Medical Collections

[jdman]

I am trying to buy a house and I have a BUNCH of medical collections on my credit. I need to pay them off. How do I do a pay for delete with the collection agency?

[Harry Seaward]

Call them and negotiate a settlement.

Just FYI, pay for delete is pretty much non-existent these days, but even if it were an option, the CAs will expect payment in full, so be prepared for that.

[BackFromTheDebt]

3 hours ago, Harry Seaward said:

Call them and negotiate a settlement.

Just FYI, pay for delete is pretty much non-existent these days, but even if it were an option, the CAs will expect payment in full, so be prepared for that.

Agreed about the PFD. 

My wife had an account in collections when we refinanced our home.  We offered the JDB a choice: either we pay 100% and they remove the debt from out credit report or else they keep in on the report and pay nothing. 

They didn’t even reply.  

It turned out not to make any difference in our loan. 

[Harry Seaward]

13 minutes ago, BackFromTheDebt said:

It turned out not to make any difference in our loan. 

Yep. Most lenders don't care about collections more than 2 years old, as long as you're clearing 620 FICO. FHA guidelines will let you go as low as 580 (i believe) but there aren't too many lenders that scrape that low.

Unpaid judgments are a different story.

[BackFromTheDebt]

Another thing to consider about debt in collections:

In some cases they go after you hard either (a) when you apply for a loan and a suit would kill your chances or (b) after you buy the house and the debt is large enough for a lien on the house.