For instance, if you owe $1000 on a bill, and the creditor knows you are disabled and legally judgement proof. If you return to work, and are willing to pay the debt to the creditor, rather than file bankruptcy(which means I'm not liable for the judgement), will a creditor agree to have the late payment history removed and show the debt as paid in full, or just have it removed completely so that the debtor can begin to rebuild their credit history?
Most people would easily opt to file bankruptcy, but I would prefer to pay off my debt if the above arrangements can be made which works out for the creditor and myself. Please, do not respond to this question if you do NOT have something to back up your answer of yes or no.
I've had plenty of people tell me NO, based on their opinions. I'm looking for some type of law or valid LEGAL reason to explain why this is or is not possible. I figure, if the credit bureaus only report what creditor's tell them, perhaps this is possible.
2006-09-04 11:31:01 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Business & Finance ➔ Credit
P.S. Lord knows the credit bureaus have no problem reporting inaccurate informatio. So I have a feeling if a credit agreed to this arrangement, they would probably assume it was just inaccurate information being corrected, if the late payment history is removed, and the debt shown as just paid in full or removed completely.
2006-09-04 11:32:26 · update #1
Vadalia is correct, and here is why.
The credit reporting agencies (CRA's) report what the creditor tells them to report. And, by law (the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Fair and Accurate Reporting Act), the CRA's can change/delete any listing upon the request of the creditor.
The trick is convincing the creditor to do it. If they want their money, they will agree to help you fix your credit in return. But expect to do some serious negotiations and arm twisting.
But I can guarantee that it can be done. I've helped many people do it.
Regarding judgements, they can not be removed. Remember that CRA's are in the business of collection information about you. Judgements are recorded by the court, and are public documents. In many states, they are easily available over the internet. The CRA's have pipelines to gather this information. Therefore, once a judgement is entered, it can be considered as accurate information and will be included into your credit report.
There are only 2 ways to get any listing removed from your history.
1) The creditor must delete it
2) The creditor fails to respond to a dispute investigation.
Since the creditor didn't issue the judgement, they can't delete it. And you can't dispute an official court document. You would have to return to court and try to dismiss the judgement (not likely).
The judgement will automatically be dropped after 7 years, from the date of the judgement.
Hope this answers your question.
2006-09-04 14:46:06 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes, you can get a collection taken off your credit record (be sure to get the agreement with the creditor in writing before you pay the debt off)
However, once you have a civil judgement on your report, I don't believe it's possible for it to be taken off. I don't know the precise reason why, but it may have something to do with the fact that it's gone beyond just the creditor saying "Hey, s/he isn't paying their bill" and is actually now the court saying that.
2006-09-04 12:12:13 · answer #2 · answered by Vadalia 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You are right - credit bureaus just report what people tell them so they have it easy. You can write an explanatory statement and have it added to your credit file for all viewers to see. you can also ask your creditor to write a letter explaining the situation from his point of view and saying that he agrees with you. Both statements will be visible and might have some bearing on how credit-granters view your credit history (even though they could ignore it if they wanted to)
2006-09-04 11:36:20 · answer #3 · answered by Rich Z 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If they are open collection accounts and you pay them off they will stay on the credit report as paid collections. After you pay them off contact the Creditor and ask them to take them off your report.
2016-03-26 22:09:51 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No they can't once it has been reported but they write in a positive statement in your behalf
2006-09-04 11:37:58 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋