Collections on Credit Report
Among the most-asked questions about credit scores is this: What do I do about my credit score if I have a collections on credit report?
For sure, having a collection account on your credit report is a big deal. Creditors will be unlikely to grant you a loan if you do not pay your bills. Though a collection account is not as big of a deal as having foreclosure or bankruptcy facts on your credit report, your credit score will suffer.
And though it sounds crazy, making a payment on a bill in collection might cause your credit score to suffer again. Bills that have been turned over for collection hurt your score only a bit after two years, but as soon as you make a payment, your score will be damaged again. As well, making a payment renews the seven-year period in which an item stays on your credit report.
So what do you do about those pesky collections on credit report? Paying your bills is your responsibility, even if it causes your credit score to suffer. However, you can and should negotiate with the creditor or collection agencies to minimize the damage.
Especially in today’s economy, you might be able to negotiate to pay less than the full amount of the bill. Though this doesn’t remove the collections from your credit report, paying a lesser amount can surely help your pocketbook!
Better yet, consider negotiating for both a smaller payment and a letter of deletion.
Not to be confused with a letter of payment, a letter of deletion is basically a letter they send to the credit bureaus saying that the bureaus should remove the collections on credit report. This is obviously the best-case scenario. Your credit score will surge if you can get a letter of deletion that wipes the collection from your credit report!
Qualifying for a letter of deletion is tricky, though. This technique will work best if the collection item was not correctly sent into collections.
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act limits the ways creditors and collection agencies can contact you. If you believe that they have violated the Act, you might be able to get a letter of deletion, so long as you promise to pay the collections on credit report. The most common violation of the FDCPA occurs when a collector fails to advise debtors about their right to dispute part or all of the debt within 30 days of first contacting the debtor.
