Reaged debts, illegal interest, lots of questions!

[anonymousprime]

Hi all,

I'm in the process of trying to clean up my soon-to-be-husband's credit report and I have some questions. Here's the background: he has four delinquent accounts on his report, all of which are listed correctly. All of them became delinquent in October of 2005, when he started divorce proceedings. Two are from utility companies that his ex-wife stopped paying after he moved out of the house (basically, just because she knew they were in his name and that it would trash his credit if she did. He knew he should have canceled the services when he moved but didn't want to leave her without a phone, etc. Don't get me started! :eek. The other two were loans with installment payments. Of course, due to the divorce and various other factors, STBH has NO records pertaining to any of these debts, and no way of getting them (I doubt the ex would have them anyway). However, it's pretty easy for him to remember when he/they stopped paying.

Debt 1 is from Charter Communications and is showing a date opened of 1/08 - an obvious re-aging. This one is only $152.

Debt 2 is from Southwestern Bell Telephone and shows a date opened of 10/07 (another re-aging), plus they have been adding interest to it ever since then - the original balance was $376, now it's up to $411. I know there are certain circumstances under which adding interest is allowed, but I can't imagine this is one of them.

Debt 3 is from Firestone and was last reported on 4/06. It shows 30 days past due as of 12/05, which is a couple of months off, but not worth worrying about.

Debt 4 is from Dell and was last reported on 4/10. It shows 60 days past due as of 11/05, which is correct.

So, here are my questions - what can be done about these debts, if anything? I don't want to wake a sleeping giant, so with debts 3 and 4 I would like to just let them fall off his credit report as scheduled in 2012 (keeping an eye on them to make sure no reaging occurs in the meantime). However, the other two (which are relatively small amounts) look as though they could stick around for a long time due to the re-aging, although Experian does state in the "Status Details" section that they're also scheduled to fall off in late 2012/early 2013. I had considered trying the 1-2 punch method with them, but not sure if that's the right way to go. He would also be more than happy to settle with the collection agencies, but again, I don't want to restart the clock when he's just a couple of years from having them off his record entirely. My credit is good and his score isn't actually too bad despite these negatives, so I don't feel a huge sense of urgency here. BTW, this is all in MO, where the statute of limitations is 10 years if I read correctly.

Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated!

[chane]

I don't see how you would be waking up a sleep giant with debts 3 & 4. It shows late payments...are they actually charge offs or what? Does he owe them more or is he current?

Do you plan on paying debts 1 & 2? I would probably dispute them and if they came back verified, I would work out a pay for delete or just pay them and try disputing them again once they're paid.

[anonymousprime]

Debts 3 and 4 are charge-offs, but Debt 4 doesn't list a CA name or address, just the address for Dell Financial Services. I guess I just don't know what, if anything, resets the clock on the credit report fall-off date. These two haven't sent him collection notices in years, so we have no idea what, if any, action is being taken. We do receive the occasional notice regarding Debt 2 and I think Debt 1 as well.

He hasn't paid on any of these since 2005. I don't think he's planning to unless he has to, because they're debts his ex ran up even though his name is on them. Not sure I agree with this plan but I see where he's coming from. The statute of limitations has another 5 years, but I don't know that any of these places would bother to take him to court over such small amounts (although Debt 4 is larger, around $2K I believe). I like the idea of a pay for delete - what percentage of the "owed" amount do CAs usually accept?

[chane]

The only thing that resets the clock is payment activity. I'm pretty sure that disputing them wouldn't reset the clock. It might get them to send it to a CA if they haven't already.

It really just depends on how bad he wants them off his report. I mean, if he's looking to get a mortgage or car loan, paying them to have them deleted would mean getting a better interest rate and ultimately saving a LOT of money.

As far as negotiating with the CAs, some will negotiate and some won't. Some will take much less and others won't. You just have to kinda feel them out. But, don't fall for their threats, don't give them any information that you don't have to and don't talk to them on the phone. Communicate with them in writing.

[anonymousprime]

Thanks for the info. We're not planning on applying for a mortgage or car loan anytime soon, and since my credit is good we can always finance things in my name only if necessary. His score was around 650 last time we checked - not stellar, but not horrifyingly bad. I guess we'll just keep waiting and see if we can't wait them out. I do worry that Dell might come after him since that debt might actually be worth their while to collect, but I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.