/25/10, the other report is an amount of $40 opened 4/1/2009 on top of that RADIOLOGY ASSOCIATES with the listed address on the report is no longer in business. I have no idea where or what these could be; does anyone else know? Lastly: AARGON AGNCY reporting $12,870 on behalf of RMI Management LLC. the original date opened is not provided but it does have the "last updated" date as 11/1/2008. I don't even know what to say about this one. Is this past the SOL since it is from 2008? Also, I believe that these would be racked up fees of some kind because I definitely did not borrow or get $12,870 worth of goods or services in any way shape or form. To make matters worse, when I asked the woman that called about the student loans where all the documents and notices had been sent as i have never one time received anything about these debts she told me that it was all being sent to an address in california that i have not lived at since 2004/2005. i have been constantly moving from one place to another and only now when i finally settled down and moved in with my fiancé do i have an actually address. I am really freaking out because we are about to get married and this bomb just exploded a few days ago. Clearly, I really need some freaking help. I do not know what to do at all and all of this is new to me and I just don't know where to start. I have been doing a ton of reading to become a little more knowledgable about credit and this whole process the past few days but I am just overwhelmed and do not know where to start. I was going to dispute the accounts that are obviously not mine as well as the ones that are out of business and the other ATT that is not in my name. HELP!!!!!!!!

I have been reading that if it comes to the point where I have to settle with the collections agencies I should negotiate a pay for delete, rather that paid in full or some other jargon like that. However, I have been researching and Ive heard from some others say that it's technically illegal and a lot of them wont agree to this. Is this true? Because one source says go for it and another says it doesnt work and its better off to just let the debt sit on your report because merely settling the debt won't do anything beneficial for your credit score. I'm new to all this so thanks for all your help.

I have 3 accounts that have gone to "Charge-off" and say "Closed". I have a Bank of America card that now is in collections with North Star Location Services according to Bank of America but only Bank of America shows on my credit report. I have a Capital One card that is now with Oliphant according to Capital One but Oliphant is not showing on my credit report, just Capital One. Capital One will not accept any money from me since I'm assuming they sold the account but Oliphant has NEVER contacted me about this account. I even sent Oliphant a letter but I have yet to receive a response. I also have another Capital One card that went to ARS National Services but is now back with Capital One. Again, only Capital One shows on my credit report. What steps should I take next? I'd like to clean up my credit report the best way possible. Do I send debt-validation letters? If so, to whom? Can I try Pay For Delete? If so, again who do I send the letters to - the Original Creditor or the Collection Agency that isn't even showing on my credit report. I am new, obviously, so any help is appreciated.

Hello all!! I'm a first time user, so I'd first like to say thank you in advance for any help any of you can provide me with!! I have recently pulled my credit report for the first time and have found 5 collection accounts that are all attributed to medical bills, The highest one is $322 and the lowest is $25, there were a lot of bills coming in at that time, and I think these ones just got lost in the shuffle. I have the financial ability to pay them all in full so I thought the Pay for Delete option would be best for me. One of my main questions is, 3 of the collections listed are with the same collection agency, GLA Collections, would it be beneficial for me to combine all 3 accounts in my pay for delete letter or should I send a separate letter for each account number? Or, is there a different route I should use? Another question I have, besides those collection accounts all of my other accounts (Car payment and credit card) are all paid as agreed with no negative feedback since they were opened in 2011. If the Collection agencies refuse to accept my pay for delete offer, I feel I should go on and pay the debts, meaning they will show as paid on my credit report, but how would a mortgage lender see those. Would the fact that I have good marks on my revolving credit and installment trump the fact that I had medical bills that were sent to collections but have been paid? Thank you again for any feedback you can provide me with!!!

Hi everyone, and happy Wednesday to you all. Well, after burying my head in the sand for so long, I'm finally taking steps to try to address some old charged-off accounts currently in collection (none are past SOL, btw). Since it's been several months since the CAs for these first sent me correspondence, so I've obviously missed the window for DV (live and learn). All of the negative tradelines on my CR are OC entries, which I'm assuming means that the CAs are either assigned or else haven't reported. My plan for addressing things is to try to arrange a pay-for-delete on these accounts or, barring that, at least get an NDA agreement so that I can later dispute the tradelines with the Big Three and have them removed (since the NDA will prevent the OCs or CAs from verifying the accounts with the CRAs). So my question is, who do I approach regarding pay-for-delete or settle with NDA? Since the accounts are listed as charged off by the OC, I'm assuming that they won't want to deal with me. On the flip side, the CAs may want to work with me, but do they have any ability to have tradelines that were listed by the OC removed? It doesn't seem like they would. Any advice is greatly appreciated. I'd like to get the process moving ASAP (like today), because I'm currently being sued on another account that I waited on too long because I didn't know what to do. Lesson learned! Thank you all so very much!

My wife owes $10 for medical collections from July 2011. I found this page:http://www.creditinfocenter.com/debt/pay-for-delete.shtml It indicates that I should under no circumstances make a payment without getting written confirmation that the collections agency will do a Pay for Delete. I called the collections agency, and the woman handling our case stated that they don't do that, that they don't send paperwork and they don't sign paperwork submitted to them. On the one hand, it is only $10, and I don't see any reason that they wouldn't just remove that negative on the credit report. No reason ruining someone's credit for $10. And the tone in the woman's voice indicated sincerity. On the other hand, the page above said NEVER WITHOUT WRITTEN AGREEMENT. So what do I do now?

I received a letter from Convergent Solutions regarding and alleged debt. This is apparently an alleged charge off from Sprint that they claim to own. The present balance is under $400.00. this will be past the SOL date by the end of this year. Based on the balance it appears that the chance of litigation would be minimal ( my personal assumption) As I am trying to work on the negative reportings on my credit report I thought it would be worth the shot to call Convergent and see if they would be willing to pay for delete on this alleged account. I explained to the customer service rep. that I spoke with that I did not know of this debt and was unaware of it's existence until I reviewed my credit report and that I dispute that the debt is valid. I said in an effort to minimize the damage that this is having on my credit I would be willing to possibly pay to have this deleted from my credit report. The customer service rep. stated that they do not pay to delete and that if we came to some sort of settlement agreement it would be reported as settled. Has anyone had any success with pay for delete. Would it be worth calling back and asking to speak to a supervisor.

Good afternoon helpful forum folks. It seems everyone situation is a little different and i have had a lot of general advice, sometimes conflicting with others. I hope to receive some specific information to help me, by posting my situation. credit as of april 6 Equifax 535 transunion 536 experian 649 open 2 month of pos history car loan 40 month pos history bofa card 21 month pos history bofa card 14 month pos history cap one collection cavalry portfolio collection customer disp acct BOFA last reported 3/13$16,501 CFS 2 inc collection customer disp acct US BANK last reported 3/13 $9,917 collection ATT last reported 3/13 $836 collection DS Waters last reported 5/09 $274 Nordstrom FSB Charge off disp rptd rslvd- consumer disagrees legally pd in full for balance last reported 4/13 My goal is to buy a house in September under FHA My Questions- I disputed everything and it looks like Nordstrom agrees to the dispute, but is is still on my report. Is this still hurting my score, and if so what should i do? DS Waters has not reported in 4 years, should I still try to pay for delete? What steps can I take next, would the 623 method make sense? I had about 15 credit inquiries for my car loan and it is a new trade line. I was told that looking at your credit for the best deal would group the pulls to not negatively hurt my score. Yet my transunion score dropped 40 points. Were they wrong about multiple pulls and will my score go back up? Any recommendations for my specific situation? Thank you so much in advance

So I sent a DV to CAC in response to the dunning letter I received. Have not received a response, but did some background research in the meantime on my CR and found one of my small store credit cards was charged off and sold to a 3rd party (I'd assume CAC but waiting on the DV response). Issue is the amount CAC gave me is over double what the CC company charged the card off for (e.g. they say balance is almost $1300; card was charged off for a little over $650). If they properly respond to the DV and I offer to pay for delete, can/should I negotiate for about 30-50% of the charge off amount? Just trying to think ahead. FYI, CAC is currently not reporting on my CR.

I am confused on one of my unpaid bill(not it is in collection), and I want to know is that my liability to pay for it? and what should I do next in this case? Here is my case: 1. My parents' family health plan dropped me out at my birthday 2010, but the insurance company never let me know it was birthday and we all assumed it will expires at Dec 31. When I visit the dentist at Nov 2010, he persuade me to use the rest of balance for a service and print out the estimation which shows my insurance will expire at 12/31. A few weeks later after accept the service at Dec., insurance company inform us that I was already out of the family plan before the service and reject the bill. Some people in another forum said it is totally my fault(as a patient not knowing the expiration date of my insurance) and blame me as a deadbeat. They also said the only thing I can do is pay it ASAP, Is it correct? 2: A big difference of billing amount. Compare with the original receipt and estimation, the current bill CA sent me is $1600+, and it is about a 40% increase in 2 years. How much interest rate can OC and CA add on it? 3: It is already become a record on my credit report. What should I do if I want to minimize the impact on my credit report? 4. Collection agency's law office said they are 'assigned' by OC to collect it, and I am about to sent the collect agency a 'pay for delete' letter. But a lot of people mentioned sent 'pay for delete' to OC(in my case, the dentist), who should I really sent the letter to? The bad record on my credit report is submitted by CA, should I still contact original creditor?

Question: You want to "Pay For Delete"... If you come to an agreement with the collection agency and you're able to pay off the account in question and they take off the "Collections" entry from the Credit Bureau, because of the agreement you came up with with the collection agency, will you're original creditor still show on the credit file as owing and/or charged-off?... I mean where is the benefit of paying off the agency if your original creditor still shows negative? Or will the collection agency call the original creditor and say "we got the money! or we came to an agreement with the payee"

There are a lot of post around the web offering suggestions and situations for making offers to OCs for a settlement for reporting deletions. How often do people succeed? And how? I've done a little groundwork myself already and just started working with Lexington Law. They've gotten a few things removed already (in less than a month) that have supposedly been 'validated' during other dispute attempts. However, I have a few accounts that I'm fairly confident WON'T go away so easily tho and have been researching what I should do for the next step since Lex only uses the dispute/validate approach over and over. Once I get sufficient paperwork from the OC's, I was planning to make a 'pay for deletion' request but would like to get a better idea of what approaches work best? I've been having a really difficult time finding a professional service that assists with this part of the process.

Sent a Pay for Delete letter to Progressive Management Systems for a medical bill that was never payed. Followed a sample letter from this forum. Received response saying that they "confirm agreement to accept $$ as full and final payment" But it also says, "as agreed, debt is valid" and that they will delete from credit report upon receipt of payment". but letter has no signature, only representative name. Is this letter still valid without a signature even though it's on CA letterhead? And I never agreed that debt was valid even though it was validated through CR agencies.

I just found out yesterday that a collections agency has reported to my credit report because of which my credit score dropped 98 points. The collections was for my cable bill which I always was under the impression that I had paid it off. The amount is for a mere $64. My question is if I chose to opt for the "Pay for delete" method and get the collections to remove the remark from my credit report, will my score go back up by 98 points?? This collection agency reported it to the credit bureaus in the last 2-3 weeks. So its very recent. Please help me with any knowledge you have and guide to what needs to be done. Thanks

I have 3 accounts in Collection from some medical issues I had while unemployed. 2 are with EOS/CCA for a total of $600. The other one is with Wakefield & Assoc., and started at $832, and is now $1053. I have several questions: 1. Can Wakefield continue to charge me interest? 2. If I do Pay For Deletes, and I don't want to pay the whole amount, (they've been out there for over 3 years) What's a good starting point to negotiate? I know that debt buyers buy the debt at pennies on the dollar, so if I offered them 25% for a pay for delete, is that too low, a good start, a joke? 3. Do I need to pay the full amount? Any thoughts, suggestions would be appreciated?

Hi all, this if my first post, but I'd like to thank everyone for the vast amount of information provided here. I've referenced this site many many times as I work towards credit repair. That said, please accept my apology if I'm posting in the wrong area or wasn't able to find the answers I'm looking for. First, sadly I'm sitting with a 580 credit score. It's embarrassing. I had my car repo'd in 2010, then charged off with a month to go. I managed to pay it off and get my title, but that's sitting on my report. Doubt there's much I can do about that. However, in March my gf cosigned a loan for a vehicle and I have been perfect. I have a CC with a $10k limit, $8k balance, but paying more than $1k/month to get it under the 50% threshold. Also, finally paid my 9th (and final) payment to get my student loans out of default. With all the positives, still no movement on my credit score. I just don't get it. Anyway, my real questions are relating to lingering collection accounts. I have 11 items negatively affecting my credit report. 3 for the student loans (which should disappear), 8 for collections. I literally owe less than $3k in collections. 1. 5 of the collection items are less than $100. Pay For Delete's have been unsuccessful. All from 2007. No clue what to do. Paying them seems pointless. Should I continue to dispute? 2. 1 CA has me for $2400...Only $1600 balance, the rest in interest. 2 of the items they have are judgments that I was never ever served for. I no longer live in that state, but I did when the judgment occurred. AND, the judgment shows my current address at the time (1 1/2 hrs from the judgment city). I read the first step is to file an "Order to show cause"? The other 2 items are less than $100. If I pay the 2 items less than $100, they'll still continue to report to the CRA. And, why can judgments show up twice? Show up as judgments and as a CA amount? It's showing double the debt!? 3. Most recently I received a bill from a CA about an MRI I had. Requested a detailed statement. Received a detailed statement on 10/21. Returned a letter 10/28 informing them I'm working with my Health Care Provider. 10/31 received a letter I'm being reported to the CRA. Sure enough, reported 11/1. How is that fair? $440 So sorry for the long email, but I really appreciate everyone's expertise. I really have no problem paying off these debts, but I also want to see positive effects. I keep seeing that paying off negative items doesn't do anything. And especially with #3, I feel like the damage is done, so what's the point? Thank you so very much.

Hi everyone! I'm new to the site but have been a long time reader and decided to join! I've searched long and hard to find a topic related to mine but can't seem to pull any up, So my problem is this- I have a collections acct from 2009 for a student loan from a community college, I have made one payment recently in early Febuary 2012. It was so I can get my insurance agent's license and it had to show I made at least a payment. So the debt I have in question here is in lieu of 1279.00, Very small amount I know...But I haven't had such steady employment and moved often. So I would like to see if I can do a pay for delete and remove it completely from my credit report, I've read up on the site that I can start out by sending a registered letter to the ca for less than 25% of the debt? and offer them a pay for delete? I have the funds to do close to the 1279.00 but not the full amount. Also I have a debt of 190.00 dollars to Progressive insurance that is in collections since April of 2012, I wanna get that removed as well but am willing to pay the full amount. Can someone give me advice on how I should go about all this? I would love to rebuild my credit as it would be such an amazing acheivement at my age (22).

My two credit card accounts have been delinquent for over a year. I'm now receiving letters from a 3rd CA. However, no collections are showing on my credit report. Should I still ask for debt validation? Instead of asking for "pay for delete," do I ask them to not report anything negative in the future? If I settle with the CA's, how do I get the OC to report as paid in full?