debt settlement negotiations

Charge-off Negotiation Question?

I am in the process of negotiating a settlement for a charge off on an old debt. (No flack, it is my fiance’s and he could not find work and is a veteran) Anyways, is it reasonable to negotiate taking off the entire “charge off” record from the credit report? Or would that be ridiculous? Thanks so much!

Sorry to say that once the debt has been listed as a charge off, paying it will not get it removed. It will show as being paid in settlement and show the balance not paid as charged off.
You could have done the “pay for delete” earlier before it was charged off.

Now if they approached you for a settlement then that would change the situation. If they are offering a settlement than no doubt this debt is fast approaching your states statute of limitations or has already done so.
This is the reason many creditors make you an offer, if you accept, it resets the state SOL and they could still sue you in court for the balance. If they put it in writing that the settlement satisfies the debt and they release all rights to further civil actions, then go ahead and pay it if you like.
If the debt is “time barred” (beyond your states SOL) then this means that they can not take you to court to collect, can not garnish your wages, or seize your accounts. They have no legal recourse. They can still ask you to pay, but that is all. You can send them a “cease and desist letter” informing them that you know it is a time barred debt and they usually will go away.

The debt will drop from your credit report in 7 1/2 years (this reporting period runs 7 1/2 yrs from the date of last delinquent payment.(Running of Reporting Period – Section 605 [15 U.S.C. § 1681c]

Hope this answer is of help to you
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