Question about collections...?

Question

So I got this collection letter in the mail saying that owe T-mobile $100. I thought I had paid this account off and out of nowhere I get this letter. I'm going to pay the measley $100 dollars I knew absolutely NOTHING about. That doesn't bother me. But what DOES bother me is how is this going to effect my credit? I was unaware that I even owed this!
Anyone have any answers? I tried calling the agency from where the letter was sent but they are already closed for the day.

Answer 1

Send the collection agency a validation request, including any documentation proving you owe it and that they bought or have been assigned the debt. Send it certified, return receipt and give them 30 days to respond.

If the collector validates and it is your debt, make them an offer to pay and delete any negative on your credit report. Get a written settlement agreement and don't give them access to your bank account. You might get them to settle for half.

Answer 2

First call T-mobile and find out where the miscommunication was and is it really true or an error on their part, be sure to get your account number. And if you did make a boo boo pay the money directly to T-Mobile. That way the collection company doesn't get any money. They bought your debt from T-Mobile for probably $50 and then they collect the $100 and don't give the $50 to T-Mobile.

And maybe ask T-Mobile if you pay this directly to them will they fix your credit, they just might. But something so trivial as this should be a huge dent in your credit.

It just pisses of collection companies when you pay the company directly.

xxx

Answer 3

1. Call T-mobile. They have people on staff late in the day, maybe all night for customer service. Any collection paperwork will have an account number assigned that you can verify with them.
2. If you find that this is a debt that you overlooked, pay it and request that you be sent a verification letter on company stationery. Send that to the reporting agency (Experian, etc) and ask that they remove the account's derogatory status from your report. This can help preserve an otherwise unblemished credit history.
3. Great idea to get a credit report. It shows all previous and current credit accounts and status.
4. Included with that, great idea to get credit monitoring. For $5 a month, you can get e-mail alerts when there are any negative changes to your credit (like late payments reported or any new accounts you don't know about being opened).

Answer 4

Don't pay it just yet. You can get a free printout of your credit report (no signing up for services either like on free credit report.com!) and see if the debt is on your record. It is the law that each reporting agency give you a free copy of your credit report per year. (If you are a victim of ID theft, you are entitled to more.)

Go to http://www.annualcreditreport.com . You will have to verify your identity of course. Check to see if the T-mobile debt is on there as outstanding and if it is valid. If so, you can call T-mobile and try to negotiate it down.

Usually they(T-mobile, credit card companies, etc) sell bad debts to a collection agency for MAYBE 10 cents on the dollar. So even if you can't clear it up with T-mobile, I would offer the collection agency MAYBE $30 to settle it. Tell them you have no money, that is all you can afford. You CANNOT afford payments and DO NOT let them automaticlly withdraw it from your checking account or credit card. They'll probably be happy to get $30.

Good luck!
ymmf

Answer 5

First of all, I won't pay it. Not until they provide you proof of the debt. It's possible that it's an error and you don't owe the money. Check it out first.

Answer 6

It could be fraud, I would wait and talk to the agency and get it straight.