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erb1953 · Joined: 24 May 2008 Posts: 79 0.19 Dollars($)

I have a few old credit cards that I would like to see come off my credit report. They have very small balances and are more or less just an annoyance at this point. I know that even if I pay them that the negatives will remain on my account.

I have written to the credit reporting agencies trying to get some contact information on the debts with no luck, I need to contact these companies to get these accounts taken care of.

Funny thing is that I read on here on how people can not get collectors to quit calling them, I am prepared to pay off these companies but can not seem to find out who has the debts right now to take care of them. They are no longer with the companies that are on my credit report.

If anyone has any suggestions on how to find out who is representing your account when it is not any of the collection agencies on your credit report, I would greatly appreciate it. I have some money saved up and was planning on using my economic stimulus to clean these accounts up.

Thank you all in advance for any advice that you may have to offer.

jbarto65 · Joined: 04 Nov 2007 Posts: 622 -0.15 Dollars($)

LOL, you are right, most people on here are trying to get the creditors off their backs and you are wanting them to contact you, well I have to say that this is a first that I have heard this.

I would suggest applying for a credit card of some type of credit, usually they will have a tickler on your credit report and as soon as you apply for something a bell rings and they will be contacting you.

I think it is awesome that you want to get this all taken care of, most people that I know are taking their stimulus and buying the new television they want and other toys. I am putting mine into drains, digging up the front yard and putting a few tons of shale in, tired of hearing my drains gurgle and living in great fear of why they are gurgling.

I admire that you are adding it to what you have saved and taking care of your credit, I wish you all the luck with this. Hope this works out for you. Keep us updated.

erb1953 · Joined: 24 May 2008 Posts: 79 0.19 Dollars($)

I have other things that I would much rather be spending the money on, but I figure with the little that I have saved and with the stimulus that I would have enough to get rid of these once and for all.

I have been reading posts on here about companies settling out a debt, I would like some more information on that also. What are the consequences of settleing a debt versus paying it in full? How does this reflect on your credit report? Does one benefit more than the other?

I have the money to pay them in full right now, it is just a matter of locating the bill, finding out who has it. If I send the money to the original creditor will they take it? Will they credit my account and mark it paid in full and report it to the credit reporting agency? I definately want some type of reporting done here and want my report updated.

Anyone who has dealt with the origianl credit after something has been sent off for collections please let me know how that would work? The collection agencies are not really doing there jobs at this point.

How does applying for credit make them start calling you up? I don't get that part either.

jbarto65 · Joined: 04 Nov 2007 Posts: 622 -0.15 Dollars($)

I applaud your effort on getting this bills out of the way, at least they will be out of the way and off your plate.

I think it starts the calling with in a week or two, they put what is called a tickler on it, which means that any kind of activity on your part would alert them that you are at a certain address and phone information, you may also recieve something in the mail from them.

Usually when an account goes into collections the original creditor will try to collect for a certain period of time, if they can not collect it then they will do one of two things.

1. Assign it to a collection service to act on their part, this is usually for bigger accounts and they will act on the original creditor behalf, with these ones the creditor is still involved but they will not deal with you directly, if you send them payment they will forward it to the agency representing them.

2. They write it off and it gets sold to an agency for pennies on the dollar, these are the ones that will usually call and call and call you, these collectors usually have an incentive bonus on what they collect so it is in there best intrest to collect the debt.

either way, someone should start calling you. Make sure that whatever your route, weather you settle out or pay the entire bill that you get something in writing stating that the debt has been satisfied or it could possibly end up in someone elses hands who will not believe that you paid it off and will continue to report it as a negative account on your report.

erb1953 · Joined: 24 May 2008 Posts: 79 0.19 Dollars($)

thank you for responding and explaining some of this. I do know that if they do write it off that you may be forced to report it as income to the irs, never quite understood that, no money exchanges hands but it is considered income on the debtors part, I believe that I read that anything over $600 is reported directly to the irs.

Have you ever heard anything about this, do you have any details of this. At what point does the creditor report this. Why do some do it and others don't? Are there some that do it more than others?

Any information on this would be appreciated.

smckaybiz · Posted: Tue May 27, 2008 5:44 pm Post subject:

erb1953, as far as I know the only debts that can be reported to the IRS like that are secured debts like for a car or home. Do you have copies of your credit reports? Any company who reports you to the credit bureaus has to list either an address or phone number that they can be contacted with. I would send what's called a debt validation letter by certified mail to the addresses listed to these company demanding that they provide you with a letter about what the debts are for and how you can go about paying them off. You can get examples of these letters from the debt forum listed at the top of the website.

I do applaud you as well for trying to do the right thing. Best of luck.

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