A little less than a year ago, i stopped paying my credit card. I know, I'm a bad bad person but I was a stupid college student. The amount I had on the card was only 600 bucks. It eventually was turned into collections and now the collection agency is telling me i can pay around 300 and it be settled. They want my account info but im leary to give it to them without something in writing. They say they need me to pay by Saturday, or it will be going back to Capital One and will accrue tons of interest and fees. I'm wondering if I should just let it go back to Capital One and try to work something out with them or trust them and make the settlement. Please help! Any advice would be appreciated :)
2007-04-19 13:55:51 · 9 answers · asked by Halee 1 in Business & Finance ➔ Credit
Tell them you will send them a check. You are under no obligation to give them your account number. They will say anything to get their payment. Tell them you can over night a check.
2007-04-19 14:03:52 · answer #1 · answered by MAGA2020 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Do not talk to collection agencies over the phone, all correspondence should be by mail and delivered certified return receipt.
The account is in collections and the damage is done. Tell them that you know that a collection is a collection and the paid status does nothing to improve your credit score and in fact the new activity will start the 7 year clock, which further damages your credit score. Tell them you will pay for deletion of the negative entry only. If they are not willing or they say they will, but will not put it in writing, leave the debt alone.
Do not give them your acct info. They are notorious for draining checking accounts for more than they are due. You are not obligated to give them access. They will gladly accept a check from you.
The rep gets paid a commission and may even get a bonus if he/she collects a certain amount. That is the reason for the Saturday due date.
Chances are they are on a time limit to collect by Capital One and if they do not collect by a certain due date, Capital One will pull the account and give it to a more aggressive collection agency.
They will get pissed and make threats, but make them play your game and you will come out better in the long run.
2007-04-19 21:08:43 · answer #2 · answered by Matt 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would not give any account info over the phone at all! You probably cant settle with Capital One since it is already being handled by a collections company. But since they have already waited this long for payment, they could wait a few more days for you to MAIL a check to them. That's the only way I would do it. $300 is a deal. If you have the funds, tell the collection company you will write them a check and mail it on such and such a date AFTER you receive in writing that your account will be paid in full and cleared with your payment of $300. Then request a written receipt to be sent to you after they receive the check. We all make mistakes. (Been there). But dont make another mistake by giving account info over the phone, or even on the web.
2007-04-19 21:08:18 · answer #3 · answered by gshell 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This sounds fishy to me also....why would they send a debt back to Capital One unless they believe they can't collect it?
Let them do it...then you can deal with the next collection agency. They will probably offer you a big settlement amount also.
But be SURE that you get them to agree IN WRITING to delete this from your credit report. Remember that just paying it off does not get it deleted. It will only change to "paid" but all negative info about late payments or collections will still be there....killing your credit score.
2007-04-20 14:14:05 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think you need to call Capital One and verify if they turned it over to this Collection Agency and if that will settle it. It is strange the Collection Agency needs your account number. It is also strange they won't give you some type of legaly binding contract that states the account is paid in full.
You need to do more to verify the validity of the Collection Agencies claim before paying the money.
2007-04-19 21:05:42 · answer #5 · answered by KingGeorge 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Something sounds fishy --- If they are calling you they should have your account info...Dont give out any personal info without contacting your credit card company direct to verify if these people are really who they say... This sounds like a fraud attempt to gain your personal information.
2007-04-19 21:06:29 · answer #6 · answered by Sammy&Pete 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Even after you have something in writing, you should NEVER give them electronic access to your account. Offer to FedEx a cashier's check as soon as you have a WRITTEN agreement to accept it as FULL PAYMENT. Until you have a written agreement, you don't have an agreement. If you give them access to your account, they WILL empty the account and you will never recover the extra amount.
2007-04-19 21:07:20 · answer #7 · answered by STEVEN F 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If they're legit, they'd have your info already I'm sure. I would be contacting the credit card company to see if they did in fact send it to collections. Tell them what is happening and they'll tell you if it's legit or not, sounds fishy to me!
2007-04-19 21:05:00 · answer #8 · answered by funpiner 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Here is what the FTC has to say about creditors harrassing you.
Fair Debt Collection Laws - http://www.consumerbadcreditguide.com/creditorharrassment.html
2007-04-19 21:36:51 · answer #9 · answered by Joe S 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋