I am trying to get approved for a mortagage loan and need to repair my credit score asap. 2 years ago I separated from my husband and ran up my 3 credit cards. 2 were never late but the balances were near the limits (basically maxed out) and I was making minimum payments. I just paid down those credit card balances (but left the accounts open). I was told this will help my score.
The third card I defaulted on Original Creditor (Chase/$3000.) showing on credit reports as "180+days late / charge off" Chase sold the account to MCM collection agency and they are reporting "account in collections" for the same account. Yesterday I received a letter from a law firm (pressler & pressler llc ) that states MCM has placed the account with their firm for collection.
I have the money to pay this debt. However (as I read on this site) Chase will not deal with me. I dont know who to contact....MCM or the Lawyers?
Also I have read about pay for delete and/or how to negociate the best credit reporting possible. I guess my question is if I pay the CA or Lawyer can I still negociate credit reporting terms with Chase? If so do I call them before or after I pay the CA?
Any tips on how to do clean up this mess in a way that will help my credit score would be greatly appreciated.
Hi,
1 )You must have to pay your bill payments/credit before due date.
2) Always avoid late payments as well as do not miss payments.
3) You can use secure credit card to improve credit score.
4) Do not apply for new credit card while you trying to improve your credit score.
5) Be aware from filing bankruptcy unless it becomes an emergency.
Keep checking your credit report on regular basic to keep in touch.
Thanks & Regards.
______________________________________________________
Secure card will help you to improve credit score faster.
forget about Chase. they sold the debt and they no longer need to answer to you. your report will show two entries. one from chase as being a charged off account and one from the collection agency/law firm for the collection of that charge off. you need to deal with the entity who is currently trying to collect, which, per your story, is the law firm.
keep the following in mind:
1) has the law firm reported this on your reports yet? if so, if you intend to pay this, you need to consider that you will restart the 7 year clock and therefore, the account will stay on your report another 7 years from date of payment.
2) if you intend to pay, negotiate the way it will report on your credit reprot. in exchange for payment, get them to agree to change the status to Paid As Agreed. You need to get this in writing.
3) what is the Statute of Limitations in your state? Could this debt be passed the SOL? If so, they can't collect the debt.
4) do u live in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, DC or Florida? If not, then this firm can't do anything. google them and you will see that most of thier attorneys are admitted to practice in NY and NJ, with one or two admitted in the other states i mentioned. so, if u don't live in any of these states, they are just using their clout as a law firm to scare you into paying. they can't sue you in your state unless they are admitted as lawyers in that state. you may want to research this further, but if you find the same findings I did, you can send off a letter telling them that they are guilty of the Unlicensed Practice of Law (UPL).
5) last but not least, check and see if your state requires that collectors be licensed. if so, see if they are licensed in your state. in my state, attorneys don't have to have a special collections license, but if you've determined they are not attorneys admitted in your state, then they are guilty of attempting to collect a debt w/o a license.
i think you've got a bit to chew on here. hope this helps!
credit repair help
Hi myboys,
To repair your credit you must pay off this debt. For that you should:
1. Pull a copy of your credit report, and check who now holds the account.
2. Contact the collection agency, or the law firm who holds the account, and talk about the payments. Request them to update the account status as "Paid in full" if you can pay the outstanding balance.
3. Get the payment agreement in writing.
4. Request the collection agency to agree to a "Pay for delete" (PFD) agreement. With PFD, all the negatives form your account gets removed. Get this agreement too in writing.
5. You need to check your credit report again after some days of making the payment. Check if the account status has been updated, and the negatives has been removed.
6. If the account status has still not been updated, you can use the agreements to dispute these wrong listings off your report.
However, you can also try to contact your original creditor (OC), and request him to pull back the account from the collection agency (CA). If the OC agrees to pull back your account from the CA, only then can you deal with the OC, and the charge-off can be removed. Else the charge-off will remain on your credit report for 7 years.
Thanks,
Aaron