OOPS! Husband settled w/CA over the phone..

[Want2BdebtFree]

My husband and I have been working on cleaning up our credit for a few months now. However, he works A LOT, so I have been doing far more research on how to go about these things than him. If I had been home when he got this phone call, I would NOT have let him settle:

He had an account with Dell and a few years ago times got tough and he couldn't pay, blah blah blah, and now it's in collections. My husband thinks that just paying off CA's is going to get his credit back on track (he did it with 2 other CAs ) so after about an hour on the phone with Webbank/DFS(Dell Financial Services) he talked them down from $3800 (his balance, original balance only $2500) to $3400...not very good. Well he thought he was doing the right thing, and agreed to pay them $1700 in August and $1700 in September. They automatically took $1700 out of our checking account, which is when I found out about all of this Now they are due to take $1700 out of our account coming up in September. My husband didn't even negotiate a PFD with them!!

What should we do to get this removed from his CR? I was thinking about putting a stop payment on them so they cannot take out the $1700 in September. Since he's already agreed to pay them the $3400, half already paid, I was going to send a letter stating that I put a stop payment on them, but will immediately send the payment of $1700 if the agree to a pay for delete.

Would this be a good course of action to take? Is there a way we could get in trouble for putting a stop payment on them since my husband agreed (verbally) to pay them? I assume we're stuck paying the $1700, so it's worthless to try and negotiate a lower amount, but I just want more than anything to have this removed from his CR, or else what was the point?? Especially because it's alot of money...any advice would be GREATLY appreciated!! Thanks!

[chane]

Oops is right! Yes, you should definitely put a stop payment on it and get in writing that they will delete it before they see that other $1700. But, most of the damage is done. You've already paid them more, the account has been updated and will stay on your credit report for 7 more years if they don't agree. That payment was a major F-up in many ways:

1. He admitted the debt was his.
2. He gave up half of his negotiating power.
3. He reset the clock on his credit report.
4. He settled for way too much. He could have gotten them down to $1500 - $2000 AT LEAST.

Anyway, do NOT pay if they don't accept and keep disputing it with the CRAs.

The sad thing is, 1000's of people do this everyday thinking they are doing the right thing. And that's why I created this site. I'm sick of seeing people suffer who are trying to do the right thing.

But, now you know and you will never let it happen again, right? AND you will tell everyone you know about this site to help others, right?

[Want2BdebtFree]

I will definitely not let it happen again and trust me- I have been telling everyone I know about this site! It seems like all I talk about these day is credit because I've become so focused on cleaning ours up! Anyway, today I got his EQ and TU reports (we couldn't get them until now because of a security freeze placed on them by our mortgage company) and EQ is reporting this account as a Reposession/Forclosure!! I'm just beyond lost as to what to do now.. All 3 CRAs have the account under a different agency: EX: WEBBANK/DFS, TU: Dell Financial Services, and EQ: Cit Bk/dfs (this one reporting as repo/fc. So do you have any insight on this? Are they allowed to report it as such? is it possible they are all linked to Dell since the 2 CAs have "dfs" after their name? I'm sooo confused about this account! MEN I tell ya! Thank you for any and all help!

[chane]

Well, they probably are not allowed to report it that way, but whether they are or not, the best thing to do is dispute it. Don't give them a reason, just say that you've found inaccurate information and that it needs to be removed immediately.