Hi All, I received a letter from a collection agency... Wording are as follows ... 'You are hereby notified that xxx (collection agency name) will forward the account information to the national credit reporting agencies if you fail to fulfill the terms of your credit obligations. Of course, you will have the right then, as you do now, to inspect your credit file in accordance with federal law. xxx (collection agency name) will not submit the account information to the credit reporting agencies until the expiration of the time period described in the notice below' I have 3 questions ... 1> This is a debt of $33.50 only and is for news paper.I totally forgot to pay it due to my extensive travelling job(My fault). I have never given my SSN to news paper agency! How can collection agency report negative information to credit agencies based on my address and name ? Can they obtain my SSN? Wouldn't that be illegal ? 2> What is the best way to pay the debt ? To collection agency or to original creditor? I was thinking paying to creditor as I need to start the news papaer service and this time I will pay him 3 mths in advance to avoid the problems. 3> Based on the letter, It seems If I pay the debt, they will not report to credit agencies, Is it true?
This may be the paper's "in house" collection agency, existing primarily to get your attention. Unlike the usual independent CA, they may have an interest in preserving a customer relationship, in the interest of keeping future subscription business. Their implication that they had not yet reported implies this. If so, it is not really in their interest to trash your credit report, unlike, say, magazine "subscription services". Have you tried contacting the paper directly? No one requires that you subscribe to a paper, but if you intend to do so, you might just be able to bring your account current and continue your subscription.
