problem with collection agency

Fjones

Fjones

Bluelighter
Joined
Dec 5, 2008
Messages
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I am having a problem with a collection agency. They want me to pay a bill in full, which I am refusing to do. She said they won't settle.

Anyhow, the representative said they would report this to the credit agencies (equifax, transunion, etc.).

I had always thought a company or business needed your social security number in order to do that.

She said that is not true.

Is she right?
 
They won't have any trouble reporting it.

An agency has two ways of getting you to pay. One involves just hurting you: that's the report to the credit-agency. This hurts you, but doesn't get them the debt; they hope that you'll want to avoid the injury and pay the debt. Once they report it, some damage is done, but you can mitigate the damage by paying the debt, which will then show the account as closed and not in collection.

The second option is expensive, and involves a suit; in that instance they will eventually take the money owed, but at a high cost.

So agencies prefer to stick with the cheaper, coercive option, the threat to hurt you. Once they pull the trigger on this, there's nothing more they can do of course, though your incentive to pay remains because the account continues to show in collection.

It's best to adopt a firm but polite tone with the agency. If you need time to consider options, ask for proof of the debt. That should buy you about 30 days. You can then say that you wish to dispute the debt, which will buy you more time.

If you want to flesh out the nature of the debt, and why you're asking for a settlement, we could probably provide more (non-legal) advice.
 
"So, if a creditor can't validate or verify a debt: They are not allowed to collect it; They are not allowed to contact you about it:, and They are also not allowed to report it to the credit bureaus under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). If they do this, they are in violation of the FCRA, and the FCRA states that you can sue for $1,000 in damages for any violation of the Act."

http://www.creditlearningcenter.com/FDCPA-Collection-Agencies.html
 
they got your SSN from whatever company they're calling on behalf of (i.e. whoever you owe $ to.) it's not a good idea to stonewall them and let your credit rating degenerate. if you included more details then maybe i could pitch a solution... i worked collections for accounts in every state and there are specific laws for many states that might be helpful
 
I'm not sure.

However, there are some good guides floating around online about how to deal with credit agencies.

Make sure you request proof of the original debt, in writing. You may find they don't have sufficient paperwork to collect. The best way to find out is to ask.
 
It's not a significant amount of money. I will just pay them, as their extortion policy is effective in this case. I am not going to risk damaaging info in my file over $100.
 
$100?

I can't believe you just wasted all of our collective time on this for $100!

My bill is in the post.

-- LL
 
I'm surprised they even bought a $100 debt. Who the heck makes money off that?
 
It was the principle of it. If they could not damage my credit, I was going to tell them to go fuck themselves, or to sell the debt back to the company I did business with, since I was having a dispute with them (which is why I hadn't paid the bill yet).

But, since they can hurt my credit record, I'll just pay it. I am glad the amount involved is not significant. What troubles me is that in disagreements over larger sums, the businesses can use similar methods to bully you.
 
Chances are, they've already damaged your credit as much as it's going to be damaged. If the debt is in dispute, write them a letter asking for proof of the debt. If you pay it, you're acknowledging the debt and your credit report will suffer.

Also, they're required to send you written notice within 5 days of you first being contacted about the debt.
There is a really good FAQ located here

The only thing I couldn't find out even after an exhaustive search, is what to do if a debt is for goods or services you feel you didn't receive, or were unsatisfactory to you as a customer. This seems to be a huge hole in the debt collection laws in both Canada and the US. It seems the consumer is saddled with the impossible task of disproving the original debt's validity.

This gives way too much power to companies, and like you said Fjones, gives them a license to bully you with the threat of bad credit.

Many unpaid debts have extenuating circumstances that make the borrower's obligation to pay unclear. If a company decides not to settle the dispute with the borrower, and instead sell the debt to a 3rd party, it appears the borrower is up shit creek.

This definitely needs to be fixed. If consumers are being accused of owing money, they should be able to face their accuser directly.
 
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