First, I have a 770 because of this site. LOVE IT!!! But I just looked at my report and some collection pops up for $76.00. A medical bill I completely forgot about.... Anyway I had to call their number to even find out what it was. I explained and said I will pay this if you will remove this. Of coarse I was treated like a scum bag and they said they don't do that. I stayed calm. I said I will just call the doctors office tomorrow and was told I could not do that and then the talk about their attorney started (lol) and I hung up. I went to the collection agencies web site and this is what I found. Congress Collection Co. No Collection, No Charge - Our service costs you nothing up front. After we've received payment from the debtor, we retain a percentage of what we've collected. So that means, it has probably not been sold and I can pay the doctors off, and I can tell the collection agent to pound sand right? If it has not been sold can they even report it. THANKS FOR ALL YOUR HELP.. HEDWIGS THE MAN
A collection that is assigned, can be reported. Since the OC still owns the debt, you can probably pay them (if they'll accept the payment), however that's not an automatic deletion of the collection account. More than likely it would result in a paid collection account. If you have a good relationship with the doctors office, you may be able to negotiate a deal where they would pull the account back from the CA or not respond to requests for validation from the CA from you. (Ex: you send DV LTR to CA CRRR, after you receive green card back, dispute account through CRA(s). CA needs to go to OC to get validation of debt, OC 'refuses' to respond to request from CA, CA would then, legally speaking, be required to not respond to dispute via CRA because it would be considered continued collection activity (809b of FDCPA and opinion of the FTC). Of course as we all know, CA's aren't the most ethical folks and may still verify to CRA. That being said, getting OC to pull back account would be an easier task.
Help me understand, even if a collection company doesn't own your dept they can still report it?? That makes no sense, and if you pay the original creditor they can still report it, even if it was never sold or charged off. That makes no sense. Technically, I owe the collection agency nothing, especially if they did not buy the dept or receive it as a charge off, the doctors office is not on my credit report, just them. How does this all work. If they pull it back from the cc they need to remove it right? Wait, if i make payment to the doctors office direct(go there) the collection agency can still report it. even if it shows payed?? Really.
A lot of smaller OC's don't have the ability (the right) to report, so yes, they will never show up on your report. I am in a similar situation as you actually...I have a CA reporting a debt owned by OC. OC is willing to accept payment however if I follow that path, it won't erase the CA off my report other than their reporting it then as a paid collection. Unfortunately the OC is not small, and there is zero relationship between them and I....so, I'm forced to take another route of creative PFD/ non disclosure agreement with them accepting my payment. OC's likely see a higher return on the account if they just assign the debt to a CA and not sell it, I believe. It sucks, I know. I learned a few months back that one account could show up 3 times on your report...the OC, the JDB, and the CA. Yes, if you can get docs office to pull back account, CA should delete off reports, if they don't, you'd have to start the process I outlined above.
Mindcrime, okay so if the path goes OC->>JDB->>CA (assigned). When you offer the PFD/PFND, do you do that with the CA to get every one up the chain to come off the account? If the OC sold it to the JDB, why would they care what you want? and if the CA (assigned agrees to sign on to have everything removed are they legally held liable to have the OC/JDB removed too??? Who would Berru have accept the non-disclosure agreement, his new debt collector friend or the doctors office? i'm also reaching a TON of resistance from CA's to do a PFD, is this normal.. i mean i too have a ~$100 debt that the CA refuses to take the full amount in exchange to delete, i'm almost wanting to offer double just make this go away but that don't feel right!
I'm trying my hand at my first NDA agreement very soon. In my case, the OC is not reporting, so there's no chain. I would think the NDA agreement would go to the highest owner of the debt. If the 'owner' can't disclose it to anyone, that would include any assignees. PFD's do seem to be harder to get done in more recent times, from what others have reported. They should work much better on accounts past SOL since it's the CA's only possible chance of getting a payment.
Agreed w/ Mindcrime. Work it out w/ the doctor's office (the OC) but do so ONLY with a paper trail. Don't make a payment over the phone, and make sure your agreement to pay off the debt in return for a reporting deletion (essentially a PFD) outlines so clearly. Then, if the CA you're referring to continues to report the tradeline you'll have the tools you need for a successful dispute w/ the CRA. It's all about the paper trail, especially in this instance.
So Jason, an assignee has no power to remove what the JDB has already placed on your account? how would you deal with the CA still reporting when you have a NDA with the OC? Send the CRA all that info peg you as someone working to "repair his credit"?
Sorry for the delayed response. If you have an agreement in writing w/ the OC, my instinct is to send a dispute to the CRA w/ copies of documented info as proof of agreement, and request the removal of the same items being reported by the CA's. What do you guys think?
No one can make a contractual agreement for another party; unless their contract would include a rather contorted legal clause that would say otherwise. (It made *MY* head hurt trying to think of verbiage that would work it out -- THAT'S SAYING SOMETHING! -- The closest I could get was a limited power of attorney where the client could act as the POA for their assignee, instead of the other way around, but then it would sorta be a mutual symbiotic POA situation which probably wouldn't hold up because if you are the POA for the person who is your POA, why would you even need a POA in the first place?) Where the domino falls apart if you NDA the OC, the JDB and/or CA could still report based on the information that they have on file. The 809 rights have the ticking time-bomb of 30 days from their initial contact, so UNLESS you DV them immediately, and *IF* they provided validation, IMMEDIATELY told them that their validation was INSUFFICIENT to address your questions, they can STILL respond to a CRA verification request based on their current information. The second part is the key, even if they provide what they claim to be validation; YOU have the power to disagree with the validity of that validation. They are only entitled to the belief that the validation is satisfactory, if they have not been advised otherwise.
