Normal to get Collections letter when Acct closed and PIF?

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone,

I realize the title is strange.  Here's the story.  I closed my Regions card last week.  It was my first card but it was stuck at $800 and they wouldn't increase my credit line.  I'm doing better with my credit and have limits over 10x that amount.  It was paid in full in January, and I stopped using Netflix, so nothing new was charged to the card.

Today I get a letter in the mail from their Collections department telling me that my account has been terminated.  It tells me that I must pay the balance ($0) and minimum payment ($0).  It also tells me that if I'd like to discuss payment options for this back-breaking $0 balance, I can call (of course, they're closed on Saturdays).

So ... is this normal?  I haven't closed many cards - I haven't been in the situation where I could give any of my limits up until very recently.  Are these letters automatically generated?  Tried doing a Google search and nothing came up.  The CSR who I called after trying Collections sounded fairly clueless and said that while it showed PIF, it could be reported to CBs if it was ever 30+ days late (which I know already, but I have NEVER been late on my payments).  Any insight?  Just nerve-wracking to get a letter from Collections when everything was fine and dandy.

[austinguy907]

It's  probably a standard letter they send out whenever they close an account.  Since it shows $0 for all balances just file it away for safe keeping in case you need it 6-12 months down the road for some odd reason.  I wouldn't worry about it at all though.

Most of the time other lenders don't even send anything out when you close an account.  It all depends on the lender though.

[fltireguy]

Sounds like a computer generated form letter that is sent for all account closures.. I wouldn't lose too much sleep over it

[NRB525]

It's not normal.

I would not leave it alone. It is possible there is some sort of rounding error in their computer systems.

If there is a Regions branch in your area, I would pay them a visit to chat with a person in real time. Something like this could easily turn into a 30-day late report, even for what looks like $0. Better to spend some time now getting in front of it rather than later if something happens to blow up.

At least keep calling until someone with a clue answers the phone.

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone for your responses.  It definitely jarred me a bit to get the letter yesterday.

That said, I'm obviously planning on calling the Collections number tomorrow.  I no longer have access to my online account, but I was planning on asking them to mail/e-mail me a record of our conversation.  Is that possible?  I just want written proof that if they say there is no collections activity on my account, I can whip that out later as official proof from Regions.  Otherwise, I guess I'll just transcribe myself and make sure I get their name ... not that that means much, but if it's the only thing I have, I'm going to make sure I have it.

The last balance (total balance) actually has a "CR" next to it.  My first thought was that it was a credit on my account, but I've never overpaid and the CSR said it was at a zero balance.  It's something like $56.  But even if I owe this, at least I'll have a chance to pay it before it goes 30 days late.