How can I get PAID collections off my credit report ?

[polm]

I finally paid off a couple un-paid collections that were lingering on my credit report.

Now it looks like I will still have them appearing on my credit repoort for 7 years !

What can I do ?

 

[minendo]

Originally posted by: polm
What can I do ?

Not screw up again.

 

[Nitemare]

Wait 7 years.

You and I are in the same boat

 

[polm]

Originally posted by: Nitemare
Wait 7 years.

You and I are in the same boat

sux

 

[dabuddha]

Originally posted by: Nitemare
Wait 7 years.

You and I are in the same boat

As am I except I have around 6 of them on my report

 

[polm]

How detramental to my credit is 1 Paid Off collection ?

 

[Nitemare]

Originally posted by: polm
How detramental to my credit is 1 Paid Off collection ?

depends on the rest of your credit I would imagine, might also depend on how much.

 

[StageLeft]

Fairly significant, but of course depends on how long ago it was and the ratio of it to your other accounts, which are hopefully in good standing.

 

[Zombie]

you can't , 7 years baby.

Mine got cleared up back in october.

 

[royaldank]

You know, I really wish all high schools would serious look at starting home/personal finance classes where they show you day in and day out how much your credit means, how it's figured, and how to stop from screwing up. Teach the evils of living off CC when you don't have the money to make payments or pay them off. Teach them what they will need for a home mortgage and show them figures. It might help some people.

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: royaldank
You know, I really wish all high schools would serious look at starting home/personal finance classes where they show you day in and day out how much your credit means, how it's figured, and how to stop from screwing up. Teach the evils of living off CC when you don't have the money to make payments or pay them off. Teach them what they will need for a home mortgage and show them figures. It might help some people.

Might help some? I think it would help almost everybody. The average american adult has, what, $8k in credit card debt? In my opinion if you're an adult carrying credit card debt long term and it's not due to an emergency (like an operation, paying ransom, lost job for 5 years, etc.) it proves that you are financially irresponsible. Since most american adults have that debt I therefore conclude that they are financially irresponsible. In many cases they simply do not think of the consequences of debt and interest rates, credit, etc. It's such a mind-bogglingly simple matter compared to many other things adults have to face, and yet many never master it.

 

[royaldank]

I said 'some' because in high school, not everyone listens or retains. But, I can see many people benefiting from that. Better students would probably take it heart once you started showing them how to buy cars and houses and what you're going to need when you do this. Show them credit reports over time and discuss how different events impacted it. Seriously, this should be a top priority in schools.

Personal Finance and Sex Ed should be two classes everyone in highschool has to pass in order to graduate.

 

[DaWhim]

Originally posted by: royaldank
You know, I really wish all high schools would serious look at starting home/personal finance classes where they show you day in and day out how much your credit means, how it's figured, and how to stop from screwing up. Teach the evils of living off CC when you don't have the money to make payments or pay them off. Teach them what they will need for a home mortgage and show them figures. It might help some people.

my high school has the academy of finance. very great program for me. we learned a little of everything, like stocks, financial planning, insurance, accounting etc. most importantly, I got an internship working at salomon smith barney(#2 largest brokerage firm in US) in the summer. it looks very impressive on my resume. we had to start a resume too.
CC is not that evil, as long as you know not to carry a balance. at the age of 19, I feel like I know more about finance than someone who is 25yo.

 

[2canSAM]

what if I pay off the collection account, it is on my report for 3 years then they go in and update it or make a change to it. Does the counter start over? What if it goes to first party collections and is not paid, ie: I have a bank credit card that went to the banks collection dept, they report it to the credit companies, then they sell the account to an out of house collections firm and i pay them, but now I have the same account reported twice, can I have one of them removed as a duplicate?

 

[Nocturnal]

When do late by so many months payments go off my report?

 

[Nocturnal]

I wholeheartedly agree about having a mandatory class in regards to how important credit is in our lives. I work in retail with cellular phones. In order to get a cell phone without a deposit you have to have some type of decent credit history. The people that come in all get $500.00 deposits. Or often times T-Mobile gives them a chance with little to no credit and they ruin their credit by deacting and not paying for their bill. In the end their account gets sent to collections and their credit is screwed for the rest of their life or until they decide to pay the debt off.

 

[SunnyD]

You can use paid collections of several years ago to your advantage in large purchases such as autos and homes. Most often you well be given a chance to explain yourself after you are denied, and if you provide proof that a collection has been paid at least 2 years ago and your credit record has been outstanding since that time, you basically prove to the lender that you are financially sound and responsible. Of course, you may not get the best rate for your loan/credit in this case, but at least you'll get it (if that's what matters more to you).

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: Nocturnal
When do late by so many months payments go off my report?

24 months.

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: 2canSAM
what if I pay off the collection account, it is on my report for 3 years then they go in and update it or make a change to it. Does the counter start over? What if it goes to first party collections and is not paid, ie: I have a bank credit card that went to the banks collection dept, they report it to the credit companies, then they sell the account to an out of house collections firm and i pay them, but now I have the same account reported twice, can I have one of them removed as a duplicate?

I don't ever intend to get personal experience with this, but I have heard that in some cases if somebody had an outstanding debt that had been there for like 4 years it was better to just never pay it off, because if they did pay it off the counter would be reset to 7 years, so although a payoff is better than an unpaid account, the unpaid account would be gone in 3 years, whereas the payoff would be 7, so you definitely need to think about it.

 

[Dedpuhl]

I just checked my credit scores last week. I have 2 negatives. One is completely my fault.

The other is questionable. I totaled my car (not-at-fault) in Feb 2000, didn't pay my note for March 2000, and paid off the remainder (upside down $3500) in April. I think they should have marked it as late 30/60 days w/out negative remarks. Instead, they marked it with negative comments and "Payment after charge off/collection". I'm not sure how much of an impact this has to my total score, but is there a way I could contact the company and ask for the negative remarks to be removed?

 

[conjur]

Originally posted by: Dedpuhl
I just checked my credit scores last week. I have 2 negatives. One is completely my fault.

The other is questionable. I totaled my car (not-at-fault) in Feb 2000, didn't pay my note for March 2000, and paid off the remainder (upside down $3500) in April. I think they should have marked it as late 30/60 days w/out negative remarks. Instead, they marked it with negative comments and "Payment after charge off/collection". I'm not sure how much of an impact this has to my total score, but is there a way I could contact the company and ask for the negative remarks to be removed?

What you need to do is go to each of the credit reporting agencies (CRAs) and get your credit report. Then, submit a dispute that any late payments existing on the car loan. About 3 weeks later, follow up with a letter asking for the status of the dispute. 30 days later get another copy of your report and see if it's gone. If not, repeat the process.

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: conjur

Originally posted by: Dedpuhl
I just checked my credit scores last week. I have 2 negatives. One is completely my fault.

The other is questionable. I totaled my car (not-at-fault) in Feb 2000, didn't pay my note for March 2000, and paid off the remainder (upside down $3500) in April. I think they should have marked it as late 30/60 days w/out negative remarks. Instead, they marked it with negative comments and "Payment after charge off/collection". I'm not sure how much of an impact this has to my total score, but is there a way I could contact the company and ask for the negative remarks to be removed?

What you need to do is go to each of the credit reporting agencies (CRAs) and get your credit report. Then, submit a dispute that any late payments existing on the car loan. About 3 weeks later, follow up with a letter asking for the status of the dispute. 30 days later get another copy of your report and see if it's gone. If not, repeat the process.

Yep, dispute it with your 3 bureaus instead of going to this other company and let the bureaus take charge of it.

 

[TheGameIs21]

This is an off topic rant about an off topic post above....

[rant] Why are you saying that the school should be mandated to give you classes on finance? I graduated in '89 and we had a class called economics that taught us about using checking and savings accounts. From that I learned that I should only spend money I have. What else should the school systems do that your mother or father should be doing for you?

[motto] Welcome to townsville Jr High where we teach you what your folks don't care to. Please check your weapons, negative attitude, drugs and disrespect at the door. [/motto]

Shouldn't your mother, father or legal guardian be held responsible for not teaching you this life lesson? I know that the first time I told my mom that it was cool that she didn't have to pay for something if she gave the guy behind the counter a plastic card, I got a lesson.

If you are a mom or dad reading this, please take the time to care about your children and teach them. The Schools are there to make sure they can read, write and do math. Because of pressure they have expanded their classes to cover a wide range of crap that they don't need to. Don't expect them to add more, expect yourself to be your child's first and most complete teacher. [/rant]

 

[Zombie]

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Originally posted by: 2canSAM
what if I pay off the collection account, it is on my report for 3 years then they go in and update it or make a change to it. Does the counter start over? What if it goes to first party collections and is not paid, ie: I have a bank credit card that went to the banks collection dept, they report it to the credit companies, then they sell the account to an out of house collections firm and i pay them, but now I have the same account reported twice, can I have one of them removed as a duplicate?

I don't ever intend to get personal experience with this, but I have heard that in some cases if somebody had an outstanding debt that had been there for like 4 years it was better to just never pay it off, because if they did pay it off the counter would be reset to 7 years, so although a payoff is better than an unpaid account, the unpaid account would be gone in 3 years, whereas the payoff would be 7, so you definitely need to think about it.

Nah, I don't think so. My paid off account was cleared off without any reset.

 

[Vic]

All accurate information, whether positive or negative, stays on your credit report for a minimum of 7 years.

Bankruptcies are reported from 10 years from filing date or 7 years from discharge/dismissal date. Tax liens stay on for 7 years from the date paid (or indefinitely until paid).

As time goes by, the importance of the negative information on your credit report diminishes, provided that positive credit has been re-established. The actual FICO score itself only takes into account the last 24 months of payment history.

editted for mistake Shanti pointed out to me