Once an account is sold to a collection agency, is it possible to negotiate a payoff w/ the original creditor?

Question

I've had a couple of old accounts go to collection agencies. The collection person told me, it was physically impossible for me to negotiate a deal with the original creditor because the collection agency now OWNS the debt.

Answer 1

The collection agency would like you to think they own the debt.
The original creditor can settle this issue. I have dealt with only one creditor who refused to settle, who told me I had to settle with the collection company. This was a tow company who towed a vehicle I had already sold to someone else.
The collection company threatened to take me to court and...guess what..that is against the law. After I wrote the collection company an enlightening letter, the whole thing disappeared from my credit report.

Collection agencies use tactics that are against the law. But most people, like the ones who answered this question before me are not aware of the "Fair Debt Collection Practices Act"
They just scare most people and get away with it because people are ignorant of their rights.

Oh, and I worked on a collection account for a Friend just two months ago and the collector told me the same thing as you.
This was particularly interesting because the debt was only discovered by reviewing my friend's report. No statement of the account was ever mailed. We didn't even know what the original debt was. I had to do some research to locate the original Company. The end result was a letter of settlement from the original creditor faxed to my office within two days of contact. A copy of that letter was forwarded to the collection agency.

Answer 2

The collection person is correct. Creditors sell their bad debts to collection agencies for a fraction of the debt value. If you owe Visa $1000 and don't pay, eventually Visa will sell the right to collect the debt to XYZ company, because Visa assumes that you're not going to give them anything at all, so they might as well take what they can get. You can usually get the collection agency to settle for less than the full value but this will hurt your credit even more than it's already been hurt by going to collections in the first place.

Answer 3

WHEN A CREDITOR ASSIGNS AN ACCOUNT TO A 3RD PARTY COLLECTION AGENCY THEY SUBMIT AN ASSIGNMENT OF AMOUNT DUE. THIS ASSIGNMENT GIVES THE COLLECTION AGENCY FULL AUTHORITY TO WORK THE ACCOUNT AND IT ALSO TAKES AWAY THE AUTHORITY FROM THE ORIGINAL CREDITOR. IF YOU DO CONTACT THE CREDITOR AND PAY THE YOU RUN THE RISK OF "PAY AT YOUR PERIL AFTER NOTICE OF ASSIGNMENT"

THIS MEANS THAT IF YOU PAY THE ORIGINAL CREDITOR A LESSER AMOUNT THAN WHAT THE COLLECTION AGENCY SAYS YOU OWE, THE YOU CAN STILL BE HELD LEGALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE REST OF THE DEBT.

WHILE SOME PEOPLE HERE WILL TELL YOU HOW A COLLECTION AGENCY AS NO RIGHT TO CONTACT YOU AND THAT YOU DON'T HAVE TO DEAL WITH THEM, THEN ARE FLAT OUT WRONG. LEGALLY THE ORIGINAL CREDITOR HAS NO RIGHT TO DEAL WITH YOU AFTER THEY HAVE ASSIGNED AN ACCOUNT TO AN N AGENCY. WHILE SOME STILL DO, THEY SHOULD NOT. YOU ARE THE ONE THAT WILL BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE IF YOU PAY A LESSER AMOUNT.

THERE ARE SOME IN THIS FORUM THAT WILL TELL YOU HOW COLLECTORS DO ILLEGAL THINGS AND THEY ARE UNETHICAL ETC. THE FACT IS, IF IT WASN'T FOR THOSE PEOPLE COLLECTORS WOULD BE OUT OF A JOB.

PEOPLE WHO DO NOT PAY THEIR BILLS DESERVE TO DEAL WITH COLLECTORS. THEY LOST THEIR RIGHT TO DEAL WITH THE CREDITOR WHEN THEY SCREWED THEM AND DID NOT PAY THEM IN THE FIRST PLACE. NOT PAYING YOUR DEBT IS "THEFT OF GOODS AND/OR SERVICES" PURE AND SIMPLE.

IF THE COLLECTION AGENCY HAS "PURCHASED THE DEBT" FROM THE ORIGINAL CREDITOR THEN YOU MUST DEAL WITH THE AGENCY AS WELL, BECAUSE THEY NOW OWN THE DEBT. THE BOUGHT IT FAIR AND SQUARE.

IT WOULD BE LIKE YOU SELLING A CAR TO SOMEONE AND THEM WANTING TO PAY THE PEOPLE YOU BOUGHT THE CAR FROM INSTEAD OF YOU. MAKE SENSE?

WHEN YOU TALK TO THE BILL COLLECTOR, BE CALM, DON’T MAKE DEMANDS, AND TREAT THEM WITH RESPECT. THE REASON WE CAN BE SO HOSTILE IS BECAUSE OF RUDE PEOPLE TREATING US LIKE CRAP. REMEMBER, YOU WANT THEM TO DO YOU A FAVOR, THEY OWE YOU NOTHING, YOU OWE THEM.

Answer 4

I'm not sure if my suggestion could be done with the original creditor. But if you're able to work out a payment plan to get the debt out of a default status, that always helps.

Answer 5

No. You have to negotiate with the collection agency.