I am about to dispute a collection on my credit report It is being reported to TU and EQ. I have not recieved anything from this CA though I know it is a valid debt (the exact amount and dates are doubtfull). Being that the CA does not have all of my current personal information would it be wise to start validation proceedures by sending them a letter thereby giving them my address? This is also being reported by the OC as chg-off. I would like to negotiate for deletion, so should I start with the CA as outlined many times here on CN or should I just try to dispute with CRA's and hope they fall off? Oh yea, it was a car loan and the CA is Palisades. Thanks, DX
If it's a valid debt, why not pay the original creditor in exchange for stopping collection activity and cleaning up your report? They're the ones you owe the money to, right?
The answer I'm giving is only an answer if the following question can be answered yes. Is the CA going after a debt that is past the SOL in your state, based on the date of delinquincy from the OC? Send a request for validation to the CA, certified retrun reciept requested, wait for the green reply card to come back, then shoot off a dispute to the CRA's What this will likely do is catch the CA on a FCRA violation or two. If they respond to the CRA that the debt is yours, without responding to your validation request they've violated the law by continuing to perform collection activities on a debt that is in dispute. Also they are required to report the account as "In Dispute" on your credit report (another violation) Then if you want, you can start the paperwork to sue them in small claims court for 2 violations at $1,000 a pop, and settle for some cash and deletion. Another possible outcome of this scenereo would be that the CA does not respond to either your request, or the dispute from the CRA. If they don't respond to the CRA within 30 days, the CRA will drop it off your report. It's best to do this all from the start, because the CRA's may refuse to verify repeated disputes on the same account. If you get a deletion of the CA entry then wait a little while and dispute the OC the same way. The only problem, is that the OC may just keep selling / assigning the debt to other collection agencies. The only valid response would be if the CA sends you copies of all the requested documentation, then after that's been sent, responds to the CRA that the debt is yours. Look through the sample letters here for the validation request letter for the CA. Make sure some of the wording is there, stating the information you're requesting is not just a print out of an address. And don't give too much thought to the harassings of Too Much or Mycroft, trust responses from seasoned CN members who've been around giving good advice for years. Hope this helps. ChrisB
I would dispute this with the CRA and send a Validation request to the CA at the same time. they don't have the correct info and may not have legal right to collect on this account. I would, you are going to have to face them head on to fight them Both. hope this helps.
Re: Re: A little help If this debt has been sold to a CA the OC will not deal with you on this account. they will only direct you to the CA.
Re: Re: A little help Since when have you heard of a collection agency that will do anything to clean up your report for you? That's not their job, and if they've been assigned to collect the debt by the OC, all they're going to be willing to do is delete their tradeline, and inform the original creditor that you've paid it off. The best you can hope for if you do deal with them is payment in full for deletion, and the payment in full is probably adding in illegal fees. Make them proove that you owe what they are claiming you owe. Most CA's are bottom feeders. ChrisB
Re: Re: Re: A little help Absolutely not true. Maybe that's what the people who regularly post here have taught you to believe, but it's not true. An original creditor can get that debt back with just a phone call. You just need to know how to get it done.
Re: Re: Re: A little help Read what I wrote again. I said to deal with the original creditor, not the collector.
Re: Re: Re: A little help It is within the SOL. I would really rather deal with the OC has anyone any info on how to find out if the OC has in fact soldthe account or is that what validation would normally provide?
Re: Re: Re: Re: A little help You have me there. But if it's past SOL, is not legally enforcable, and is old I haven't heard a good reason to pay the original creditor. And then what do you pay the original creditor? If you pay them the amount they claim you owe, with interest and fees which have been collected over several years you might be able to negotiate that payment for deletion. Most of us who have some old debts feel that the amount the creditors claim we owe is not the amount that we should be expected to pay. Case and point, my wife had a visa, and every month she paid them the "minimum payment". At some point they started tacking on a monthly fee for some payment protection insurance, which she did not sign and return an agreement to the charges. With that extra $ it brought the card overlimit, along with a $25 overlimit fee. She couldn't afford to pay it off, and she kept paying the minimum payment that they offered hear, month after month, for nearly 2 years. In that time it's balance had gone from $400 to over $900. At that point, I told her to stop paying them anything. If I follow your ideology, you would have me write out a check for $1200 (which is what they now claim is owed) when if I add up the payments she made from the time they tacked on the payment protection program to the time she stopped paying the card would be paid off if not for unscrupulous fees added by the money hungry credit card companies. When this card goes past SOL I may consider sending an offer around $200 - $300 to the OC, but if they don't want to delete for that amount, a paid charge off is almost as bad as an unpaid charge off, and I'd rather just try and get the unpaid charge off removed. If they violate the law while I'm trying to get it removed, I'll file suit against them, get it deleted, and get some cash. Just my opinion. ChrisB
Re: Re: Re: Re: A little help Look on your TU and EQ credit reports. On the original creditor's tradeline, there should be a notation that the debt has been sold to XXX collection agency. If you insist on doing this through the OC, I say do ALL your contacting with them in writing, that way if it goes to a courthouse you will have any thing they've agreed to on paper. Do you have enough to pay off the entire debt? If you do, write an offer to the OC for a % of the balance as payment in full, a lower offer, and see if they will play ball. I say only do this if you have enough to pay the entire balance. Because they may not want to play with you, and may decide that if you have a part of the amount, you may have all of it, and they might take you to court for it. If you're not planning anything big in the next few years, you probably would be better off to get them to settle for less than owed, then clean it off your report using any of the methods used by CN members. If you have enough to pay it all off, and are planning something big soon like a house, or refinance, the detrimental effects of the negative over the life of a new mortgage far outweigh the percent you save offering them to settle. If that is the case, ok send them CRRR a letter stating that you are willing to offer full payment to them if they remove the line from all your credit reports. If they lie to you saying that they can't remove it, because by law they have to report fair and accurate information stiff them for the money. ChrisB
Re: Re: Re: Re: A little help Thanks for the replies guys. I have never seen a notation on my CR's stating that the account has been sold. I will have the money wshortly to pay this thing off. I want to take care of it with my tax refund and be done with it. We will be trying for a home loan in the near future. DX
Re: Re: Re: Re: A little help what is the most important issue you are trying to address? do you want to pay off all your debt that you ever owed, or are you just wanting to clear your credit? it may be hard to do both but you need to know what is most important to you personaly. don't worry about what others may be preaching on this board. think about it and then post your goal and people can help you draw up a plan of attack.
Re: Re: Re: Re: A little help The goal: Is to not get stuck short on trying to get a home loan when in order to close the underwriters of said future mortgage require the payment of said collection. Since the total amount is around 2k, (I certainly think I could negotiate lower). And I am shortly to come into possesion of that amount of money, I feel it would be a wise time to start negotiation. Being that my possesion of said money is likely to be short lived (you know the whole fool and his money thing). (to be painfully honest). I think I could possibly have both, fix my CR and pay off all of my old debts?
Re: Re: Re: Re: A little help Do you know if this account is out of SOL? Have you disputed it with the CRAs? I ask because when I first came to this board I found that allot of negative info can be taken off your credit report without spending much more than postage. Some people object to this because of their moral hang-ups. I don't I was able to get all the negative info off my reports without paying any blood sucking collection agency. This is why I have asked the questions above, I am wondering what is more important to you, cleaning your credit reports or making good on all your old transgressions? you may have to do alot of reading on this board and others but you may not have to pay through the nose.
If this is for a deficiency balance on a repo'd car, then your state's motor vehicle laws apply, and will help you a lot more than the FDCPA or negotiating for deletion. If that is what this is, ignore all the advice you have been given so far, including the empowering "pay it" advice, click on my name, and email me, and I will help you chase these bottom feeders off for good. Specific laws apply to repos, and are almost never followed. You can make them take it off your report, and stop bothering you entirely, in a very short time.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: A little help How soon do you want to buy the home? A lot depends on what else in on your credit report, do you have good credit other than this charge off?
