Help! Dealing with charge-offs!!

[Vee8102]

I'm new to Credit Boards and was wondering if anyone had some advice for me and my situation! I became unemployed in 2009 and fell horribly behind on two of my credit cards. One with Capital One for $1500 and another with 1st financial Bank for $900. I am now back on my feet and ready to pay these. I recently checked my credit report and both of these cards are marked as charge-offs. The Capital One credit card is now at $4200 with a CA. I am not willing to pay that amount as I only owed around $1500. The 1st Financial card is about $1400, but it is not in collections. They have sent me settlement letters, but I'm not sure how to respond yet.

 

I would like to settle for less than what I owe these companies. Would it be a good idea to send a pay for delete letter? I would like to have these either deleted or marked as paid as agreed. Would this be impossible? Also the Capital One card is now with a collection agency so would I have to send a letter to the CA or cap one?

 

Any advice or info would be greatly appreciated ! I am desperately trying to rebuild my credit, but I don't know how to deal with these two issues.

[stephanie7707]

I have not done this myself, but I am in the same situation.

My brother is the one who told me about creditboards, and he also told me that for him to get two charged offs removed he disputed the OC with the credit bureaus, and one simply didn't respond..the other he kept disputing til they got tired of him and deleted it... which may not always be the case.

He also said that for the collection agencies that it was sold to, he sent them a letter stating that it wasn't his debt but he would settle for **% of the debt only if they deleted it.. and they accepted, in writing. He then sent the letter and proof of payment to the CRA's to make sure it was removed.. Again, not always the case.

 

Also it was outside the SOL, so they couldn't sue him.

[RAS93]

I recently settled $300,000 of credit card and line of credit debt for $75,000. Most settled for 17% to 30%. Capital One was the hardest at 45%. Stop paying for six months. Answer the phone and be polite. Start at 10%. Be realistic and settle for around 25-30%. Then rebuild your credit with secured credit cards and credit union loans. Good luck.