I Spoke to Grayson Financial Services and They Say a Charge Off Means You Don’t Owe the Debt Anymore. – Heather

“Dear Steve,

I live in NY state and have been working with Donaldson Williams in Michigan. Currently I am 90-120 days past due on 4 of my credit cards. They will be working on negotiating a settlement for me when the time is right. I was hesitant about trusting anyone but after speaking with Damon Day who highly recommended Donaldson Williams I decided to trust them. So far so good but were not at the point of settlement yet.

We decided to settle because up to this point I was never late with a payment but due to interest rate increase it was getting unmanageable. My debt to income ration was narrowing but my score was still pretty good st 775 (prior to the apr increases it was 875). Now my score has gone down to 550! We decided to avoid bankruptcy so I could rebuild my score quicker once we settle with companies. I hope this was the best decision for me????

Recently, I spoke with the company Grayson Financial Services in Jamaica, NY. They claim that there is something called a Charge Off which they say means after 120 days the company charges off your unpaid debt and legally you no longer owe that money. They also claim at this point they can get those creditors removed from your report. They said to research the Fair Debt Collections Practice Act for more details. Their fee is minimal at 2500 total. This all seems to good to be true but my boyfriends friend used them and said they did help him as promised. Have you heard of Charge Off? What’s the deal? Is it a scam?

Heather”


The Answer:

Dear Heather,

If Grayson Financial Services told you that once a debt is charged off you don’t owe it, that is totally incorrect.

A charge-off is an accounting function only and has no bearing on the debt obligation. A debt will be reported as a bad debt by the banks as a regulatory requirement when it is 180 days past due. At that time the bank reports it as a bad debt by “charging it off.” The debt is still fully collectible.

A charged off debt is a negative item and will be reported on your credit report for up to 7.5 years from the time it first goes delinquent. Typically it will be removed from the credit report after seven years.

Again, the removal of a bad debt from a credit report does not mean the lender can’t still sue you if it is within the statute of limitations. Even if it is not, the debt may still be pursued for collections.

I took a look at what appears to be the website for Grayson Financial Services at the990club.com. For me it’s a huge red flag when a site has an official looking government seal on it like they do.

I Spoke to Grayson Financial Services and They Say a Charge Off Means You Dont Owe the Debt Anymore.   Heather Grayson Financial Services Donaldson Williams  debt settlement ask the get out of debt expert ask the get out of debt expert

The website of the company says they are located at 161-10 Jamaica Avenue, Suite 205 Jamaica, NY 11432. And then it makes me worried when the company is not registered to do business in the state they say they are located.

I Spoke to Grayson Financial Services and They Say a Charge Off Means You Dont Owe the Debt Anymore.   Heather Grayson Financial Services Donaldson Williams  debt settlement ask the get out of debt expert ask the get out of debt expert

It is also troubling that the company offers advanced fee credit repair products which appear to potentially run afoul with the Credit Repair Organizations Act. – Source

Under the Credit Repair Organizations Act it is prohibited to “make any statement, or counsel or advise any consumer to make any statement, the intended effect of which is to alter the consumer’s identification to prevent the display of the consumer’s credit record, history, or rating for the purpose of concealing adverse information that is accurate and not obsolete to–any consumer reporting agency;” – Source

The quickest and least expensive way to get rid of debt is with a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. If you want to avoid bankruptcy and have sash on hand to settle but not pay the full amount due then debt settlement would be the second fastest method.

You can compare all the major debt elimination methods by using the free How to Get Out of Debt Calculator to review your options.

Please post your responses and follow-up messages to me on this in the comments section below.

Big Hug!

I Spoke to Grayson Financial Services and They Say a Charge Off Means You Dont Owe the Debt Anymore.   Heather Grayson Financial Services Donaldson Williams  debt settlement ask the get out of debt expert ask the get out of debt expert
@GetOutOfDebtGuy

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  • Davisincharge

    Well I hope these guys can help as I have enlisted in there services as to removing a paid tax lien of my credit report after being highly recommended by a friend of mine. All I can say is to each there own and I will let you guys know what happens with my experience. Thanks!!!

    • http://GetOutOfDebt.org Steve Rhode

      Why would you want to do that?

      You do realize that if you remove accurate information from your credit report and then use that new credit report to apply for credit, you commit credit fraud.

      • K Marshall

        i hope you don’t have a large following because you have little or no understanding of debt or credit law. For the record and your edification  the law states that anything on your credit that is inaccurate, incomplete, outdated or unverifiable can be removed legally from your credit.
         In general; if after any re-investigation under paragraph (1) of any information disputed by a consumer, an item of information is found to be inaccurate or incomplete or cannot be verified, the consumer reporting agency shall-promptly delete that item of information from the file of the consumer.Therefore, if the item is accurate you still have three provisions of law to remove that item. So your statement is completely false. Your are misleading people who are suffering needlessly;anything can be removed from your credit report if you have the skill to have it fall into one of four categoriesEmployee of Grayson Financial Services

      • http://GetOutOfDebt.org Steve Rhode

        If you look at my comment I already noticed the issue about incorrect information can be removed since my comment was about correct but negative information.

        You made no statement that the information was accurate or incorrect. Hence, my question about why someone would want to do that.

        I needed more information (the question) and issued a warning (about accurate but negative.)

        P.S. I hope employees of Grayson Financial pay closer attention next time.

  • Tamikawatson741

    i did services with Grayson finacial Services and they helped me with my judgement i got it overturned the Employees were very kind and genuine thank you Grayson Finacial Services

  • http://990Club.com/ Bmuller22

    Dear Heather

    Please don’t listen to this idiot.  Debt consolidation companies don’t settle your debts right away because they are waiting for them to charge off.  Once they are charged off of course they can settle them because the debt is satisfied.  You should go back to Grayson Financial Services.  I know that they have helped thousands of people over the past 10 years.  They will eliminate your debt and give you perfect credit.

    • Fitz

      Heather, do yourself a big favor and do not listen to Bmuller22. The statement that “the debt is satisfied” when charged off is, without doubt, an incorrect statement. Anyone with any experience in this field knows this. Bmuller22 either misspoke or is very misinformed. If Grayson stands by that belief, run the other way.

    • http://DamonDay.com Damon Day

      Hello Bmuller, how do you know they have helped thousands of people unless you actually work for them, which I assume you do, given your violent reaction to Steve’s logical response.

      Just a little FYI for you, the debt is not satisfied when the creditor charges it off. Clearly you are very misinformed on what charge off actually is. Also, good debt settlement companies will actually attempt to settle some debts before charge off.

      Heather, I recommend you stay away from these guys. Sounds like a boiler room sales outfit to me where the sales person doesn’t fully understand what he/she is talking about.

      Charge off has nothing to do with whether or not you are still liable for the debt. Also charge off occurs around the 180 day delinquency mark, not the 120. Clearly the sales person is very confused about what he/she is trying to sell.

      If you have any questions about this, feel free to email me about it.

    • http://GetOutOfDebt.org Steve Rhode

      “Once they are charged off of course they can settle them because the debt is satisfied.” LOL, and I’m the idiot.

  • http://990Club.com/ Bmuller22

    Dear Heather

    Please don’t listen to this idiot.  Debt consolidation companies don’t settle your debts right away because they are waiting for them to charge off.  Once they are charged off of course they can settle them because the debt is satisfied.  You should go back to Grayson Financial Services.  I know that they have helped thousands of people over the past 10 years.  They will eliminate your debt and give you perfect credit.