Confused what step to take

[polapony]

I have several collections accounts that are nearing the 7 year mark which is the SOL for my state. I still receive letters from CA's trying to make deals with me. I am hoping to get the negative items removed if they are past 7 years. Should I still try to pay off those old debts? If so, should I try to contact the original creditor? Or make a deal with the CA? Also, I have a lot of old addresses and place of employment listed is out of date as well. Does it benefit me to up-date these? Or remove old addresses? What is the best step to take? I have recently gotten a credit card again for the first time in nearly 7 years( from Orchard Bank) So that I can begin to repair my credit. I also have a high interest car loan that is helping me to rehab my credit. Just unsure how to go about deleting my past, and/or making it right.

[Trish]

Hi polapony. Welcome

You should start by reading here:
Basic Step by Step Beginner's Guide to Credit Repair

Start by opting out and yes.....update/delete as much personal info as possible. If you have several accts that are close to 7 years old......you should just try disputing them as obsolete first. I'm betting some will just fall off since they are that old. If they happen to come back verified......you can DV the CA and see if they can provide validation.

[polapony]

Thank You for the reply Trish.

I have looked over the Beginners guide and opted out. I am wondering 2 things. First, if I dispute the items that are 7 years or older, and some come off because they are obsolete, but others are DV, what does that mean exactly? I know they are valid debts from the past. Is it any benefit to try and contact the OC on such old debt to try and pay them back? Or once it is sold to a CA or JDB after 7 years and they are attempting to settle with me is it still valid?

Second, If I update my info such as address, phone, and employer will that allow the CA access to call me or my employer?

Thanks for all of the help.

[Trish]

Originally Posted by polapony

Thank You for the reply Trish.

I have looked over the Beginners guide and opted out. I am wondering 2 things. First, if I dispute the items that are 7 years or older, and some come off because they are obsolete, but others are DV, what does that mean exactly? I know they are valid debts from the past. Is it any benefit to try and contact the OC on such old debt to try and pay them back? Or once it is sold to a CA or JDB after 7 years and they are attempting to settle with me is it still valid?

Second, If I update my info such as address, phone, and employer will that allow the CA access to call me or my employer?

Thanks for all of the help.

Even if a debt is out of SOL (collection or reporting SOL), technically you still owe the debt. Now whether you pay it or not is up to you........I won't go into the morality of it (been there.....lol.......causes a big debate). The fact is.....they can no longer come after you for it. If you do wish to pay or settle that gives you a lot of leverage to have it either deleted or settled for a much lower amount.
They can always try to contact you after the SOL is up.......that's not really illegal. They are just trying to get paid. BUT if you send them a "pound sand" letter......and send them a FULL cease and desist......then, by law, they have to stop collection activity or they are in violation.

As far as updating personal info.......don't update phone numbers and employment history.....just have the old info deleted.
If you update your address...... then if a CA has an acct on you (which gives them permissible purpose to pull your CR), yes, they will have access to that information. IMHO, it's not that big of a deal........they have skip tracing and other methods of finding your address, phone # etc anyway. It would be in your best interest (especially if you are repairing your credit) to update your address.

[polapony]

Trish you are such a big help!

I just looked at my 3 credit reports for the first time in over a year. Most of the negative items have fallen off as you said. I do still have a few that I believe to be somewhat inaccurate. I defalted on a student loan years ago, it was purchased by NW Education Loan. I agreed to rehab my loan and in exchange they would delete this from my credit report. It is still listed on Equifax as Derogatory. Should I dispute with Equifax or NW Education Loan first? Or both? Also I have a negative listing for Wells Fargo Educational Services ( Experian), which I believe is who I originally had the loan with. It is now in good standing with Sallie Mae. If I dispute this, what would be my reasoning?

Also,
I have 2 small accounts that I would like to resolve. One is a closed checking account that I owe $146. Should I contact the OC or RJM? to resolve this? The second is an old bill from Portland General Electric, fairly small which I don't remember if it is valid or not. Should I contact the OC or the CA?

Thanks for your help I appreciate it tremendously!

[jjgross]

Originally Posted by polapony

Trish you are such a big help!

I just looked at my 3 credit reports for the first time in over a year. Most of the negative items have fallen off as you said. I do still have a few that I believe to be somewhat inaccurate. I defalted on a student loan years ago, it was purchased by NW Education Loan. I agreed to rehab my loan and in exchange they would delete this from my credit report. It is still listed on Equifax as Derogatory. Should I dispute with Equifax or NW Education Loan first? Or both? Also I have a negative listing for Wells Fargo Educational Services ( Experian), which I believe is who I originally had the loan with. It is now in good standing with Sallie Mae. If I dispute this, what would be my reasoning?

Also,
I have 2 small accounts that I would like to resolve. One is a closed checking account that I owe $146. Should I contact the OC or RJM? to resolve this? The second is an old bill from Portland General Electric, fairly small which I don't remember if it is valid or not. Should I contact the OC or the CA?

Thanks for your help I appreciate it tremendously!

How old is the utility bill because different laws can apply on the sol not sure but would have to check,

[Trish]

That's great news! Good deal.

For the student loan......I would just try disputing it first. Then if for some reason it comes back verified, contact the loan co.

For the Wells Fargo.....look carefully at how it's reporting. See if there are any inaccuracies at all (dates, terms, balance, etc) and you can dispute those things. If you are not sure, post the way it's reporting (leave out personal info) and then we look over it.

On those 2 accts.......how are they reporting? Who is reporting it? (both OC and CA? or just one?)
I think the best thing would be to dispute it with the CRAs first.......and then if it comes back verified.......go to the OC.....NOT the CA (esp. RJM - blech).
You may be able to do a PFD on those depending on what state you are in.

And you're welcome. I'm glad I could help.

[Trish]

Originally Posted by jjgross

How old is the utility bill because different laws can apply on the sol not sure but would have to check,

Yes.....utilities fall under the UCC SOL (under goods and services) which is 4 years.

[CreditCrisis]

i have a few accounts that are sold.

if i pay the CA rather then the OC, the OC can still report the high balance and all derogatory informatin and most of the times the CA falls off like it never existed. (almost like throwing money away, i feel)

so how could i work something out with the OC once sold, to pay them and have them agree to remove the account?

i have an account that is really bad on my credit. its a voluntary surrender, which they are reporting as repo, from americredit. the charge off is $6,000 and i was told i couldnt buy a car becasue of this. can anyone suggest maybe a good way to have the OC removed also if i go throught he CA?

Help!!!

[polapony]

Hi Trish,

As far as the reporting for the closed checking account and utility bill: Transunion an Experian

Creditor Name:
RJM ACQ LLC
RJM ACQ LLC*
*

Account No.:
6R70000259****
6R70000259****
*

Original Creditor:
08 WASHINGTON MUTUAL CHECKING ACC
WASHINGTON MUTUAL CHECKING ACC
*

Responsibility:
Individual
Individual
*

Condition:
Derogatory
Derogatory
*

Original Balance:
$146
$146
*

Balance:
$146
$146
*

Date Opened:
09/20/2007
09/2007
*

Date Reported:
03/31/2009
04/01/2009
*
I am unsure what this means as far as date opened, I did not open an account with them in 2007. It was probably around 2004 that I closed that account


Equifax
Creditor Name:
*
Account No.:3959***

Original Creditor: PORTLAND GENERAL ELECTRIC

Responsibility:Individual

Conditionerogatory

Original Balance:$107

Balance:$109

Date Opened:10/2004

Date Reported:12/2004

The reporting from Wells Fargo Educational is: :
Account No.: 53890583718****
Condition: Closed (Transferred)
Balance:
Type: Educational
Pay Status:

There are 5 listings for various amounts I am assuming. In the legends area of the report it shows a date of delinquency and reports CO (collection chargeoff) beginning the end of 2004.