I have a question about paying off a charge off and having it removed from my credit report.?

Question

I just pulled my credit report. I had an old credit card from Plains Commerce. It is listed on the credit report as a charge off. It is also listed with Zenith Acquisition Corp. The amount I owe is $615. My last payment was 4/2005. It was charged off 12/2006. Collection agency started reporting it 5/2007. I would like some opinions on the best way to get this removed from my report. I have the money to pay it. If I just pay the collection agency, then will the charge off still show on my report. Also, how long do they report charge offs? Do they count from the last payment or from the date it was actually charged off? It is also listed 3 times on my Equifax report. Does that effect my credit score if it is listed more than once. Thanks for any suggestions.

Answer 1

The only way to remove this is for the collection agency to agree to a pay for delete agreement this simply says that in return for your payment they agree to remove the account from your credit report.

Paying without this agreement will not remove it and will not help your credit score at all as a matter of fact it will actually lower your score because the account will become current rather then old.

If they agree do not pay them a dime until you have this in writing.

As far as how long it will show that is controlled by the Fair Credit Reporting Act which says that derogatory accounts can be reported for 7-years from the date of first delinquency which works out to 7-years and 180-days NOTHING RESTARTS THIS TIME LINE.

Answer 2

When you pay it, it will be reported either paid in full or settled in full.

They report charge offs once: when it goes into collections.

It will look far better if it was paid off

Answer 3

Regardless of whether you pay it off, it will still be reported as delinquent with a zero balance.  Delinquent/past due accounts are reported for the next 7 years.  Delinquent accounts can be reported for 7 years from the last action date.  There is some dispute over when the clock starts ticking but figure as a rule of thumb 6 months after the day the account was written off (5/2007) started the 7 years.  If you make a payment to the collection agency, that is usually good to restart the clock.

I would contact Equifax and let them know the same debt is on your report three times and get them to correct it.

Answer 4

I wouldn't waste my time, they won't remove it, the time to pay was before it was a charge off. wait 10 years if you are lucky...

Answer 5

The collection agency is not allowed to re-age the debt so they are in violation of the FDCA rules. Best is to inform them of their violation (which is a $1000 fine) and get a pay to delete letter to include the original and subsequent charge off. I would also report their violation to the FDCA