Steps to credit repair

Hi kiel,

Generally, a judgment stays in for 7 years from the date of entry. It may be even longer, if NJ legislation allows to stay it longer. In case of student loans, the SOL is for 14 years. It is never too late to mend your score. You should consult your financial lawyer regarding this.

Hi kiel,

Welcome to this community :)

Judgement against me for CapitalOne

You need to pay off the judgment amount. Once you make the payment the account status will be updated as "Satisfied Judgment". However, the judgment will remain on your credit report for 7 years.

AMEX: ~$1200 charged off. Last activity 2005

and

CapitalOne: Account Charged off. ~$3800 written off. $5600 past due as of July 2010

You have mentioned that the last activity on this account was in 2005. However, was this the last payment? If it is, the Statute of Limitations (SOL) on this debt has still not expired. The SOL in NJ is 6 years. Thus you need to pay off the debt. If you want the charge-off removed you will have to request Amex and Capital one to pull back the account from collections. If the creditor agrees to pull back the account (will also depend on if the account has got sold) you can make payment agreement with the creditor, and also request him to agree to "Pay for delete" (PFD) agreement. With PFD the negatives get deleted. If the original creditors cannot or do not agree to pull back the accounts you will have to negotiate payment agreements with the collection agencies. The charge-offs however will remain on your credit report. The account will simply be updated as "Paid".

BoA: $0 Paid, closed. (Is this actually bad?)

This is not actually bad. But when you close an account the available credit lowers and the credit utilization rate increases. This in turn hurts your credit. After a couple of moths the history in regards to this account is also lost.

Midland Credit Management: ~$200 past due as of July 2010. (Verizon)

and

RJM Acquisitiions: ~$3800 past due as of Jul 2010. Originated from overdrawn Wachovia checking account.

If you are not sure about the amount owed, you can send debt validation letter to the collection agency (CA) through certified mail, requesting a return receipt. If the debt comes back validated make a payment arrangement with the CA along with a PFD request.

Wachovia: ~$3800 written off. Transferred, closed.

Check who now holds the account. Make payment arrangements with the company now having this account. You can also talk to the original creditor if he can reopen and pull back the account. Here too you can request the PFD.

You should also know that all creditors or collection agencies do not agree to PFD. In that case you can try removing the negatives through a Goodwill letter that requests the creditor or collection agency to remove the negatives on the basis of goodwill.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Aaron

Hi kiel,

RJM is the collection agency that bought the Wachovia account I assume.

I'll have to find out who to even call there to get such an old account pulled back.

Yes, RJM is the collection agnecy collecting for the overdrawn Wachovia account. You will have to contact the original creditor to pull back the account from the collections.

Judgments cannot be deleted before the 7 years. It will fall off after the 7 or 10 years (or may be more according to your state judgment laws).

I am willing to $3823 in return for your agreement to remove all information regarding this debt from the credit reporting agencies within ten calendar days of payment.

This sounds a bit commanding. You should rather request. Check out the sample PFD letter from http://www.creditmagic.org/repair/pay-for-delete.html . You can send the PFD letter regarding the charge-off and other negatives but not judgment.

Also, if I pay RJM for delete, will the Wachovia entry be updated to paid or is there just nothing I can do about it anymore now that they've sold the account?

If you make payments to RJM and if they agree to PFD, the negatives entered by them will get removed and not the ones entered by Wachovia. However, if Wachovia pulls back the account and agrees to PFD, the negatives entered by them will be removed after you pay off the dues.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Aaron

Hi,

Even if you use the sample letters, please avoid sending the exact ones to creditors, collection agencies and credit bureaus. Try to change the wordings according to your circumstances.

Thanks,

Aaron

Hi Kiel,

I think you forgot to sign into your account before posting. You can earn through forum posting, so I think as you have an account you should try to remember signing in before posting your queries :)

I called Wachovia's collection department and I was told they sold the account to RJM and there is nothing they could do.

I was just wondering if this is true or I should try pushing harder to get them to buy/pull back the account.

Yes, this is true. Creditors do sell off accounts to collection agencies and when an account is sold off the creditor cannot pull back the account.

Thanks,

Aaron

Hi kiel,

I think you can refer "http://www.new-jersey-lawyers.com/".

Hope that this will be of some help to you.

Thanks,

Aaron

Hi kiel,

I think you can agree to this offer. However, you can talk to them once again over the phone about the "Pay for delete". See if they agree. Also, check if the letter is printed with the company's letterhead and if it is signed by a person who has the authority to provide you such an offer.

If the negatives cannot be removed you need not worry much about it as your account will be updated as "Paid in full" and with time the negative effect lessens.

Thanks,

Aaron