last edit: is it possible for them to put it on my credit report if i paid over the phone today and

[phatj]

AS REQUESTED the full story

went to the doctor a while ago

apparently insurance didnt cover 100%

letters were sent to old address

in past year i've moved from my old house to new dorms and moved again to new apartment so just got notice of collection agency this month (though they've been sending since middle of may apparently)

as of right now the collection agency is attempting to collect the bill of $200. No negative marks on my credit report yet (no sign of collection etc)

I want to make sure no negative marks go on my credit report

woman from the collection agncy i spoke with says that they will not report it to my credit report until sometime in august however i have been told to never believe anything a collection agency tells me over the phone

So I asked for them to send me a letter in the mail saying that they will not report anything to the credit bureaus as long as i make payment... she said she cannot send such a letter

so as suggested before I may send a "validation letter" to buy myself an extra 30 days. In the validation letter I also requested for written confirmation that they will not take any negative action to my credit report as long as payment is received within 28 days



Basically I'm just looking for the best way off paying the debt (i have the $200 -- had i known about the bill earelier this would not have been a problem i can easily spare $200 at this time). however I just need to make sure my credit report is not negatively affected
I've heard stories of people paying off the collection agency before it went on their credit report... but then weeks later out of nowhere there is a collections mark on the credit report

 

[trmiv]

You better let them know you're recoding the conversation.

 

[MX2]

Prolly not

 

[PokerGuy]

Nope, that's useless and won't help you at all. Incidentally, even if more than 30 days have passed since you got the request for payment of the debt, you can still do DV. There are many avenues, but just remember that any agreement has to be in writing or it's not worth anything. They'll tell you whatever they think will make you pay, but you'll get screwed later. Bottom line, anything they agree to do or offer to do, have them put it in writing and send it to you before paying anything.

Take a read here for good info: CreditInfoCenter

 

[phatj]

i thought that after 30 days of receiving intial request of payment --- they aren't legally required to send validatin?

 

[PokerGuy]

Originally posted by: phatj
i thought that after 30 days of receiving intial request of payment --- they aren't legally required to send validatin?

Basically, if you don't dispute the validity of the debt within 30 days, the collector can assume that the debt is valid. Just like I can assume that I'm owed eleventy beeeellion dollars by Bill Gates. They can assume all they want, they'd still have to prove the validity of the debt in court if they try to sue you to try to collect.

Also, if you send them a debt validation letter, they cannot proceed to harass / bother you until they've validated the debt properly. They also can't file suit against you before validating the debt, that's a violation of the FDCPA.

You have to take the bull by the horns, not react to what they do. Go after them and make them follow the process. It will take some time, but it really does work. Go to the site I linked to before, you can get all sorts of help/info there.

 

[phatj]

that's actually the same website i went to to get my sample validation letter.

So even tho its been more than 30 days i can:

send validation letter (registered/certified mail)
they'll probably receive it saturday or monday
wait until validation is received (because they legally have to send me validation still)
once I receive validation (and I added my own addendum that requests written confirmation that if i repay within 30 days of receiving validation that they wont take any action on my credit report) --- I have 30 days before they can take action on my credit report


sound right?

 

[GuitarDaddy]

Ah, NO

 

[phatj]

 

[PokerGuy]

phatj, I'm a little confused as to your situation and what you're actually trying to do. Maybe you can explain the background etc.

For example, something like "I had a $100 debt to abc cookies on 12/12/2005. I didn't pay the debt, so they assigned the debt to xyz collector company, and they've been hounding me. They sent me a letter on 1/15/2006, I don't want a negative mark on my credit record for this debt" etc. Without knowing the story, nobody can provide good info on what to do.

 

[phatj]

background explained

 

[FoBoT]

you are making it overly complicated, if you owe the money, just pay it

 

[phatj]

i owe them money but there are ways of making sure they don't report it on my credit report in the future? even if i pay... i've heard stories of people that paid collection before it went on their credit report YET weeks later they had a collections mark on their credit report

 

[AlienCraft]

Guarantee you she will not allow the convo to be recorded.

 

[phatj]

for the morning crew

 

[Nyati13]

Originally posted by: phatj
i owe them money but there are ways of making sure they don't report it on my credit report in the future? even if i pay... i've heard stories of people that paid collection before it went on their credit report YET weeks later they had a collections mark on their credit report

There isn't any way to keep them from marking your credit if they want to. The longer you take to pay what you owe, and the more hoops they have to jump through to collect makes it more likely they will mark your credit. Pay it, wait awhile, and if it shows up on your credit, dispute it with the credit agencies.

Also, if you want to record the phone conversations, check your state law about that, some states require that both parties know of the recording, other states only require that one party knows (you).

 

[Doboji]

Have you tried contacting the Doctor's office to whom you owe the debt? You may find they can get the debt back from the collection agency...

-Max

 

[bennylong]

you're screwed for the next 7 years