How to get a collection agency or company to remove report in return for payment?

[buzzinhawaii]

My credit scores are 780's in Transaction and Experian, however on Equifax it is 680. I have a very small old debt that got lost in a divorce of $288 and is currently with a collection agency called Arrow Financial. All 3 credit reports reflect this is about 3 years old.

I have a Verizon account which is about 2 years old of $89. It only appears on Equifax as a bad debt and placed on for collection. I believe this is the account on Equifax that is being the credit score down but 100 points compared to the other two.

I have sent Arrow and Verizon certified letters stating I would pay these debts in full if they send me a letter back agreeing to remove the reports from my credit report. This was about a month ago and have not received a written response. What I am getting now is calls from each of them asking for payment. They both cannot "find" my letters but tell me they cannot/will not remove from the credit reports but will reflect them as "paid off".

It is my understanding that showing old accounts as currently paid off will make them appear more recent on your report and actually lower one's credit score? I also read the only way to raise the score is to get the reporting agency to remove them from the report.

I have called several times, get no where, some tell me they will have a supervisor call me which never happens.

How can I get these removed from my reports in return for payment or is this not possible? If I just pay them, and they get reported as "paid off" what if anything will this do for my credit scores?

Thanks for reading and Aloha from Hawaii!

Buzz

[chane]

You are correct. Paying them without their agreement to remove them keeps them as a negative account...for 7 more years. They either don't understand that paying them off hurts you more or they don't care. Either way...I say F 'em.

I absolutely will NEVER pay an account if they won't cooperate with me. They will have to take me to court; which has never happened.

So, your only options left is to dispute them with the CRAs and hope they fall off. I would dispute them several times making sure you wait 30-40 days between disputes. Other than that...it's best to just wait until they come off. Do NOT reset the 7 years by paying them.

[Lucky500]

First off, congratulations on the high scores Buzz, those are very good scores and you should be proud.

Second, I will second chane and if you haven't heard from the OC, definitely bombard the CRA (in period of 30-40 days) You have several angles to work this out with CRA, visit the dispute letters section for some ideas, and let us know how it went for you.