offer a settlement?? I heard that if you contact a company regarding settlement, they have 30 days to respond and if they dont, then it has to be removed from your credit? Is that true?? How long after you make a settlement and pay it off does it show upon your credit report
2007-08-18 04:19:04 · 5 answers · asked by angelkay581 1 in Business & Finance ➔ Credit
You have heard incorrectly. You can DISPUTE your charges, and they are required to respond. They are not required to respond to settlements, but in all likelyhood, they will. The first response is generally to say, "NO!". Don't let this deter you. Keep offering, and insisting that you want to clear this up, but you simply don't have the money to pay the full debt. Many times the collection agency will end up settling for 30%-70% of the original debt. They will also try to set up a payment plan for the full amount. Tell them that making payments is what got you behind in the first place, and that your employment status is 'up in the air'.
As to what things are 'worth' settling, that depends on your individual credit. Usually, the bigger the default, the worse it looks on your credit report. The exception is hospital bills, save these for last.
Good luck.
2007-08-18 04:33:57 · answer #1 · answered by Bruce J 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would begin to pay off the balances on cards that have the highest interest. I don't know if making a settlement with a credit card company impacts your credit history or not nor do I know anything about contacting a company about a settlement.
2007-08-18 04:33:04 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
About the 30 day thing....if you request debt validation from a creditor they have 30 days to respond with proof that you have a legal obligation to pay the debt. If they don't, you can contact the credit bureau and demand that they remove the debt. But you must follow a very specific procedure. Go to the link below and study it. Also browse the rest of their site as it has some great information regarding debt negotiations. I won't repost this info here because I've gone over this many times in the past.
If you have any questions after reading this site contact me, and I'll be happy to help you out.
By the way...I am not associated with this or any other site that I post. I offer them because they have very good information, even though they are a commercial site trying to offer you their services. This link isn't spam.
2007-08-18 04:35:56 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
While negatives will fall off your credit report in 7 years and 180 days, collection companies can follow you to the grave trying to collect. Calling and offering settlements on old debts will get them marked as paid which is better. It does NOT restart the reporting period.
2007-08-18 04:52:07 · answer #4 · answered by bdancer222 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Uh, no, that's not true that if you offer a settlement and they don't respond, it has to be removed from your credit report.
What things are worth paying off? How about paying all the legitimate bills, the people you owe money to?
2007-08-18 04:54:13 · answer #5 · answered by Judy 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋