Pay for delete is another option available to you when your debt is being collected by a third-party agency; the agency agrees to have an unfavorable entry in your credit report removed in exchange for cash. This situation can make one think that it is possible to pay some money and make an ugly credit report mark vanish. Still, is paying for deletion a worthy endeavor? It is not all rosy, however, there are benefits and drawbacks to take into consideration.
Advantages of Paid Deletion
One of the main reasons that people choose to pay for deleted services is the ability to increase their credit score. This is the case because negative items such as late payments, collections accounts, and the like are some of the factors that affect the score when they are removed from the report. It gives one the ability to secure credit cards, loans, mortgages, rentals, and other services since the score gives a higher approval rating.
Pay for delete also has the advantage of preventing the account from reporting to the credit bureau every month. This continued update makes you remember your financial woes and is not something anyone would look forward to. Taking it out eradicates this monthly business.
You have the comfort of knowing that the unpaid amount of money has been paid off. When you agree to pay the collection agency for the deletion of the records, collectors are required to cease communication with you to be paid again.
The following are the drawbacks of paying for deletion:
They may not delete the negative item as you are forced to pay them to make them remove it from the credit report. These agreements are mostly oral since the consumer deals directly with the agency while the negative information is usually removed upon request. Unfortunately, if the agency fails in its obligation to provide the services you require, there is very little you can do legally.
Most of the time you are paying money to an old debt that you might have not been legally required to pay anymore. Worry not, there is a statute of limitations for debt collection, usually ranging around 3 to 6 years. If the statutes of this kind are expired, collectors cannot take you to court for the money you owe them. But if you pay, it “restarts” the clock and they can reinstate the legal proceedings and attempt to collect the amount.
But you may not see your scores going up as high as you would like. A single negative item is one of the components comprising all the information that reflects your credit scores. Even if one collection or payment made and reported a month later is removed, the score is not likely to rise considerably.
It could show up in the collection again. Should the agency agree to erase, the original creditor can sell the debt to another agency that indicates another unwanted entry. Or the first agency may sell the debt and that would nullify the verbal contract made with the second party.
You are rewarding bad behavior Instead you are only giving him attention for the wrong things that he is doing. When you pay collection agencies that practice these tactics, you encourage them to continue misguiding people, threatening them, and even harassing them into paying debts they never owed. Morally, some people do not pay at all as a way of protest.
Paying someone to delete images of you online is not legal and there are various other ways that one can use to get the images removed.
Given the significant downsides of pay-for-delete arrangements, you may want to consider alternatives like:
• Settling it for pay for credit reporting – the agency renews the account indicating it has been paid instead of deleting it. This best captures payment while not heavily damping your score.
• These tactics are effective in waiting out the statute of limitations; late payments and collections disappear from credit reports after 7 years.
• Mistakes in a collection account—there are chances that the account information for collection may contain some errors; in that case, you can challenge the credit bureaus.
• Addressing other credit concerns—Low credit scores tend to stem from underlying issues (high credit utilization ratio, limited credit history). These can bring your scores up and hence improve them.
The Bottom Line
This is revealed in pay for delete which assists you to clear collection accounts while at the same time having them deleted from your credit report – quite an attractive proposition. However owing to the following disadvantages, collection agencies may not honor deletion agreements, paid collections can still drag down scores, and you sacrifice specific consumer rights whenever you pay old debts. Considering these benefits and drawbacks will help you decide whether paying for deletion is the best solution for you and your needs or if you need to repair your rating and manage your debts in different ways.
Call now for expert credit repair services: (888) 803-7889
Read More:
How can you legitimately and legally repair bad credit?
Can I pay someone to clean up my credit?
Is it worth it to hire someone to fix credit?
How long does it take Lexington Law to fix your credit?
How to fix a bad credit score asap?