debt collection agency?

Question

For the first time in my life I received notice that I have not paid a bill from a phone company back in 2003. This apparently happened in the process of moving from a home to another-some mail problem I guess. I always paid my bills on time and have an immaculate credit score, I am very worried how this will affect my credit. The collection office is closed today and the statement says I have to contact them within 30 days. I will mail the check Monday ASAP, what are the consequences?

Answer 1

I agree with Craig - send them a debt validation letter AND send it "before" the first 30 days from receiving their letter has passed.

Also it would be a good idea to order paid copies of your reports from each CRA.

Always request validation before you even think about paying. Make sure the amount they are requesting is an accurate amount, that they have the legal right to collect the debt (they purchased it or it was assigned to them) That the collecting SOL has not passed and that they are licensed and bonded in your state if your state requires it.

If you request validation within 30 days from receiving their first notice you have protection under the FDCPA.
They must cease all collection activity until they properly validate.
Ceasing collections includes placing anything on your reports, if they haven't already, or verifying any disputes you may make with the CRA's concerning the tradelines they put on your reports. Plus they cannot continue to request payment until proper validation is provided. (if they send something that is not proper validation, it is up to you to make them aware that it isn't - within 30 days after receiving their response)

There are a few collectors that try to collect on debts that they legally cannot collect on, such as they don't own or had been assigned the debt, they may have had it at one time but had sold it to another agency, etc.
Some people have found that they paid a collection agency, without first requesting validation, only to find that the agency did not even own the debt. Then they not only had to deal with the agency that did own the debt, but had to go after the agency they paid (major headache)

Send everything to the certified mail return receipt !!!!!

They have 35 days (the 5 days is for mailing) to respond to your request from the date they signed the green card from the certified mail r.r.

They must provide validation that comes from the original creditor !!! A generic printout from the collection agency is not validation.

The collecting SOL for telephones falls under the UCC for a 4 year SOL.

Look over your credit reports to see if they are reporting. Check to see if they are reporting correctly, if not send disputes to the CRA's.

If you are out of the collecting SOL you are not legally bound to pay. You could send a SOL letter that tells them the debt is no longer collectible (and to take a hike)

If you want to pay, make sure that you request they either delete anything they have placed on your reports upon payment, or not place anything on them if they are not currently reporting.

You can also include a request to pay only a portion of the debt as "payment in full"

If they are reporting and you do not ask that they delete upon payment, your reports will just show the tradelines as a paid negative - which is no better than a paid negative.

You might click on my profile and do some reading in the links I have listed, to the FDCPA, FCRA, etc.
Learn your rights and learn how to use them.

Answer 2

I'm not sure but it seems to me if you pay them they will be able to put something negative on your credit report, like "paid late" or whatever. After all this time it may be past the statute of limitations. They may not have a legal right to collect from you.

I would send them a letter saying you dispute it. Ask for a "full validation pursuant to the FDCPA." (That's the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.) They'll probably just drop the matter and you'll never hear from them again. If they do send you a validation to your satisfaction (it should prove the debt is yours AND that they have a legal right to collect), then pay them.

It is a very profitable business to send out letters like this, because people like you often pay up, whether they have the right to the money or not!

Answer 3

A debt collection is a type of account that's been sent to a third-party debt collector. Debt collectors are people who make a living collecting unpaid debts for others. The original company with which you created the debt most likely sent the account to the collection agency after you missed several payments. It's usually more cost effective for companies to hire debt collectors than to spend their own resources pursuing payment on delinquent accounts.

Answer 4

After you pay the bill wait about a month and get a credit report, your allowed a free report once a year. If its on their you can dispute it explaining what happened. I have disputed 2 in the past and won both

Answer 5

i've got confidence if the corporation acts as they should fairly than using the bully methods maximum of them do including belittling the guy, making threats they are able to't persist with by using with and calling kin and their paintings place then there is not any undertaking with it. i replaced into hounded by way of a credit sequence corporation for a debt I had paid off to a diverse sequence corporation. curiously, my case replaced into bought to a diverse corporation while the unique corporation close it doorways yet they did not grant evidence I had paid it off. as quickly as i began out getting calls lower back, I defined I had paid it and the guy on the telephone replaced right into a belligerent a-hollow. It took me some days to song down my economic business enterprise assertion exhibiting the charge, then I had to pay the economic business enterprise to get a replica of my cleared verify to coach to this all robust d-head collector it replaced into paid. once I faxed over the information, the calls ended. Did I ever get an apology for his idiotic habit? of direction not. i'm particular they have been off to torment others.

Answer 6

It's a good idea pay but since its been 4 years since the bill was due, if it hasnt affected your credit rating yet, it probably won't.

Answer 7

No consequences if this is the first agency the debt was placed at.