Too Late To Pay The Bank?, Old mail, found CA letter regarding the balance... Options

[kpb]

Digging through old mail I found a letter from a CA (item is 2 years old, I wanted to dispute it, gave up but I want to pay the bank now)
mentioning I could pay a 'settlement'

Does this mean it's too late to contact the bank? I ordered a new chex report and it lists the same bank/balance/etc

My only real concern was it hitting my *credit report* which, for now, it has not (I received this letter over a year ago)
What should I do to ensure it stays off my *credit* ? Is it too late to pay the bank?

Thanks

[Googie]

[kpb]

Anybody have experience with this situation?

Thank you.

[mca]

yes if you try to pay the bank, they will tell you to contact the collection agency. Also, if you settle with them, there is a good chance that they will then report to your credit that it was settled for less and then it will show up on your credit. Some collection agencies report right away and others seem not to report at all

[kpb]

Since they have had it for well over a year and it has not hit, should I just let it be? I worry they will re-sell it. Is it common for bank issues to be reported? This is the only thing that I know of from keeping me (in the future) from having perfect credit and I worry having it report would destroy my citi business card.

Thank you.

[kpb]

Bumping because I wonder if I should just file the dispute. The amount for nsf is not based on charges I authorized and I want to
see how it came about. What do they have to prove in order to 'validate' or keep it on the chex report?

Thanks

PS. If I dispute, will it possibly alert the CA? Should I just leave it alone and try to just pay chase? I am scared to contact anybody in fear of it hitting my CRA. If I had to, I WOULD pay in full I would not settle.

This post has been edited by kpb: Jan 21 2009, 04:03 PM

[mca]

I can not say if they would report it at some point or not. Which bank is it?

[kpb]

Chase. Inserted 9/06 and then I received the collection letter on 9/07 and nothing happened since.
I want to just pay them but I am terrified. I want to dispute it but I worry chase will call the ca and say "Screw this guy now"
or that chex will contact the ca through some alert system

I'm not really sure what to do. If they do report it, I assume it'll be based on the DOFD of 9/06. I am losing sleep over this...

Thanks for your time, once again.

This post has been edited by kpb: Jan 22 2009, 10:01 PM

[mca]

If the original 7 year negative period had not expired, Paying old debt can erase the original date of first delinquency and restart the 7 year period. It is up to the creditor, but they can update the account - which starts a new 7 year period. Paying off debt does not add a lot of points. Once an account has been charged off and closed, the damage to your credit is done. Recent positive credit histories are what help raise your score. **In fact, most collectors and creditors will not report your consistent, on-time payment on the old debt. They are only interested in the payments.

[kpb]

"If the original 7 year negative period had not expired, Paying old debt can erase the original date of first delinquency and restart the 7 year period"

No, otherwise all of my paid collections would have re-inserted a new 7 year time period. I've paid collections that kept the same DOFD
It would not be legal to re-set the DOFD, only possibly a partial payment can re-set legal SOL. That would not be authorized in the FCRA

Getting back to my original concern, do you think a dispute would alert the CA?

This post has been edited by kpb: Jan 23 2009, 07:10 AM