Pay for delete: asking a collector to remove a collection when you pay

"Pay for delete" is a request, not a right. You offer to pay a collection account, in full or as a settlement, and ask the collector to stop reporting it to the credit bureaus in return. Nothing in federal law requires a collector to agree.

What the law does require

The Fair Credit Reporting Act puts duties on any company that reports to a credit bureau, called a furnisher:

• It is barred from reporting information it knows, or has reasonable cause to believe, is inaccurate.
• When it learns that what it reported is incomplete or wrong, it must correct it with the bureaus and stop reporting the wrong version.
• When you dispute an item with it, it must report the item as disputed.
• For an account placed for collection, it must report the month and year the delinquency began. That date sets how long the account can stay on your report.

None of those duties turns on whether you paid. An accurate collection does not have to come off your report because you paid it. The CFPB says a paid collection should generally show a zero balance.

How long it can stay either way

A collection can be reported for seven years, counted from 180 days after the delinquency that led to it began. Paying leaves that period where it was. So does a sale of the debt to a new collector. See collections on your credit report.

If you decide to ask

1. Confirm the debt first. A validation request makes the collector show what it says you owe before you offer anything.
2. Check its age. In some states a payment on an old debt can restart the time a collector has to sue. Read the statute of limitations before paying a debt that is several years old.
3. Make the offer in writing. Say what you will pay and what you want in return, such as deleting the account or reporting it with a zero balance.
4. Get the agreement in writing before you pay. The CFPB's advice for any settlement is to get the plan and the collector's promises in writing before you make a payment.
5. Keep proof of payment, then pull your free reports a month or two later and compare them with the agreement.

Settling for less than the balance

If the collector accepts less than the full amount, the agreement should say that the payment settles the entire debt. The part the collector forgives may count as income on your tax return; see settled debt and taxes.

Paying someone to do this

The CFPB warns against companies that charge fees before they settle any debt, and says no one has the right to remove accurate negative information from a credit report. You can make this request yourself at no cost.

If the entry is wrong

When a collection belongs to someone else, shows the wrong amount or carries the wrong dates, a dispute is the tool the law gives you, and the furnisher must investigate it. See how to dispute a credit report error.