paying a collection...HELP!

Discussion in 'Credit Talk' started by dstdiva, Jul 29, 2003.

  1. dstdiva

    dstdiva Well-Known Member

    alright, i'm working on my credit report and just realized that i have a collection that i am paying on. i had an agreement with the CA and i pay them $100 a month. is there anything i can do, since we have an agreement already?
     
  2. dstdiva

    dstdiva Well-Known Member

    i forgot to add....i don't have any kind of aggreement with the CA regarding my credit report. they are not currently on any of them. can i negotiate for that now?
     
  3. tiger00

    tiger00 Well-Known Member

    You can always send a settlement offer letter, indicating that you will continue to pay them the agreed amount AND that they will not report this matter to any CRA.

    This gives you a paper trail if, at the end of paying, they decide to stick it in your reports. The caveat is that they might refuse, and then your option turns to going the validation route. Since they haven't reported, it doesn't mean that they won't report. Cover your bases, and get something in writing from them i.e. the settlement offer.
     
  4. dstdiva

    dstdiva Well-Known Member

    thanks!
     
  5. dstdiva

    dstdiva Well-Known Member

    if i send a settlement letter (which i can't find on here anywhere...any suggestions?), and they refuse the credit report part am i SOL because i'm still obligated to pay them? (although i never signed anything)
    also, am i losing leverage by not having the money to pay off (i.e. needing to pay monthly)?

    the CA has a slick new website but i'm not impressed. on the old website, you could make a payment by check, but something was wrong with it and for months people we paying online and they couldn't cash the payments. last month, i mailed them a payment, which they still haven't cashed. are they a one-man operation?
     
  6. lbrown59

    lbrown59 Well-Known Member

    Why pay an un validated claim?
     
  7. dstdiva

    dstdiva Well-Known Member

    lbrown:

    well, my thinking was that i would pay it because i owed it. so, i should send a validation letter. i am just concerned about how to approach this. i have had an alright relationship with them thus far. neither the OC nor the CA are on my report. perhaps i should mention that i am dealing with National Asset Management. there is virtually no info on creditnet for them. if i validate, will that negate my $100/month plan? will they come after me for the total amount? it should be easy to validate because it is my debt.
     
  8. Coda33

    Coda33 Well-Known Member

  9. dstdiva

    dstdiva Well-Known Member

    thanks, coda.
     
  10. tiger00

    tiger00 Well-Known Member

    IMHO when I owe, I owe, and I have choosen to pay, as not to have some Kharma debt racking up against me.

    If you don't think that it's valid, then fight the hell out of it, if you do, you make the choice that you can sleep with at night.
     
  11. dstdiva

    dstdiva Well-Known Member

    i agree...just don't want it on my credit report. (which they might do when i finish paying)
     
  12. Coda33

    Coda33 Well-Known Member

    Here's my process... Karma seems to be fine with it:

    Make them Validate- 1 of 2 things will happen:
    1. They CAN't validate. It now comes off your report. You can now pay them, w/ conditional endorsement - like "payment is not an admission of debt" - WHERE LEGALLY APPLICABLE
    2. They Validate - arrange for removal w/ payment (in writing). Then pay them.
     
  13. dstdiva

    dstdiva Well-Known Member

    maybe i have been unclear...they are not on my report...never have been. i have been paying them all this time. i just want to avoid a nasty little surprise after my last payment (looking at my report and finding a "paid collection". or can they not add it after i have paid? what are your thoughts?
     
  14. tiger00

    tiger00 Well-Known Member

    Of course they can add it, it's in collection, and you having requested a validation from them. They could report it at anytime that they wanted to, that's why getting them to either agree to never list it (settlement) or prove that it's your (validation) are the only safe routes to go.
     
  15. dstdiva

    dstdiva Well-Known Member

    okay, tiger, so send them a settlement letter which basically has the terms of payment ($100/month with no negative credit reporting action). right?
     
  16. Coda33

    Coda33 Well-Known Member

    Sorry for the confusion... but the same rules apply. Your goal is the same - NOT ON YOUR CR! NOT NOW, NOT EVER!

    Like Tiger said, better safe than screwed. Once you pay this off, validation is a little tougher (since they'll have all these checks from you) and you lose all leverage (i.e. negotiating payment for removal. If they already have the payment, why should they do JACK for you? There is a stance you can take should it come to that (Nutcase, Psychdoc's Litigious Mindset, etc) but better to work it now while you hold some cards ($$$)

    CYA = Cover Your Ass etts Your CR, sadly, is one of your greatest assets
     
  17. lbrown59

    lbrown59 Well-Known Member

    Like i said why pay an un validated claim?
    Don't let your morals or emotions get in the way of common sense because in doing so one usually gets screwed.
     
  18. thetruth

    thetruth Member

    lbrown59 is exactly right when he asks, "Why pay an unvalidated debt?" I see no reason to ever pay a third party debt collector, since there really is no way for them to validate a debt they never had an interest in.
     
  19. tiger00

    tiger00 Well-Known Member

    Re: Re: paying a collection...HELP!

    The only problem that I see with this approach is that IF they validate then you are legally on the hook. Sure, it's a crap shoot, but as I said before, a debt that I know that I owe is a debt that I pay. The way that you get screwed is by doing nothing, so either take lbrown's advice (and it's usually pretty good) and validate or send a settlement letter, of course using your own moral compass as your guide.

    Don't get me wrong lb, I agree that you shouldn't pay anything that you don't think is valid, but are you advocating that you don't pay debts that you truly owe? Sure, you can force the validation, and keep it off the CRA reports (if they can't validate) but you still hold yourself open to a suit if the CA is finally able to validate, and it's within the SOL. If they bought the debt, you'd better beleive that they have an interest in getting paid!!! Sure, with validation, it stays off the report, but you still have to pay what you owed, plus now you add legal and court costs.
     
  20. dstdiva

    dstdiva Well-Known Member

    Re: Re: paying a collection...HELP!

    i'm so confused...should i call and see what they are willing to do (talk to the woman i made the arrangement with)?
     

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