Is it bad to have an unpaid debt on your credit file?

I have a $350 Cingular phone bill from 2004 which is with a collection agency called AFNI right now. They offered me 50% off as settlement a while back but I just held back. Now though I am trying to fix my credit and this is the LAST debt on my credit file which remains delinquent and unpaid.

Anyway...from what I have been reading here on yahoo answers if your delinquent debt is more than 2 years old, which mine is obviously, then it doesn%26#039;t hurt your FICO score that much.

OK..now what about specific customized FICO scores--like the ones that they use just for store cards or credit cards? Do those specialized FICO scores smack you really hard for 120+ day delinquent collections account? More so than the %26quot;generic%26quot; FICO score? Also do some stores like target, bestbuy, sears just say NO to you if you have a delinquent collections account, no matter how high your FICO?

Is it bad to have an unpaid debt on your credit file?fast loan

Here%26#039;s a tip for you. AFNI is a very sleazy low rate collection agency. Try sending them a demand to validate letter, and that will usually make them go away.

Is it bad to have an unpaid debt on your credit file? loan

Unpaid debts do affect your FICO score, but you are right in stating that they don%26#039;t affect them as heavily the older they get. If you were to pay it probably wouldn%26#039;t do too much for your score, if that is your primary concern. The fact that it went to collections is already damaging the score.

That being said, I am a believer in paying for the debts that you owe. You may be able to bargain with them to get the amount even lower. I, too, would do the debt validation first to make sure they have properly purchased the debt. They may tell you things like you will be possibly sued, etc, but they won%26#039;t sue over that amount. And there can%26#039;t be any garnishment of your wages until a judgment is given, which more than likely will never happen.

My recommendation is to continue to offer them 25% of the balance until they take it. If they say they can%26#039;t accept just get off the phone and make the same offer in another week. Eventually they will take it.|||They are probably calling because the state statue of limitations is about to run out to collect on the debt. Do not pay it. The reason, if you make payment on your credit report the debt will be on there seven years from the date of payment. Right now you are three or four years into the seven years already. Why would you want to start the seven year reporting history on the debt all over again? The seven year period of reporting ends at the last activity on the account. You will be hurting yourself by paying. Also, as for some stores will not give you credit because of collections BS. I have two collections on my account and have never been turned down on any line of credit. Including Best Buy and a 150,000 dollar business loan with no collateral. Yes, my credit score is high over 780. Tell them to get packing. If you feel guilty. Donate the money to charity you would have paid them. They just want to reset the statue of limitaions.|||Yes, but you can get it removed read this article http://www.adviceontime.com/Credit/Credi...|||In your sitation,I would like to suggest you have a look here.http://debt-consolidation.featured-resou...