I was able to pay off all my debt and the only debt i have left is a checking account reported to a collection agency. They sent me a letter saying if you donâ??t ask us to verify it in 30 days, we assume the debt is yours. I missed that 30 days since I was out of town. I disputed with credit bureau and they verified it. I sent a letter to CA and since it was after 30 days they never answered me. Now i have the money to pay them but here is the problem. They opened an account under my name and the balance being the checking account balance. The account type is "Collection Department / Agency / Attorney ". Does this mean it is a collection account and it will remain on my CR for 7-10 years? If yes, since the account by CA is only 2 months old, can i do something about it since i have the money to pay it off? Please help !
If you have the money to pay it off then go buy a 6 month CD with it. Or do something constructive with it whatever tht might be. Here is why. Paying the debt will only cement it on your credit reports and make it that much harder to get off. When you pay it off you won't help your credit ratings much if at all. It will remain as a paid collection and that is going to look bad no matter how you look at it.
The sad part about it is, I am a college student and I was unaware of all this up to when they sent it to CA. The other sad part is, the amount is just little above $500 !!! and the collection account is only two months old ! Considering all this, is there anything I can do about it since the amount is insignificant and account is still fresh ?Thank you.
I've told you about as much as I know about that kind of thing and so I'll have to stand aside and let others who have that kind of expertise help you.
I'm a strong believer in paying what you owe when you have the means to do so. It's good credit Karma, and future lenders that look at your credit report will look more favorably on a paid collection than an unpaid collection. Now, if you can get the CA to remove the account from your credit report in return for payment, that's the best outcome. Try sending the CA a letter stating that you're a college student and you are interested in paying the account. Offer to make payment if the collector agrees to remove the entry from your credit report, and then ask them to return a signed copy of the letter to you to seal the deal. It doesn't always work, but it's worth a try. If you can't get them to remove it, I still recommend paying it and taking care of your financial responsibilities. You're young, and you have a long time to improve your credit score and prove to lenders that you can responsibly manage your finances. And while it will remain on your report for 7 years, it will affect your score less and less as time passes.
Thank you very much cap1sucks and JoshuaHeckathorn for your support and help. I will do my best to get it deleted from my CR. Meantime is there anything I should or shouldnâ??t say in my pay for delete letter? All the sample letters I found are either before CA verifies the debt or before they leave a mark on oneâ??s credit. Thank you
This is a checking account? Do you know anyone at the bank? You might plead your case to the bank (in person) FIRST, and see if they will pull it back from the collection agency and allow you to pay it. If they will do that, it *should* only be a matter of disputing it off your reports. Secondly, moral issues or not - no lecture from me, but the bank has likely reported this information to chexsystems, and until you do resolve it, you will have a difficult time opening a bank account. If this were older, I would hesitate in paying it, because that sometimes tends to drive your score down, but since this is only 2 months old, you have just taken the hardest hit to your report. Pay it so it isn't outstanding, and your score will recover, or likely, in 6 months to a year, you have a good chance of disputing it, and the CA not wasting their time verifying a paid collection.
Yes, it is a checking account! Wow I never thought it is possible to get it back from CA. And Yes they have reported it to chexsystems because I couldn't open a new account to deposit my money! But I thought the CA buys the balance from The bank and bank cannot get it back since it was sold to CA?
It could be sold, it could just be assigned for collection. As jlynn said, go to the bank in person and talk to them. See if you can work out a solution satisfactory to everyone.
Sometimes they buy the debt, sometimes they take it on a contingency. You won't know until you talk to the bank - they should be able to tell you.
Chexsystems is also a credit reporting agency just like the big three. So start off demanding they send you your yearly free credit report.
Thank You Thank you all Very Very much for your help, I appreciate the time you all put into this to help helpless people like me survive in this dirty non sence man made system that takes more and more unaware victims like me every day. Thanks to you all specially cap1sucks and jlynn I just requested my Chexsystems free annual report and I am planning to stop by the bank by end of this week so I will update this forum as soon as i have some thing new. I am just praying the bank still has control over the money and they can get it back so please pray for me. Once again Thank you all for your help and wish you all the best.
Greetings everybody. I never thought I would come back here after only a day and be updating this thread with good news. Today, as advised, I went to the bank and ask them to see if they still have control over the debt I owed them and the answer was No and they sold the balance to CA. So disappointed, sitting in the car in front of the bank, I called the collection agency even though I was advised not to, but something told me to call. They transfer my call the account manager looks at my account and she says" Did you send us a DV letter?" and She tells me "Because you sent us a DV letter, we had to send your case back to the recovery department of your bank !!!! and we had to delete the collection account from your credit report since it was sent back to original bank !!". As you can all imagine, I dropped the phone and could not control myself! Did it really happen? It did, but still the bank told me they don't have the account in their recovery department. Still in state of unbelief, I walked in the bank and asked for a different person to check again. I know it sounds absurd, but after calling the recovery department, their system was updated at 12:00pm and now THEY HAVE MY ACCOUNT BACK in their recovery department! WOW ! How do you explain this? I don't know what happened, all I know is I will remember 2 things for the rest of my life one being I will remember this day as long as I live and second, I will pray for all of you for turning my life around and gave me a fresh start. I am still shocked and I do not remember how I drove back home! I will need some times to think this over knowing it was a blessing. I would like to thank all of you for all you taught me and wish you all the best of the best in your life and I hope you remember: You changed my life! God bless you all!
Collection Debt Does the company happen to be RJM Acquisition? They typically collect for checking account debt. If you are unable to get the account deleted by negotiating it, then you should work out an arrangement and pay the debt. IMPORTANT! Get the settlement in writing. If you can get them to stipulate a deletion, even better. Your score will increase by satisfying the account as it effects your debt ratio and some other factors. There is always a way to get the matter cleared up if you believe in persistence. Also, reference Chexsystems, if you owe a bank money, then you are in this. AMG Consulting Group Inc.
