To keep a long story short, I cosigned an HSBC loan for a friend, he passed away, the HSBC loan was sold to a collections agency, and I settled the loan with that collections agency.


The full amount of the loan is still being reported to the credit bureaus from HSBC. It says Account charged off/Past due 90 days. $----.-- written off/$---.-- past due as of Nov 2008.

Also, the Recent Balance shows $----.-- as of 11/2008.


Again, I settled the loan at %70 of the full amount with a collections agency. This was back in July, 2007. Is it wrong that HSBC is showing this as charged off and that I still owe the full amount? I paid it. The collections agency didn't report anything and they said it is not their practice to report that information to credit bureaus.

If I'm in the right, how can I dispute this? I know I have to write to the credit bureaus, but how would I present my case to them in writing? For example, do I want this changed from Charged off to Settled? Should I press for the amount charged off to reflect the amount I didn't pay?

I would definitely contact HSBC and see how to proceed with this - obviously if you've paid an amount which isn't showing then it sounds like a problem HSBC need to sort out.

The unfortunate fact is that there may not be much you can do.

You see HSBC was forced to sell the loan off at a loss to a collection service. In all likely hood HSBC got 50% or less of the debt paid, so from their point of view they are being totally honest. Be warned that it may cot you to get them to change the info, because as a cosigner you defaulted the loan as well.

The only thing you can do is call them and ask them what can be done about it?

That is the risk when you co-sign a loan, it not only effects the person who defaults but it puts you into default as well. I have one friend that co-signed several loans for his kids, but as long as they hadn't paid back the loans they had to give him full access to their financial records and he checked after every payment should have been made to make sure it was made. It is the only way to protect yourself.

Well the collections agencies are willing to workout a deal with you. It is never a problem for them to lower the amount you own. You should probably hire a credit lawyer to work out the consigned issues

Unfortunately, HSBC will show it in your credit report as "charged off" for 7 years. The collection agency should report the collection as "settled". You can write to the credit bureaus, however, I doubt it that will make any difference. I work for a non profit organization ( Consumer Credit management Services) and if you have any questions fell free to give us a call at 1-800-568-4545

Same thing happened to me, never co-sign a loan for anyone as in the end if they do not meet their obligations you will be liable and there is not much you can do about it.

Fight them!!!

Collection companies are terrible at keeping records and were sited as major sources of errors on credit reports by the GAO (General Accountability Office) US gov..

If I had a nickel.. I have seen collections companies sell accounts and re-report them as much as 8 times on credit reports for the same items.