Credit Card Collection
In my youth I had a credit card that ended up being charged off. I did attempt to make good on my debt, but circumstances prevented me from completing this goal. It has been over 7 years since this charge off. Recently I have been receiving letters from a collection agency. I have checked my credit reports and this account is no longer on my credit report. My question is what can happen? If I do make payments now will it be reflected on my credit report? My credit report is basically in good shape just need to bring down those high balances. What experience does anyone have?
Hello JVolley,
If the account is in fact no longer on your credit report then I am guessing what has happened is that because of the time frame (7years) it has been wiped out from your report.
If you are getting letters from a collection agency regarding the particular debt, it has probably been sold to them and they are going to try and recover any money they possible can. If they get it great, if they don't, oh well.
What is the debt for and how much?
There are a couple things you could do, but if I were you, and it is not showing up on your report anymore, I would send back the letters. Write "return to sender, does not live here". they should leave you alone.
Depending on the amount, there is probably not much they can or are willing to do to recover. One word of advice, don't be intimidated by their threating letters. That is their job and they do everything in their power to manipulate you into thinking that their right outside your door ready to haul you away!...not gonna happen.
Most of us I think get in over are heads at one point in our life...live and learn and don't do it again....
Whatever you do don't make pmts to the original creditor. They will not be credited to you in any positive way (except perhaps morally) as the creditor has probably "charged off" the debt and sold it at a discount to a collection specialist. IF true, you no longer owe $ to the original creditor so even if you paid them you'd still owe the new cerditor the full amount.
This debt will not show up anywhere unless the creditor or new collector/creditor has converted the debt to a judgment in which case it will be a matter of public record that becomes a lien on all your property in the jurustiction where recorded. This may or may not be a problem for you.
Don't freak out though. Panic and freaking out is what these guys specialize in and is the reaction they are trying to get.
The collector/creditor may be able to get the debt put back on your credit report but again this may not be an issue and may not be worth there time. ( I don't remember all the ins and outs so check with a debtor's attorney if you are concerned)
My wife has a Discover card with a debt of $3500.00 from 1998. She has not heard a word from them untill recently. She is now recieving letters from an Attorney & counseling service demanding payment or the client mat be entitled to file a legal action against her. We just got married in 2001. Should she respond? Could this come back on me since we are now married? Thanks in advance for the help.
Taz
Well there are a few things you could do here. 1. Do not respond. If you allready have so what!!! Send them a letter to decease communications. If it appears on your credit report threaten to sue. It would be like me racking up a debt in 1988 for lets say Radio Shack for $1,000, and some collection agency tried to sue 13 years later. Cant happen. Depending on your State as well the origninal creditor can sell off your account yes, but a collection agency cannot force a collection past the states SOL. If for some reason you have allready made contact with them send them a letter asking for verification of the debt, they have 30 days to respond.
Ok TAZ!! first do not respOND!! There is no point just let the thing fall off in 7 years. You only have 2 left, Second it will not effect you credit, if they do sue they can only come after the original creditor. Always, I mean always keep a seperate credit file. You have your credit history and your wife has hers. My wife happens to have horrible credit from years ago, that never effected mine. The reason is do not apply for credit jointly. If on a credit app they ask if your married say no, or just dont fill in her name. Many couples today make the mistake of applying for everything together. There is no point, unless you are combining income for a house or whatever else you want.
Optimum
There are a couple things you could do, but if I were you, and it is not showing up on your report anymore, I would send back the letters. Write "return to sender, does not live here". they should leave you alone.
I'm going to have to apply this knowledge!
If it's not on your credit report yet then don't bother with it untill it is. Check the SOL for your state. You are probably past it and they can't collect. Don't pay ANYTHING at this point. If they start calling or are really starting to threaten you can ask for debt validation. They will have to provide hard proof you owe this debt and that they have the legal right to collect on this account. lOld records are hard to come by.
From what I have read if it has been 7 or more years and it has dropped off your report, making a payment now will put this negative account back on your report. It was suggested that you don't pay. I have not dealt with this myself.
Don't pay!!! E-mail me first. I can direct you to better ways than I can give. They probably cannot even legally collect on this debt anymore, just irritate you. Don't re-age the account by paying!!!
I can't help but pointing out the great hypocrasy and lack of morality that is going on here.
We are investors who expect to make money from people paying us rent. Delinquent and uncollected rents are clearly a problem for us all.
Why are we so quick to encourage someone to be irresponsible and pretend like he never incurred a debt that he did in fact receive goods and services for?
YOU STILL OWE THE MONEY!
The collection company has bought your debt so you owe it to them instead of the original lender.
It is very possible that you can ignore it and it will go away without any consequence to you. I realize this. I also realize that you accepted that debt with the promise to pay it back as a rational adult. This was your decision. Be a man and accept the consequence.
I think the right thing would be to negotiate with the lender and pay your debt.
The world has enough freeloaders as it is. Sorry to be preachy, but I think there's a right option and an easy option here. We all know what we'd want our tenants to do.
I never said he did not own the debt but the question was wether he should start paying on it. His credit can be made worse by the collection agency by them re-aging it. This could put 7 more years onto a negative account. Collection agencies are notorious for immoral and illegal practices. As a consumer, and one who seems like he has learned from his mistakes, I was trying to help him. If he does decide to make right his account, he should know the facts. Negotiation for deletion is the only reason to pay.
By the way, the original creditor has already charged this account off, taken the tax break and expect a certain percentages of defaults and put it into their business plan. Just like any investor. They could care less about this bill anymore and will not change any negative info if it gets paid. Yes, I had a 76 dollar boo boo from my younger days. When I pulled my credit report I immediately paid them and apologized as I never knew it existed. I felt I had done the right thing. That listing still haunts me as it is now a paid charge-off and hurts my score just as much as if I had never done a thing.
Also, he asked for help, not for a moral lesson !!!
I can get almost any debt wiped out without bankruptcy, former paralgl
I even know how to rid a foreclosure.
I must admit , have to do some studying
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consultwithme, would you care to share some of the info with us?