I live in South Carolina and after a very tuff year of tid bit jobs here and there I am in the process of trying to work with some past due accounts and play catch up. Heres my situation, I have a an account that is past due with HSBC/Orchard Bank Master Card. I would like to start paying down on this account to either close it or re-use it (make account active). I contacted HSBC and they say that mu account has been turned over to a collection Agency ( Malcol S.Gerald and Associates ). After reviewing some information about said collection agency and before attempting anything els, I would like to know if I should attempt to recontact HSBC and deal directly with them ( being that the above mentioned collecction agency has a very bad reputation of being hard to deal with. And if so, should I contact them by mail or phone?
Has the account been sold or transferred to the CA? If it's been sold by HSBC, then you'll need to deal directly with the CA from this point forward. If it's just been transferred, it's worth another try to see if you can convince HSBC to pull your account back from collections so you can pay them directly. They may or may not be willing to work with you. It just depends on the situation. Try them by phone, and then if you're unable to get them to cooperate, follow up with a letter.
