Collections

being paid?

Am I missing something? What is the point of paying a collection agency in full if they’re not going to take it off your credit report? Why do they have this option and why hasn’t it been mandated that all agencies must remove delinquent marks if paid in full?

Clearly you can make your payment contingent on them removing the mark. Why is this simply not mandated?

Credit can be a cold thing. Life happens fast. I unfortunately have had a $4,000 hospital bill due in my name with no way to pay it. Didn’t have a job and my parents couldn’t help. Took 4 years to pay that thing off.

If you have delinquencies on your report, you gotta suck it up, and move forward.

I have a big credit card debt. I stopped making my payments in August. If I leave the USA and move to Europe will the credit card companies and collection agencies try to find me there? If they find me what will happen? Can they take away my car or other properties, garnish my wages?

They will hunt you down like a dog and take everything you own. Overseas deadbeats are subject to beatings, waterboarding and all sorts of hideous means of collection. Your best bet is to try to live up to your responsibilities by contacting those you owe and attempting to make arrangements with them. RJ

They don’t know my phone number or address so they aren’t harassing me, but i want to pay off my debt. How do I find out which is my collection agency?

If you have the phone number to the collection agency, I would call and ask for an address. If not, you can pull your credit report. Any balances in collection will list the agency, phone number and address. Good luck and yay for you paying off debt!

I lost my job earlier this year and it put my wife and I behind pretty bad. Just now are we back on our feet able to starting paying these things off. How can I level with a collection agency to try and pay as less as possible. It’s not that we have alot of debts, just a couple of ones that are like between 1k-2k and you can’t exactly just put up a thousand bucks up front and still expect to buy groceries and pay rent.

Tell them flat out that you can only afford to pay a certain amount a month, and on a certain day of the month. Let’s say you can afford $25 a month on the 15th of the month. Offer it. But it would sweeten the deal if you can pay a chunk, say, $100-$300 or so off the top, and then make payments on the rest though. As long as you make the payments on time every time, they hopefully will work with you. They don’t have to take it, but it does cost them to chase you. And if they settle with you, they get AT MOST half.

Good luck!

EX. Is it illegal for a collection agency in Birmingham, AL to collect money in Baltimore, md

No, its not illegal. But they do have to comply with the laws of both states as well as any federal laws that may apply.

Are debts void after 7 years? I have a collection agency calling me several times a day and the debt is coming up on 7 years old. I refuse to pay it because it is from a video store that says I didn’t return a movie. It never happened. I disputed the debt in writing years ago but it made no difference. What do I do?

Yes, negative accounts should be removed after 7 years but you may need to request it. It’s best to get a copy of your credit report (you can get one free report each year from each of the three reporting agencies) to review the account in question.

It’s best to correct the matter with the account holder directly, but if that does not work and it is 7 years old: Send a copy of your correspondence to the video company to each of the three reporting agencies. Include your drivers license with your ssn and a letter noting your dispute and the age of the account. It may take some time, but the agencies are required to fix it.

Also note, if the account was sold, they may consider the 7 years to start from the new account… Good luck.

Can collection agencies pull money of my checking account with out my consent? Currently I’m in big trouble basically I’m one of the statistics of the bad economy. Big debts and not enough money. I was trying to settle with Freedom Financial but now money got even tighter. I was told to leave the credit cards be and let them send me to collection and focus on my mortgage but somebody told me that collection agencies can collect money out of my checking account and my paycheck. Is that true? what would be my worst case scenario?

If you default on your credit cards, after 3 to 6 months most will charge off your account and sell it to a collection agency. They will hound you for payment.

More credit card companies and collection agencies are going to court for smaller debts. If they sue, they will get a judgment and can then attach your bank account, garnish your wages (max of 25%), and lien your property.

If you are in such a financial bind that you have to let something go unpaid, let it be the unsecured credit cards. Once you default, don’t try to make small payments as that will only restart the Statute of Limitations (SOL), the timeframe to bring lawsuit.

You may want to contact Consumer Credit Counseling Service. Check here for one near your: http://www.nfcc.org/. They are legit, non-profit company and can look at your finances and advise you how to proceed. They also have a debt management program, if you qualify.

I have some medical bills from this year that I paid off. now out of no where their saying I owe 300 dollars, so I fax them the proof that I paid and they still won’t do anyhting. I called the medical place to see if I missed a payment and they said no. So my question is if the collection agencies they that its on my credit
report as bad can they do this?????

P.S I just looked at my credit report and there is no medical bills on there.

Send them a letter with return receipet to show the proof of debt, and keep the return reciept as proof that you sent a letter, and if they are reporting on your credit report dispute it with Credit reporting agency.
go to creditboards.com/forums you will find helpful information.

I’d been cleaning up my credit for the last few months when I out of nowhere I get a debt added from a collection agency on behalf of another collection agency, on behalf of another, on behalf of Discover Card.

The original debt from Discover was reported delinquent in October of 2000 and charged off in May 2001. The original debt has been removed from credit report along with the other collection agencies, but this company somehow managed to (falsely) verify the debt and claimed that I made a recent payment of $65 (When I asked them they said the recent payment was in January 2001).

Initially the collection agency had another agency call and threaten me and then they denied it later. When I recently talked to the supervisor at the collection agency he was very nasty and agitated when I said the debt was seven years old and threatened to file a 1099.

How should I proceed ? Should I wait until Oct. or Apr. when it should be off my report or should I try to do something now?

Tell them to take it to court. If they say no, then tell them to stop calling. They have to stop or else you can sue for harassment.

I recently sent a goodwill letter to a collection agency (Van Ru Credit Corp) and to the original creditor(Con Edison) to have a paid collection deleted from all 3 of my credit reports. I had an inquiry(Experian) from the collection agency and then a few days later the collection account was deleted from 1 of my reports(Experian again). Is there any chance that Van Ru Credit Corp will delete the accounts from the other 2 credit reports(Transunion and Equifax) anytime soon?

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Here you can check your 3-in-1 Report from all three credit reporting agencies and your credit score rating.