[jrock7073]

I would like to know what I can do to have old charge offs removed from my credit report. I have approx. 6 or 7 accounts with charge offs that are 3 and 4 years old. I am trying to buy a house and with my credit score at 540, that's not likely to happen. I went to prison for a couple of years and was unable to pay my bills. Before i went to prison I had a flawless report, no delinquencies. Of these charge offs I believe there is only 1 or 2 of these in collections that appear on my credit report. Should I send validation letters and hope that that will work to have these negative reports removed or do I hire a professsional and if so, who is good? Most of these charge offs will be on my credit report until 2011 and 2012. Thank You.

[hannah]

Originally Posted by jrock7073

I would like to know what I can do to have old charge offs removed from my credit report. I have approx. 6 or 7 accounts with charge offs that are 3 and 4 years old. I am trying to buy a house and with my credit score at 540, that's not likely to happen. I went to prison for a couple of years and was unable to pay my bills. Before i went to prison I had a flawless report, no delinquencies. Of these charge offs I believe there is only 1 or 2 of these in collections that appear on my credit report. Should I send validation letters and hope that that will work to have these negative reports removed or do I hire a professsional and if so, who is good? Most of these charge offs will be on my credit report until 2011 and 2012. Thank You.

The easiest way to get rid of the charge off's is to contract the creditor and see if you can arrange to pay them in exchange for removal of the tradeline. This may not help your scores though and a lot of creditors won't do it. Due to whatever circumstances that occurred for the debts to be charged off, you may just have to wait until they age off. In addition, are the debts still within the statute of limitations for legal action? If so, DV'ing the creditors could alert them that you are out of prison and you could be sued.

It may well be that your best bet to purchase a house is to see if you can get one on a land contract or a rent-to-own type situation. Credit is tight right now and people with homes to sell are looking for creative ways to sell.

Professional credit repair can work quite well if you contact a good legitimate company. Beware however as there are some scam artists out there. One of our posters here runs a legitimate and good company and perhaps he will chime in on this thread and talk to you about it.

[Qtip]

jrock7073,
Please ignore Drivels message, welcome to the site! Hannah's advice is sound, if the accounts are not past SOL they could cause you some problems. If you do not mind me asking, what are the amounts owed?

[centex]

Did I miss drivel's classic liquid paper suggestion?

As to strategies for dealing with delinquencies, I would suggest beginning by sitting down with a lot of time on your hands to read up. Although amounts and companies vary, the basic process described by many over time is generally consistent.

[jlynn]

Originally Posted by centex

Did I miss drivel's classic liquid paper suggestion?

Dang! I bet it was a good one.

Welcome aboard jrock!

As Centex suggested, take some time to read up. Are you looking at credit reports straight from the individual CRAs? If not, those are the best of the best to look at.

[jrock7073]

I would say it is somewhere around $35,000. Most of this debt was incurred from attorney fees when I fought my case that sent me to prison. What is the SOL time frame for expiration and what date does it begin?

[jrock7073]

What date does the SOL begin and how long till it expires?

[Qtip]

$35k is a large amount of cash, as a rule of thumb if it will cost the collection agencies more to litigate than what they can recoup then they do not sue. In my opinion CA's will probably sue to get that money.

SOL varies by state, where was this debt accumulated what state?

[jrock7073]

Washington State. The only 2 CA's that have reported was for $2000 only. They have been trying to collect for almost 2 years now. They don't have my address so I haven't received anything from them.

[drivel]

Originally Posted by Qtip

$35k is a large amount of cash, as a rule of thumb if it will cost the collection agencies more to litigate than what they can recoup then they do not sue. In my opinion CA's will probably sue to get that money.

SOL varies by state, where was this debt accumulated what state?

No offense to the OP, but usually prison is one of the best defenses against aggressive collection efforts.

[jlynn]

Remember attorney's fees are likely a written contract with a longer SOL as well. While right now, you might be happy to never see another attorney, dependent upon your income, with 35K in debt you might be exploring BK.

[centex]

Originally Posted by jrock7073

I would say it is somewhere around $35,000. Most of this debt was incurred from attorney fees when I fought my case that sent me to prison. What is the SOL time frame for expiration and what date does it begin?

I'm going to guess that for $35K in fees, the attorney will hold onto the paper rather than selling for pennies on the dollar. Some are more aggressive at litigating for the outstanding balance, although there is the whole blood-turnip thing that you might have going...

And, at the risk of using the OP as an example, there are reasons why some of us prefer only those cases with a fee collected up front...

[jlynn]

Originally Posted by drivel

No offense to the OP, but usually prison is one of the best defenses against aggressive collection efforts.

But it doesn't toll the SOL

Note to Jrock - Drivel is in a mood today so it seems. He is everything you could ask for. A collector, an attorney, and a smart a$$. Learn to laugh at him, but listen as well. There is generally truth in everything he says.

(except he thinks Cowboys actually wear red cowboy hats)

[centex]

Originally Posted by jlynn

(except he thinks Cowboys actually wear red cowboy hats)

It could happen...maybe Derek wore the red one when he took his dream date to Cozumel or where ever they were supposed to go bike riding...

[jlynn]

I wasn't talking about Cowboy Collectors.

[spinn]

Originally Posted by centex

And, at the risk of using the OP as an example, there are reasons why some of us prefer only those cases with a fee collected up front...

The Vandaleigh Doctrine states that if you end up in prison, you are not liable for the attorney's fees.