Collection Agency rules

Anyone,

Are there any laws or rules on how Creditors are supposed to report an account to a Collection Agency?

Does an account have to be an X number of days or months past due?

Are the times different for different types of debts/accounts?

If you are disputing a charge/account, wouldn't that time period NOT be reportable as far as how long the account has gone unpaid?

I paid a Sylvan account up through Nov 97, canceled, but was charged for a full month tuition for Dec 97, even though they were closed half that month.

I argued with Sylvan for about 1 to 1 1/2 months over this, but finally agreed to pay them just to get them off my back - this was now late Jan 98/early Feb 98.

But ... but middle of Feb 98 they reported this to a Collection Agency.

Sylvan reported to them that they last received a payment on Nov 97, and moeny owed them is from Dec 97, and the CA shows they were assigned the account in Feb 98.

That's only 2 months! and one of the months I was in dispute with Sylvan.

It was actually more like only 1 and 1/2 months the bill was overdue!

Did this break some timeline law, them reporting this as a Collection even though it was only 30-45 days late?

FedUp2003

 

So...

I should look into filing a small claims suit against Sylvan for report this to a CA even though at most I was 45-60 days late paying for Dec 97 tuition.

Should I send them a LN letter first, or just sue them.

If I do, how does this make the CA stop reporting a Collection against me credit report?

Thanks for all replies in Advance!

FedUp2003

 

I've read all the threads on Validation letters, LN letters, etc ... but none of them seem to address specifically my problem, that's why I posted in the first place. I probably read this board for about a wek before I ever first posted.

The Validation letters and LN letters all seem to apply when there is still a debt/money owed and someone just wants to make it go away, or make the CA refer the account back to the OC, or wants to make the CA stop harrassing the individual.

I have specific questions, that I hope someone here could help with.

Do I have a case for the OC sending this to a CA when it was only 45-60 days late?

What about the OC make a verbal agreement with me about accepting payment and calling off the CA, but then never did?

What about the OC never telling the CA that they had indeed received payment from me?

What about this was Paid in full in April 98, but the CA shows DOLA as Oct 98?

The CA never collected on this account, as it was already paid to the OC, so....

... should that therefore mean they are NOT allowed to report this tothe CRA's ???

Should that be my angle?

FedUp2003

P.S.

I only posted several times because afterwards I thought my first 2 posts may have been too long-winded and confusing, esp. since the replies really didn't match the questions.

Thought if I broke it down into several smaller, specific pieces, I'd get better and more targeted answers.

Sorry, didn't realinze there was a minimum number of posts one sould submit.

 

I'll limit my replies/posts regarding this issue to this thread from here on out.

FedUp2003

 

Thanks for the Reply,

Did not realize the LN letter will work with Paid Collections.

I've read on other Threads that it is best to Send a letter to the CA first, not sure if they said LN letter or Validation letter, THEN send the dispute into the CRA cause if they call to verify with the CA after the CA has received your letter, that it sets them up better to be sued.

So,

Should I try to dispute this with CRA first, saying I never had XYZ account with DOLA 10/98, and then send LN letter to CA if TL is not deleted,

or..

Send LN letter first to CA?

Again, Any/All help is greatly appreciated, and again sorry about the multiple postings on this issue.

FedUp2003

 

Re: Re: Collection Agency rules

lbrown59,

I did a search on all that you have posted and it returned 20 pages, 970 + postings that you have submitted.

I read through a couple of pages, but most had nothing to do with the original issue of the thread ( a lot were about your sig line or some other topic)
and most did not address the issue that I have.

As stated before, I have read all the links/FAQ's/Primers about Validation letters, LN letters, etc ....

But none seem to address my particular problem in such a manner as to give me a clear idea as to what I need to do next.

Validation Letter - Why/How would this work with a CA if there is no debt left to collect on or to valaidate? Most threads on Validation speak on how to get a CA off your back, or to catch them not validating a debt with money still owed and/or catching them not reporting the account in dispute.

In my situation, there is nothing for them to validate, the balance is ZERO, so they can just ignore Validation and LN letters, what have they got to lose?

My problem is that Sylvan lied to me about calling off the CA, as they were to accept 2 payments from me, which Sylvan did.

But, after Sylvan received their money, they never informed the CA to stop trying to collect the debt and/or Sylvan never told the CA that they (being Sylvan) had already received payment in full.

Sooo, the CA goes ahead and reports the Collection to the CRA.

Should I sue Sylvan?
Under what law/procedure?
Should I send LN letter to Sylvan instead of CA?
Dispute this with CRA?
The CA is reporting the wrong DOLA. Sylvan was Paid in Full as of 02 April 98, but CA shows DOLA as 10/98. Is that grounds enough to sue CA and get CRA to delete the Tradeline?

I realize that there might be a golden nugget of information on some thread out there speaking directly to this issue, but when I search, I get pages and pages of posts and most talk about CA and debts that are still outstanding, etc .... and not specific to my problem.

FedUp2003

 

lbrown59 said"

"The CA never collected on this account,
FedUp2003
=====================
Who is the CA?
Are they still trying to collect.?

THE END ** *** ** LB 59
"""""""""```~~~```'"""""""""

Alter The NIT PICKERS "

---------------------------------------------

No, the CA is not trying to collect. I just went back and looked through the old correspondance I have.

I received a bill from Sylvan on 12/13/97, stating I owed 1 month tuition, and an explanation why, as remember I was disputing with them that I didn't owe 1 full month.

On 12/18/97, rcv'ed a letter from Sylvan saying since they have not heard from me, they are turning over to their collections dept.

I called them back and disputed again about owing for a full month. Heard nothing else until I got a letter from the CA.

Letter from CA was dated 12 Feb 98, Envelope postmarked 13 Feb98, and I received it 14 Feb 98.

Letter said they were collecting for Sylvan and I had 40 days to pay up or they would report it, and that I had 30 days to dispute it.

This is when I called Sylvan and reminded them they were going to let me pay in 2 payments to them, and Sylvan said they would call off the CA, and Sylvan received first payment on 20 Feb 98, according to their own records.

I moved Feb 28th ... got side-tracked a little, and didn't send other payment till late March. According to Sylvan's own records, it was 25 March 98 - and they were Paid in Full.

I never heard another word from Sylvan or the CA.

Not unitl In Oct 98 when I was denied a CC, and I checked my CR and there was this CA reporting that I still owed them $129, but it was already paid to Sylvan.

This is when I contacted CA and told them it was already paid and that Sylvan was supposed to have told them (The CA) to not try and collect on this.

CA veridied with Sylvan that they were Paid in Full in March of 1998 - this is now Oct 98.

So now, CA is reporting to CRA's this as a Collection, and Paid as of Oct 98.

I even have 2 letters from the CA from Oct 98 when I was going through all of this. Letter from them states they originally were to collect for $259, and then a payment was received/recorded on 04 March 98 -but payment was acutally made to Sylvan and they have it recorded as 20 Feb 98.

First letter, dated 27 Oct 98 from CA states they have verified it's paid, and will be marked as such to CRA's, paid as of March 98.

Second letter, dated 29 Oct 98, said basically same thing, except that account was verified as paid and will be marked with CRA's as "Paid as of this Date," meaning Oct 98.

Letter is from 2 different people, but same CA.

So, Sylvan never called off the CA, and appears to be reporting incorrect payment dates to them, or CA is just recording improper dates.

So, CA is reporting this as a Paid Collecting, Paid as of Oct 1998, even though it was actually fully paid on 24 March 1998 with Sylvan.

Also, the CA never actually "collected" this amount, it was paid directly to Sylvan.

So,

What is best strategy to get the CA to remove this from my CR at the CRA's?

Or should I try to make Syvlan correct this situation?

FedUp2003

 

P.S.

I have an actual itemized statement from Sylvan showing the payment for 20 Feb 98 and 25 March 98.

I have the orignial letter from CA dated 12 Feb 98 saying I had 40 days to pay up.

I have another letter from CA and it states they were assigned the account on 12 Feb 98, and the "Date of Service" is 14 Feb 98.

What is this "Date of Service?"

If I use that as the date from which I had 40 days to pay in full, then I made it in exactly 40 days (counting back from 25 Mar to 14 Feb is exactly 40 days).

Knowing how CA's are though, they will probably say the 40 day timer started on the date they wrote the letter, 12 Feb, which means I missed it by 2 days.

See my Frustration here! I was led to believe Sylvan was taking care of the CA for me, and then I find out they never did, then CA has information and dates all wrong, and even if I was just to play nice and go by their guidelines, they say I missed it by 2 days!

Should I try a Goodwill letter first, and explain the 40 days should have started from the so-called "Date of Service," which is 14 Feb 98? This would make sense, cause they should understand it's going to take a couple of days for the letter to reach me and the 40 day clock should have started then.

Or do I try to Validate?

Or got straight into LN letter?

Maybe a Goodwill letter to Sylvan?

Could Dispute with CRA's, cause the dates are all wrong, but I would have to send the CRA's proof of payment dates, and that would just give them their proof that this was actually mine and would prevent me from ever disputing as "Not Mine."

FedUp2003

 

Also,

The CA is reporting DOLA as 12/97, which would be when Sylvan would say they last had acct activity,
but the CA wasnt' assigned the account until 2/98.

But, the CA is reporting "Collection Reported 10/98"

Would this be considered "their" DOLA?

The account was actually Paid in Full on 25 Mar 98, or 3/98... so do I have the CA for a violation of reporting an incorrect "collection paid" date, or does this only apply to DOLA entries?

FedUp2003