5. Anything your creditor agrees not to report

You can settle it before receiving any debt from your vendor, by requesting him not to mention this to the credit bureau. “Often, with mortgages, people work out modification. Then people think, ‘I’ve got some debt relief and my car is shot,’ so they go apply for a car loan and they’re surprised to learn that relief mortgage bank is reporting then delinquent. But it says in the mortgage agreement that if you pay anything less than the amount owed, you will be considered delinquent. So that's a question to ask when you're talking to a bank when reducing your debt or modifying your loan: ‘Will you report me as delinquent?’”