The critical difference between deleting a debt and killing a debt

The critical difference between deleting a debt from your credit report and killing a debt 

Deleting a debt from your credit report is good, but the debt still lives. You can still be sued and the debt can be sold. 

Think of it as a table with an object resting on top.

The debt is the table and the credit report is on top of the table.

If we can get rid of the credit reporting, excellent. 

But the table, the debt, is still standing underneath. 

What can the collector still do with a deleted debt?

They can sue you. 

Or they could sell the debt to another collector.

All we have done is take away the credit reporting. 

There are all sorts of strategies for how to remove things from your credit report. This is the basis of your disputes to the bureaus or the collector.  

What happens if we kill the debt?

There is no more debt. It ceases to exist.

The debt collector can no longer pursue you in any way for this debt. 

How do we do this?

Maybe we are sued in a collection lawsuit and we win and get it dismissed with prejudice. 

Or maybe this could also be part of the settlement discussions. 

This could also be pre-lawsuit. No lawsuit filed, you reach out to the company to negotiate a deal to kill the debt.

If you are negotiating pre-lawsuit, it would take a good basis for your argument to convince them.

Which is better?

Deleting is the easier option.

There are strategies to use which can often result in the credit reporting being taken away. 

But, when you kill the debt entirely, the credit report must also go away.

In our cases, we routinely kill the debt.

Think back to our table example, the credit reporting no longer has anything to rest on because the table (debt) has been completely removed. 

Sometimes, the collector will still decide to report even after the debt has been killed.

If they do this, they are in for a fabulous false credit reporting lawsuit. 

Many people believe that if a debt has been removed from their credit report, they can no longer be sued. 

However, this is incorrect.

If the debt exists they can take collection activity. 

Even if the debt is deleted from your credit report, they can still sue you for the debt. 

If you want the complete solution, kill that debt and the credit reporting will go away. 

When you kill the debt, they can’t sue you, they can’t transfer, they can’t credit report or do anything with the debt.

It has been killed. Completely and totally removed.

When we sue a collector and kill the debt, our clients will sometimes ask,  “What happens if Portfolio sends me another letter?” 

If they continue to try to collect on this debt, they are begging you to sue them and take their money.

They are absolutely breaking the law. 

If they sell or transfer the debt, we sue the new company and the one that sold them. 

We sue the new company for attempting to collect on a debt that doesn’t exist. 

We sue the original company for knowingly selling bad debt. 

If the debt is only deleted, it may lead to more issues. Kill the debt if at all possible.

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Thanks and have a great day!

John Watts