Is my credit screwed?

[imported_Tomato]

I had a Columbia House membership when I was in high school, and never fulfilled the "you must buy this many CD's by this date" obligation. I completely forgot about the account, never used Columbia House again, and thought I'd stopped receiving mail from them.

To my surprise, when I visited home a few weeks ago (I only visit home 1-2x/year), there was a small pile of forwarded mail that included letters from a collections agency telling me to pay in 30 days "or else". The 30 days have long since passed, and I was wondering if I royally screwed my credit for neglecting to pay Columbia House the $40 or so remaining balance.

Is my credit screwed, and is there anything I can do at this point to salvage/fix it?

 

[Ketteringo]

Do they have your social security number?

If not, dont give it to them if they call you.

Without that, they shouldnt be able to touch your credit history.

 

[imported_Tomato]

Originally posted by: Ketteringo
Do they have your social security number?

If not, dont give it to them if they call you.

Without that, they shouldnt be able to touch your credit history.

No, I don't think they do. But they do have my real name and (outdated/inaccurate) address history.

 

[Drakkon]

yeah if u never gave them a CC # or SS# they shouldn't be able to do much of anything cept send you bills and possibly repo whatever DVD's you "stole".

 

[jyates]

Check with Columbia House and see if you pay the bill if they can report that you did pay them to the
credit reporting agencies so maybe the "spot" will be cleared up.

 

[Phoenix86]

Were you under the age of 18 at the time you signed up? If so, you are not legally an adult and cannot commit to contracts, only your parents can for you at that age. In other words, tell them to stuff it, the contract isn't legal.

 

[Ketteringo]

Originally posted by: Drakkon
yeah if u never gave them a CC # or SS# they shouldn't be able to do much of anything cept send you bills and possibly repo whatever DVD's you "stole".

He didnt steal any dvds. He paid for the first 5 of $.49 a piece or whatever, then never fulfilled his obligations according to their contract.

They cant repo his dvds, and 99.999% of the time they wont sue.

Edit: oh yeah, DO NOT PAY THE COLLECTION AGENCY!

They paid like 5% of the value of the debt. They cant touch your credit report or do anything to you other than make empty threats.

 

[Descartes]

It's very likely that they sent it to the credit agency as a collections account, and potentially a charge-off. Both are bad, and they besmirch your record for a number of years.

Contrary to what Drakkon says, you don't need to provide a CC# or SS# for them to report a collection account. Think about it, if collections companies had no recourse, would anyone really every pay them?

 

[imported_Tomato]

Originally posted by: Phoenix86
Were you under the age of 18 at the time you signed up? If so, you are not legally an adult and cannot commit to contracts, only your parents can for you at that age. In other words, tell them to stuff it, the contract isn't legal.

Yes, I was 14 or 15 when I first signed up.

Good to know they can't sue since they don't have my SSN, hopefully this won't hurt my credit and impact my ability to get a loan, etc. in the future.

 

[Bryophyte]

Originally posted by: Phoenix86
Were you under the age of 18 at the time you signed up? If so, you are not legally an adult and cannot commit to contracts, only your parents can for you at that age. In other words, tell them to stuff it, the contract isn't legal.

Bingo.

 

[Mill]

Ok, ignore what was said in this thread and listen to me real quick. How old were you at the time? Secondly, if you were old enough to enter into a contract DO NOT PAY OR SETTLE WITH THE COLLECTION AGENCY until you contact them in writing, get them to validate the debt, and if validated offer to pay ONLY if they will delete any credit reference off all three reports. Do not agree to any other type of settlement or offer. If you were of age then offer to settle for money + them deleting off your report. Secondly, they can put a collection on your report without your SSN.

 

[amdforever2]

PAY NO ONE!!

A paid collection is just as bad as an unpaid collection.

Pull a copy of your credit report from Equifax.com.

If ANY collection account is showing up, you need to send a validation letter to the collection agency, which forces them to PROVE you owe money, usually in the form of a signed contract, which they won't have.

Then, dispute the collection account as not yours with Equifax, Experian, and Transunion.

 

[Epoman]

Originally posted by: Ketteringo

Originally posted by: Drakkon
yeah if u never gave them a CC # or SS# they shouldn't be able to do much of anything cept send you bills and possibly repo whatever DVD's you "stole".

He didnt steal any dvds. He paid for the first 5 of $.49 a piece or whatever, then never fulfilled his obligations according to their contract.

They cant repo his dvds, and 99.999% of the time they wont sue.

Edit: oh yeah, DO NOT PAY THE COLLECTION AGENCY!

They paid like 5% of the value of the debt. They cant touch your credit report or do anything to you other than make empty threats.

HE IS A GIRL!!!

 

[Mill]

Originally posted by: Tomato

Originally posted by: Phoenix86
Were you under the age of 18 at the time you signed up? If so, you are not legally an adult and cannot commit to contracts, only your parents can for you at that age. In other words, tell them to stuff it, the contract isn't legal.

Yes, I was 14 or 15 when I first signed up.

Good to know they can't sue since they don't have my SSN, hopefully this won't hurt my credit and impact my ability to get a loan, etc. in the future.

But did you use the service when ~ 18?

 

[Mill]

Originally posted by: amdforever2
PAY NO ONE!!

A paid collection is just as bad as an unpaid collection.

Pull a copy of your credit report from Equifax.com.

If ANY collection account is showing up, you need to send a validation letter to the collection agency, which forces them to PROVE you owe money, usually in the form of a signed contract, which they won't have.

Then, dispute the collection account as not yours with Equifax, Experian, and Transunion.

Agreed. Only pay if you have a written agreement for deletion of ANY negative tradeline.

 

[Epoman]

Originally posted by: Mill
Ok, ignore what was said in this thread and listen to me real quick. How old were you at the time?
Secondly, if you were old enough to enter into a contract DO NOT PAY OR SETTLE WITH THE COLLECTION AGENCY until you contact them in writing, get them to validate the debt, and if validated offer to pay ONLY if they will delete any credit reference off all three reports. Do not agree to any other type of settlement or offer. If you were of age then offer to settle for money + them deleting off your report. Secondly, they can put a collection on your report without your SSN.

Yes, I was 14 or 15 when I first signed up.

Why not read the thread?

 

[Descartes]

Originally posted by: amdforever2
PAY NO ONE!!

A paid collection is just as bad as an unpaid collection.

Pull a copy of your credit report from Equifax.com.

If ANY collection account is showing up, you need to send a validation letter to the collection agency, which forces them to PROVE you owe money, usually in the form of a signed contract, which they won't have.

Then, dispute the collection account as not yours with Equifax, Experian, and Transunion.

That is absolutely the worst advice I have ever heard. Anyone following that could cause serious detriment to their credit status.

Collections accounts are sold, and they can therefore be resold. If they sold it to another company a few years down the road you would have another bruise on your credit. I am quite certain they can note it as a charge-off as well, and that's far worse than showing an open/closed collection account.

The above happened to me, so I know it's possible, but someone please feel free to correct me on anything.

[edit]Mill's advice is best as you were under 18, but the above applies to others in similar situations.[/edit]

 

[Drakkon]

Sorry i did't mean to say he stole them I jsut thought that sounded like what columbia was trying to imply
I thoguht it took one of those #'s to create a credit based account though with any company?

 

[imported_Tomato]

Originally posted by: Mill

Originally posted by: Tomato

Originally posted by: Phoenix86
Were you under the age of 18 at the time you signed up? If so, you are not legally an adult and cannot commit to contracts, only your parents can for you at that age. In other words, tell them to stuff it, the contract isn't legal.

Yes, I was 14 or 15 when I first signed up.

Good to know they can't sue since they don't have my SSN, hopefully this won't hurt my credit and impact my ability to get a loan, etc. in the future.

But did you use the service when ~ 18?

Yes, I did.

 

[amdforever2]

Descartes doesn't know what he is talking about.

Post your plight on Creditboards.com


They will tell you the appropriate thing to do.

Do not pay.

 

[Mill]

Originally posted by: Descartes

Originally posted by: amdforever2
PAY NO ONE!!

A paid collection is just as bad as an unpaid collection.

Pull a copy of your credit report from Equifax.com.

If ANY collection account is showing up, you need to send a validation letter to the collection agency, which forces them to PROVE you owe money, usually in the form of a signed contract, which they won't have.

Then, dispute the collection account as not yours with Equifax, Experian, and Transunion.

That is absolutely the worst advice I have ever heard. Anyone following that could cause serious detriment to their credit status.

Collections accounts are sold, and they can therefore be resold. If they sold it to another company a few years down the road you would have another bruise on your credit. I am quite certain they can note it as a charge-off as well, and that's far worse than showing an open/closed collection account.

The above happened to me, so I know it's possible, but someone please feel free to correct me on anything.

You are absolutely wrong, and amd is 100% correct. Disputing as not mine is a trick to ensure validation of the debt. 75% of the time the CA will just agree it isn't yours and drop it. Pay for deletion is another trick to help you out. A paid collection BARELY looks better than a non-paid collection. Validation is also key, and is another tool to make sure your account is handled correctly, or possibly force them to delete the negative tradeline.



Source

 

[Descartes]

Originally posted by: Drakkon
Sorry i did't mean to say he stole them I jsut thought that sounded like what columbia was trying to imply
I thoguht it took one of those #'s to create a credit based account though with any company?

Collections != credit.

 

[Epoman]

Hey tomato I want to know why you haven't done your BLOG in 4 days.

 

[fredtam]

Originally posted by: Descartes

Originally posted by: Drakkon
Sorry i did't mean to say he stole them I jsut thought that sounded like what columbia was trying to imply
I thoguht it took one of those #'s to create a credit based account though with any company?

Collections != credit.

You are wrong and this thread is funny.

 

[Descartes]

Originally posted by: Mill

Originally posted by: Descartes

Originally posted by: amdforever2
PAY NO ONE!!

A paid collection is just as bad as an unpaid collection.

Pull a copy of your credit report from Equifax.com.

If ANY collection account is showing up, you need to send a validation letter to the collection agency, which forces them to PROVE you owe money, usually in the form of a signed contract, which they won't have.

Then, dispute the collection account as not yours with Equifax, Experian, and Transunion.

That is absolutely the worst advice I have ever heard. Anyone following that could cause serious detriment to their credit status.

Collections accounts are sold, and they can therefore be resold. If they sold it to another company a few years down the road you would have another bruise on your credit. I am quite certain they can note it as a charge-off as well, and that's far worse than showing an open/closed collection account.

The above happened to me, so I know it's possible, but someone please feel free to correct me on anything.

You are absolutely wrong, and amd is 100% correct.

Well, thanks for the correction then. I take no issue with being wrong.

FWIW, I disputed a collection account that was resold with Equifax, and it left two entries on my credit report.

And actually, I see that I responded primarily to the "PAY NO ONE" remark. That's a poor habit of mine, and I am in error.

Apologies to amd.