5 ms·

same experience, except it wasn't that simple. A family member told me I should settle with them, because that's what they did too. They wiped the balance and c

same experience, except it wasn't that simple. A family member told me I should settle with them, because that's what they did too. They wiped the balance and closed the account but the settlement stayed on my credit score for 7 years. I had a friend who was getting calls by a debt servicer and was making it seem like no big deal. I told my friend to ask the person about the 7 years, the person reluctantly admitted that his credit score will be flagged for 7 years.

cavegirl 3y ago
Might as well not pay it, if it follows you anyway
- wizerdrobe 3y ago
  If you want to buy a home you have to pay it, even if you’re past the seven years window. Or at least that’s what USAA did to us. I had a credit card debt of about $700 after a failed startup that, when I called TD, I was unable to pay. It was “written off.” The debt was from 2015 and I was purchasing a home in the spring of 2023 and despite the balance having been written off 8 years ago, USAA demanded it be settled. So I spent 12+ hours in a Kafkaesque circle of hell trying to find someone to TAKE MY MONEY! Even the agents at TD found it sad-funny how desperate I was to pay and yet they seemingly had no system in place for me to pay off the debt I did owe them at some level. Ultimately, I got escalated so someone high enough up with enough tenure to find the right system to pay and a fax(!) was sent to USAA to settle that underwriting line item. Interestingly, USAA also managed to find that I had a $25 Comcast bill from something like 11 years ago, likely having missed a final bill on move out of some apartment. This wasn’t reported on my credit report, ever. Somehow they managed to find it and I needed to pay. I would love to know now about the underwriting process and how they find non-reported debts like my Comcast bill.
  - astura 3y ago
    They are reported somewhere, that's how they find them. USAA will tell you their source if you ask - you have the right to it under the FCRA. I've noticed sometimes some "weird" debts only show up on TransUnion and only TransUnion. If you're "checking your credit" with Equifax or Experian you won't see them. There is also "other" credit reports like Chexsystems.
  - elteto 3y ago
    This seems like pedantry on the USAA part. They should add some small fraction of a point to your rate and move on. I understand you probably get extra benefits with USAA but this would be an automatic disqualification for me and I’d move kn to a different servicer. However, that is _painful_ in the middle of a closing.
    - wizerdrobe 3y ago
      Truth be told - we’re looking at ditching them but with banking, home, and auto we are likely stuck with them for the fact of inertia. Our mortgage was immediately sold to another firm, so there’s no nicety on the part of having a consistent firm there. The process was painful, our processor was impossible to get in touch with, often a 48 hour lag for a reply. Shortly before moving I was side-swiped by a man suffering a medical incident (diabetic coma after a blood draw) while at a red light. Our premium increased due to “driver history” a month later. I’ve previously worked directly with USAA staff for due diligence when selling software / services to their firm and they are absolutely on the ball on that front. However, their actual software as an end-user is a hassle, e.g. password rules and UX that look about 25 years old at this point and suggest some languishing old mainframe. Sweet, sweet inertia…
      - elteto 3y ago
        > Sweet, sweet inertia… It’s almost as if it was a natural law or something… Look into Ally Loans. Same deal, you’ll be packaged and sold out within the week, but they have a very, very nice online system for the loan process.
      - gnopgnip 3y ago
        If you are in CA statewide it is illegal to increase your rates for a not at fault crash. In most other states insurers will increase your rate even if you are not at fault and you only made a claim with the at fault party or your insurer is successful subrogating
      - incahoots 3y ago
        If you have Costco membership I highly suggest switching to them for all of your insurance needs, IF they have that service available in your area. I’m in the Midwest and I pull quotes every 3 years, and Costco has always been a few hundred cheaper than the other cats with the same or better coverage. Banking should be a credit union unless you require some weird need from USAA. To be honest, I never bought into the USAA hype, their marketing is strong but their “benefits” aren’t anything more than what’s found at competing banks. Credit unions provide better services and benefits to their customers anyhow.
  - linuxftw 3y ago
    It sounds like you had a judgement against you. Judgements don't go away, and are enforceable. You probably could have had the judgement vacated.
  - Marsymars 3y ago
    I have a prepaid online fax account that I use semi-regularly, almost exclusively for dealing with financial matters. Quite useful.
pluijzer 3y ago
Just a heads up for people living in the EU, it is possible to have things like negative credit ratings removed on grounds of GPRD.
- petesergeant 3y ago
  Do you have a source that specifically states I can get a bad debt scrubbed from my credit rating under GDPR provisions? It doesn’t match my understating of GDPR at all.
  - pluijzer 3y ago
    I got my bad debt scrubbed this way. This was in the Netherlands. It is not always possible, some sources here (in Dutch): https://www.vldwadvocaten.nl/blog/bkr-en-avg-bezwaar-en-verzoek-gegevenswissing-toch-mogelijk/ https://www.vldwadvocaten.nl/blog/bkr-en-avg-bezwaar-en-verz...
    - petesergeant 3y ago
      Google translation: “and that means that you can submit a GDPR request to have a BKR registration corrected” This suggests you can only get records removed if they’re incorrect — is that what you meant?
      - pluijzer 3y ago
        The record can technically be correct but not in "pursuit of a legitimate interest". In that case the negative record can be "corrected". So, in my case. When I was a teenager I opened a second bank account with credit card. In only used the card once for something small and forgot about it. Throughout the years the cost of this card started to built up, messages to pay back where not received because I already had a different address and phone number. Years later this resulted in a negative BKR registration for me. I explained the situation to the bank (that could technically let the registration be removed) but they refused. Later I had a lawyer order them to remove the registration, on grounds that me forgetting about a credit card when I was young was no reason to believe I wouldn't be paying my mortgage. The registration was therefor not in "pursuit of a legitimate interest". The bank honored this.
NoMoreNicksLeft 3y ago
Worse than just that, it is also taxable. So you think you're paying a few hundred to close it out, then you get zinged for more taxes in April. If you were counting on getting a refund, you might come up short.
FireBeyond 3y ago
So this is a good point. From the perspective of your credit score, the damage is done when you get to that point. Settling a debt hurts. Where settling a debt has "value" is around mortgages. It shows that even though the damage was done, you did something to make it right. When underwriters get into the nuances of your credit, they will ask about this. On a related matter, credit "repair" agencies work very simply, and in a few ways, one being the stress relief of redirecting calls to them rather than you. But how do they actually "repair" your credit? Every derogatory item, accurate or not, they dispute, hoping the merchant won't respond or follow process. If they do? They dispute it again. And again. Hoping to catch them out.

cavegirl 3y ago

Might as well not pay it, if it follows you anyway

wizerdrobe 3y ago
If you want to buy a home you have to pay it, even if you’re past the seven years window. Or at least that’s what USAA did to us. I had a credit card debt of about $700 after a failed startup that, when I called TD, I was unable to pay. It was “written off.” The debt was from 2015 and I was purchasing a home in the spring of 2023 and despite the balance having been written off 8 years ago, USAA demanded it be settled. So I spent 12+ hours in a Kafkaesque circle of hell trying to find someone to TAKE MY MONEY! Even the agents at TD found it sad-funny how desperate I was to pay and yet they seemingly had no system in place for me to pay off the debt I did owe them at some level. Ultimately, I got escalated so someone high enough up with enough tenure to find the right system to pay and a fax(!) was sent to USAA to settle that underwriting line item. Interestingly, USAA also managed to find that I had a $25 Comcast bill from something like 11 years ago, likely having missed a final bill on move out of some apartment. This wasn’t reported on my credit report, ever. Somehow they managed to find it and I needed to pay. I would love to know now about the underwriting process and how they find non-reported debts like my Comcast bill.
- astura 3y ago
  They are reported somewhere, that's how they find them. USAA will tell you their source if you ask - you have the right to it under the FCRA. I've noticed sometimes some "weird" debts only show up on TransUnion and only TransUnion. If you're "checking your credit" with Equifax or Experian you won't see them. There is also "other" credit reports like Chexsystems.
- elteto 3y ago
  This seems like pedantry on the USAA part. They should add some small fraction of a point to your rate and move on. I understand you probably get extra benefits with USAA but this would be an automatic disqualification for me and I’d move kn to a different servicer. However, that is _painful_ in the middle of a closing.
  - wizerdrobe 3y ago
    Truth be told - we’re looking at ditching them but with banking, home, and auto we are likely stuck with them for the fact of inertia. Our mortgage was immediately sold to another firm, so there’s no nicety on the part of having a consistent firm there. The process was painful, our processor was impossible to get in touch with, often a 48 hour lag for a reply. Shortly before moving I was side-swiped by a man suffering a medical incident (diabetic coma after a blood draw) while at a red light. Our premium increased due to “driver history” a month later. I’ve previously worked directly with USAA staff for due diligence when selling software / services to their firm and they are absolutely on the ball on that front. However, their actual software as an end-user is a hassle, e.g. password rules and UX that look about 25 years old at this point and suggest some languishing old mainframe. Sweet, sweet inertia…
    - elteto 3y ago
      > Sweet, sweet inertia… It’s almost as if it was a natural law or something… Look into Ally Loans. Same deal, you’ll be packaged and sold out within the week, but they have a very, very nice online system for the loan process.
    - gnopgnip 3y ago
      If you are in CA statewide it is illegal to increase your rates for a not at fault crash. In most other states insurers will increase your rate even if you are not at fault and you only made a claim with the at fault party or your insurer is successful subrogating
    - incahoots 3y ago
      If you have Costco membership I highly suggest switching to them for all of your insurance needs, IF they have that service available in your area. I’m in the Midwest and I pull quotes every 3 years, and Costco has always been a few hundred cheaper than the other cats with the same or better coverage. Banking should be a credit union unless you require some weird need from USAA. To be honest, I never bought into the USAA hype, their marketing is strong but their “benefits” aren’t anything more than what’s found at competing banks. Credit unions provide better services and benefits to their customers anyhow.
- linuxftw 3y ago
  It sounds like you had a judgement against you. Judgements don't go away, and are enforceable. You probably could have had the judgement vacated.
- Marsymars 3y ago
  I have a prepaid online fax account that I use semi-regularly, almost exclusively for dealing with financial matters. Quite useful.

pluijzer 3y ago

Just a heads up for people living in the EU, it is possible to have things like negative credit ratings removed on grounds of GPRD.

petesergeant 3y ago
Do you have a source that specifically states I can get a bad debt scrubbed from my credit rating under GDPR provisions? It doesn’t match my understating of GDPR at all.
- pluijzer 3y ago
  I got my bad debt scrubbed this way. This was in the Netherlands. It is not always possible, some sources here (in Dutch): https://www.vldwadvocaten.nl/blog/bkr-en-avg-bezwaar-en-verzoek-gegevenswissing-toch-mogelijk/ https://www.vldwadvocaten.nl/blog/bkr-en-avg-bezwaar-en-verz...
  - petesergeant 3y ago
    Google translation: “and that means that you can submit a GDPR request to have a BKR registration corrected” This suggests you can only get records removed if they’re incorrect — is that what you meant?
    - pluijzer 3y ago
      The record can technically be correct but not in "pursuit of a legitimate interest". In that case the negative record can be "corrected". So, in my case. When I was a teenager I opened a second bank account with credit card. In only used the card once for something small and forgot about it. Throughout the years the cost of this card started to built up, messages to pay back where not received because I already had a different address and phone number. Years later this resulted in a negative BKR registration for me. I explained the situation to the bank (that could technically let the registration be removed) but they refused. Later I had a lawyer order them to remove the registration, on grounds that me forgetting about a credit card when I was young was no reason to believe I wouldn't be paying my mortgage. The registration was therefor not in "pursuit of a legitimate interest". The bank honored this.

NoMoreNicksLeft 3y ago

Worse than just that, it is also taxable. So you think you're paying a few hundred to close it out, then you get zinged for more taxes in April. If you were counting on getting a refund, you might come up short.

FireBeyond 3y ago

So this is a good point. From the perspective of your credit score, the damage is done when you get to that point. Settling a debt hurts. Where settling a debt has "value" is around mortgages. It shows that even though the damage was done, you did something to make it right. When underwriters get into the nuances of your credit, they will ask about this. On a related matter, credit "repair" agencies work very simply, and in a few ways, one being the stress relief of redirecting calls to them rather than you. But how do they actually "repair" your credit? Every derogatory item, accurate or not, they dispute, hoping the merchant won't respond or follow process. If they do? They dispute it again. And again. Hoping to catch them out.