Southern California Mortgage Blog

Danger Zone: Paying Off Collection Accounts

Paying Off Collection Accounts

If you have a collection listed on your credit report and you are getting ready to refinance or buy a home, then you definitely need this advice:

It is very important to know that the possibility of any collections on the credit" is discussed before running the credit report." If I were to run your credit through General Mortgage, the report would be marked and categorized as a mortgage report. A recent mortgage inquiry on your credit can make it next to impossible to negotiate the pay-off of a collection account for anything less than what the collection agency demands.

Let's say the balance on the ambulance bill that went unpaid by your insurance now shows up on your credit report. If you took that ambulance ride two years ago and paid the bill today, you would have tanked your credit scores by making that collection brand new again.

If no mortgage inquiry has been made and we had ordered the free annual credit reports and discovered the collection, then I could negotiate for you in"paying off the collection. This is much harder to get it completely removed that it was two years ago.

That negotiation might include paying less than the collection agency wants for the bill and would always include the collection agency removing the account from ever being reported again. I have successfully done this many times for my mortgage clients. It is especially important because a newer collection can take up to 80 points off of your credit scores.

There is more on this subject in my book on credit and credit scores." You can check it out at www.CreditFitness.net.

Timing Is Everything

Any American male can tell you that, in romance, timing is everything!

Flowers delivered two days after her birthday will not be given the same response as on the day of her birthday. There could be hell to pay unless a really good excuse is offered.

When you do something is critically important to your credit scores.

Much of the time, in my business as a mortgage loan officer, I see clients coming in and want to improve their credit scores in one week. Unless a person has a lot of credit debt and money to pay it off right away, this is usually not possible.

Credit scores take a while to show off the grooming you have done, or not done, to them.

Giving yourself a full six months to get ready for your “close-up” will pay off big when you plan to borrow money to buy a car or a house. You may need even more time if you are looking to add over 60 points to your scores.

Many of the “rules” that are taught about credit are written so that you will avoid problems on your way to buying a house or a car. It is said, “Don’t pay off collections”, “avoid inquiries”, and “no closing of accounts”.

A few inquiries for home mortgages will not hurt you because the most modern scoring model expects you to shop for a mortgage. The time frame for this happening on a home loan is 45 days. Be aware that if you submit a loan scenario to Lending Tree you could get as many as 300 inquires of your credit by all the lenders who will make you an offer on your loan. Even 40 inquiries will completely tank your scores

This is also true for auto loans. That time frame for this is 14 days. If you like to test drive cars and they pull your credit once a month for 6 months, you could be doing yourself damage.

Collections can be paid off and the item completely deleted from your report if you negotiate successfully for that prior to making payment. I advise that you avoid paying off any collection without negotiating for a complete deletion.

If they absolutely will not delete, you can pay them off safely after your escrow closes. Most loan underwriters will allow this to happen at the closing of the transaction for real estate.

If you aren’t planning to borrow for a car or a mortgage for the next six months to two years, then do the things that will protect your credit in the future. Close accounts that you must close to protect yourself, pay off collections, open new accounts, and charge your credit cards up past 30% of their limits.

Your credit score is only a number. It’s an important number when you want to borrow money; just don’t lie awake at night worrying about it after the escrow has closed. It’s okay for it to go down at certain times in order to protect or improve your long term credit profile. My book, Credit Repair & Credit Scores: Step-By-Step Guide For Dramatic Improvement contains many recommendations for getting the best results in your credit profile.