Charge off from GE/Care Credit. Help!

[Pickel413]

Here is my situation. I hope someone can really help.

I had a GE Consumer Card for Care Credit (dental work) in 06/2001. Because of extreme interest, late fees, etc., it got way out of hand. Not making excuses...it just is what it is.

Anway in May of 2005, I began receiving harrassing calls from Arrow Financial Services. There initial letter to me was May 2, 2005. After some research, I sent a letter dated May 21, 2005, asking that the validate the debt. I sent it certified mail, return receipt requested. Still have not received a response as of this date. No further communications from them.

I just ran my credit report from Experian...here is my problem:

There is a reported charge off from GEMB/Care Credit showing on my credit report. It is hard for me to understand, but it state under 'Status' "Account charged off/Past due 150 days. $2,309 written off. $641 past due as of June 2005."

Also Date of Status = 03/2005; Last Reported = 06/2005; Recent Balance = $2,309 as of 06/2005;

under 'Creditor's Statement' it says: "Purchased by another lender".

Account History:

Charge Off as of Mar 2005 to Jun 2005

180 days as of Mar 2005

150 days as of Feb 2005

120 days as of Jan 2005

90 days as of Dec 2004

60 days as of Nov 2004, Apr 2004

30 days as of Oct 2004, Sep 2004, Jul 2004, May 2004, Mar 2004, Aug 2003, Jul 2003, May 2003, Jan 2003, Apr 2002, Jan 2002

Sorry for such a long post. I really need help on addressing how, if possible, to have this removed. If I save up enough money to pay it off, should I send the original creditor a debt settlement offer asking that the charge off be removed from my credit reports once paid? And what about Arrow Financial?

[Been_Ponzied]

I have had a multitude of problems with GE Care Credit. The State Attorney's consumer affairs dept forced them to clear it up for me. They are not consumer friendly.

However, if what they are reporting is correct, you can either (1) sue the CA for not validating, but only if you sent that DV letter in the first 30 days after their "dunning" (1st) letter.

(2) Or try to settle. GE may not even talk to you. You might have to settle with the CA. If the CA is not cooperative about settling, you might have to wait for them to sell the debt to the next CA. That was how I finally settled with American Express.

The lates you can try to take care of later - probably much later.

Good luck

[Been_Ponzied]

oops had a computer glitch and cannot delete this.

[Pickel413]

Thanks for your response, but I'm still not clear.

As stated originally, the first letter I received from Arrow Fin. Svs. was on May 2, 2005. The letter stated they had "purchased" the account. On May 21, 2005, (19 days after initial letter) I sent a DV letter via Cert. Mail RRR to Arrow. I have not received any response, either by telephone or mail. No validation has been provided to me as of July 29, 2005, approximately 60 days after the DV was sent.

Anyway, Arrow is not showing up on the credit report, only the OC, GE / Care Credit. It appears to me that from some of the dates on the credit report that GE is still updating my account. Can they do this even though they sold the account? Are they in some violation due to my DV of 05/21/05?

Thanks in advance for any help.

[willingtocope]

I'm confused. I'm not familiar with GEMB/Care Credit...are they the original creditor here?

If so, then the line "Purchased by another lender" means they've sold the debt to a Junk Debt Buyer (JDB). And, if that the case, then their balance should say $0...they don't own it anymore. You'll need to do some research here, but you should be able to send them a letter CMRRR stating that they are violating the FCRA by reporting incorrectly.

The problem is, having a sold charge off on your CRs is a pretty bad ding and not easily correctable. You could possibly threaten to sue over their FCRA violations, but they may not care.

Arrow is probably out of the picture now. GEMB/Care Credit probably hired them to hassle you, and when you didn't cave easily, Arrow handed it back to them. You will probably be hearing from the JDB soon...

[Pickel413]

Thanks for your post.

GE/Care Credit which is also known as GE Consumer Card Co., I think. is the original lender (06/2001) and they are showing a balance due even though it was also stated they sold the account.

When you say I should be hearing from JDB soon, do you mean a new one? Someone other than Arrow Fin Svs.? Should I follow up with a second letter to them seeing as they didn't respond as requested within 30 days to my first DV letter?

Thanks again!

[Been_Ponzied]

If they are showing a balance due even though they sold, then I would call the CRAs and tell them that. After they try to verify, it should come out differently.

Yes I think he means a new collection agency. If it gets turned over to a new one, make sure you DV them and make them cough up proof that they own the debt. I believe that if you do this right, you could then sue them if they don't validate completely.

[Pickel413]

Thanks for the advice.

If I contact the CRA about the balance due even though account was sold, is this going to help at all. It won't get the charge off deleted will it? Do I have any hope of getting a charge off deleted?

[Been_Ponzied]

No, I know of nothing that will get a charge off deleted if it's correct. And, settling doesn't even help that much because they will put, "settled after charge-off." (Although it does help some). Experian actually placed one of our settled accounts in the favorable area of our credit file.

I hate GE Care Credit. They are uncompassionate monsters. We even threatened them once with moving my husband's GE IRA that is worth $200,000. They didn't give a damn! They said they aren't related to the company that has the IRA, but they are both GE, so who is the liar here?