Hi- I am looking for help from anyone who has a suggestion. We accumulated a significant amount of credit card debt over a number of years but always made timely payments as agreed. About a year and a half ago we lost a second income and went 30 days late on a couple credit card accounts.  We decided to get serious about getting rid of these cards and not adding any more debt and also made a commitment to making our payments to our creditors after cutting back on other things, etc.Â
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I contacted all of the credit card companies and closed the accounts (there wasn’t much available credit on them anyway) and got lower rates (4% – 8.99%) with a fixed payment in order to have them all paid off within 3-5 years. Bank of America and Chase were very easy to work with, got them set up and I have had no problems. I can’t say the same for Citibank. Citibank tried to get me to agree to several other “programs” first – none of which were in my best long-term interest and would have only served to keep me paying loan shark rates for the rest of my life. The finally agreed to do what Bank of America and Chase did. However, unlike BofA and Chase who report the account as “closed by consumer”, Citi is reporting to two of the credit bureaus that I am paying under a “partial payment agreement.” This is significantly affecting my score with those two credit agencies (635 for Transunion and 583 for Equifax). Experian (which inexplicably has this account being reported as open and paying as agreed) shows a score of 709.
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I contacted Citi and was treated as though I was some kind of deadbeat moron and told that is how they do it and that should have been explained to me- IT WASN’T.  They seem to think that I am making “partial” payments because I am not paying the amount I would be paying had they not “helped me out” to give me a lower rate. Yet I am still paying back the full amount due. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to fix this reporting as Citi refuses to do anything until it is totally paid off which won’t be for another 3.5 years?