Pay Per Deletion Credit Repair

H

Hannah phillips

Member
Had a collection account pop up recently and decided to go the pay-for-delete route. The process was actually pretty straightforward, I called the collection agency, we agreed on a payment amount, and I asked them to send me written confirmation (via email) that they'd remove the account once it was paid. I went ahead and made the payment during the same call, and the whole thing took maybe 15 minutes.

That was about a month ago, and the account has already been removed from my credit report. The thing is… my credit score hasn’t changed at all. No bump up, no dip just flat. So now I’m wondering: is there usually a delay in the score adjusting after something like this? Or should I just take the win that the negative mark is gone and not worry about the score not budging?
 
Pay-for-delete can be a bit of a double edged sword. Sure the negative item is gone, which is a winn but if the account was old or already paid down, it might not have been dragging your score down much anymore. Also credit score models are weirdly slow sometimes.
 
Yo same boat here! I had a collection removed and expected a 20-30 point jump minimum… nada. Turns out removing a negative item doesn’t always = instant boost. Depends on the rest of your credit mix, age of accounts, utilization, etc.
 
Honestly, you did it right. Getting it in writing was super smart...too many folks skip that and get burned. Score changes usually lag a bit, sometimes 30-60 days. I’d give it more time and check again.
 
I think a lot of people misunderstand how scoring works. Removing a collection doesn’t give you points back like a video game. It just removes a weight. If the rest of your profile is meh, the change is minimal.
 
Lenders do soft pulls sometimes too and those won’t reflect real-time changes. I had to wait for a full credit cycle before my score jumped. Patience sucks but it paid off in my case.
 
Bro i did the same thing last year. Paid off a $600 collection, got the letter, got it removed. My score jumped... 2 points. I was pissed until someone told me my high utilization was still tanking my score.
 
Not all collection accounts are weighted the same. If yours was medical or under $500 newer FICO models may already have discounted it. The deletion might’ve just cleaned your profile without moving the score needle.
 
did you check all three bureaus? Sometimes they’ll remove it from one and forget the others. Happened to me with TransUnion. Didn’t see any score change until it was off all reports.
 
It’s wild how little impact some of these removals have. I deleted two collections and still hovered in the same range for weeks. Then suddenly 40-point jump. Credit scores are dramatic like that.
 
credit scores are trash at showing instant results. I’d focus on the long game cleaning your report helps you with manual reviews and mortgage apps even if FICO doesn’t flinch right away.
 
I work in lending. Deleting a negative doesn’t always mean score bump because scoring models also weigh the age of the negative, type of debt, and your overall profile. Good on you for paying though.
 
You did everything by the book. Be proud of that. Too many people ghost collections and hope it just disappears after 7 years. Getting it off proactively is a W regardless of your score.
 
I feel you. I went through Lexington Law and paid for months, got 3 items removed and... drumroll... my score went up by 1. Started doing it myself after that and saw better results.
 
Did you pull a FICO score or VantageScore? Because Credit Karma be out here giving people false hope. Mine barely budged on CK but when i pulled FICO 8 via Experian it had jumped 18 points.
 
credit scores are a scam lol. You do everything right and still get punished. Miss a $25 payment once and lose 80 points. Pay off a debt? Meh, we’ll think about it.
 
Might be worth checking if your other accounts are reporting high utilization. That can totally offset the gain from removing a negative. Credit is like playing chess blindfolded.
 
Same here! Paid off an old phone bill through a pay-for-delete. Took like 3 weeks to come off Experian and no score change. But i did get approved for a credit card i kept getting denied for before. So maybe it did help.
 
The thing is, sometimes collections are already aged in the algorithm and aren’t hurting you as much as you think. So when they go it’s more like removing a paperweight than a boulder.
 
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