Haunted 10+ years by charge-off - please help!

[mbpeng]

Hello all,

First of all, thanks for any advice in advance.

I've been haunted by a charge-off ($1300.00 - with interest it supposedly raised to $2600) on my credit report for 10 years. The original account was opened up in 2001. I was under the impression that the account would be purged from my credit report after 7 years, but they claim I made payments until 2004 (simply not true). I feel like I am being railroaded in this regard, but feel powerless because I don't think I can prove it one way or another. I've tried disputing this on multiple occasions with absolutely no luck.

As a result, I decided today to call the collection agency ('Portfolio Recovery') and make an effort to settle the debt and have the bloody thing removed once and for all, because it's caused me to be declined for apartment rental, rental cars, etc. According to the "supervisor" in the litigation department, the Fair Credit Report Act prohibits them from removing the charge-off from my account if the debt is paid. He also told me to quit making "baby excuses" and threatened to sue me. That's when I hung up. Are they telling the truth? I was under the impression that you could get charge-offs removed if you settled the outstanding balance. After 10 years, why would they push back on me so hard, especially since the charge-off is slated to be removed from my report in 01/2011? I want to move on with my life, and use credit responsibly, but from my understanding simply settling the debt will not improve my credit score substantially.

My apologies for the convoluted message, if there's any further information I can provide please let me know. Thanks again for reading.

[jlyriq]

Have you sent them a DV letter? if not i would try that and try to 1 2 punch them. if that doesnt work i would send them a letter telling them to verify the date of first delinquency and to provide proof the payment that you supposedly made. IMO......maybe Trish or Shane can chime in on this one

[Trish]

I would call up a CRA (if you cannot tell by your CRs) and ask them for the date of first delinquency (DOFD) on this acct. If they give you a date that is over 7 years ago, then tell them you would like to dispute the acct as obsolete as it is too old to be on file.
If they give you a more recent date (less than 7 years) then like jlyrig said, you need to send them a DV and have them validate the debt.
If you are certain that you did not make payments in 2004 then they need to prove that you did.
And just fyi (not sure of all of the details but...) the SOL on an acct cannot be reset once it has charged off.
Is it the OC acct that is being reported? or the CA acct? or both?
You may need to also contact the OC to get proof of when the acct was charged off.

HTH

[Scorepro]

I would also like to mention that they can't threatnen to sue you. I always record my calls with CAs so that I have evidence if I need to sue or as leverage. U would need to check the laws in your state but u may or may not have to tell them that ur recording. All the better if you don't because they are less likely to committ violations when they know they are being recorded. I use their violations to get what I want. I know it may sound like a game but I personally am all about using the law to the letter. If the law says they can't do X, then I hold them to it. They screw with me, so I screw with them. At the very least, it's amusing. Nothing makes my blood boil more than how they TRY to talk to you.

[Scorepro]

Sorry--wanted to add one more thing. While I don't know what state you live in, it is probable that the SOL on collecting this debt has expired even if their claim about making payments in 2004 were true. That said, why offer to settle anything with them? The only "settlement" I would offer is a very very nominal amount (literally pennies on the dollar) and IF and only IF -- in writing-- removing the account entirely were part of the deal. If not, tell them to pound sand!