Paying off an old debt?

[Anonymous]

hi. new here. referred from another website.

I have an old (rental) debt that I got stuck with after a college roommate bailed. Apparently is has been in collections for almost 3 years and I just found when my application was denied by an apartment complex.

It's about 2k and I need to pay it before January. So my question is what steps do I take? I have the collection agency's phone number but I'm getting mixed advice online.

Do I call and ask that they send me a formal debt validation? Do I mail them a formal request for debt validation? When it comes time to pay (I want to do a monthly plan) how do I negotiate it so that it clears from my credit report?

This is stressing me out very much and I'm worried that I will end up paying and the company will screw me over and leave the mark on my credit report, so I want to make sure I'm covering every base.

TIA for any advice.

[gdale6]

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@Anonymous wrote:
hi. new here. referred from another website.

I have an old (rental) debt that I got stuck with after a college roommate bailed. Apparently is has been in collections for almost 3 years and I just found when my application was denied by an apartment complex.

It's about 2k and I need to pay it before January. So my question is what steps do I take? I have the collection agency's phone number but I'm getting mixed advice online.

Do I call and ask that they send me a formal debt validation? Do I mail them a formal request for debt validation? When it comes time to pay (I want to do a monthly plan) how do I negotiate it so that it clears from my credit report?

This is stressing me out very much and I'm worried that I will end up paying and the company will screw me over and leave the mark on my credit report, so I want to make sure I'm covering every base.

TIA for any advice.

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You want to offer the owner of the debt a PFD.

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Rebuilding-Your-Credit/PFD-Q-amp-A-Examples-and-PFD-Success-Stories/td-p/2031275

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Rebuilding-Your-Credit/PFD-Example-Letter/td-p/4519

[RobertEG]

If or whether to send a request for debt validation depends upon several factors, and has no yes or no answer for all situations.

The FDCPA debt validation (DV) process has the primary goal of requiring a debt collector to cease active collection activities, such as communicating with the consumer, until they have first provided validation of the debt.  They are not required to validate within any period, or at all.  They can choose to simply discontinue colletion actiities, provided they dont continue with collectin activites.

Additionally, the cease collection bar is no longer imposed once 30 days has expired since the debt collector sent their required collection (dunning) notice.

If the debt collector sent dunning notice more than 30 days ago, then they can simply ignore any DV request and go on about their normal business.

A second major consideration in whether to send a DV is whether you need immediate payment of the debt or are seeking immediate credit report deletion by the debt collecttor.  If the DV is timely, the cease collection bar it imposes precludes the debt collector from conducting negotiations on payment of the debt, and thus cannot respond to any settlement or PFD offers until they have first validated.

Thus, a timely DV can put you into a state of limbo.  Can you wait for response?

The usual overriding reason why a consumer will normally send a DV is if they challenge the legitimacy of the debt, and thus want addtionaly information and statement by the debt collector that the debt is valid.

In any event, the DV process has NO effect on how long the reported collection can remain in your credit report.

Exclusion of any and all reported collections on a debt is based on one, and only one, date and time period.

The date setting the exclusion period is your date of first delinquency on the OC account in the chain of delinquency that immediately preceded the collection, and the maximum period is no longer than 7 years plus 180 days from that DOFD.  No actions occuring on the collection account have any effect on the exclusion of the collectin from your credit report.

[takeshi74]

Definitely make use of the Rebuilding subforum which is intended for topics like this.  As suggested above, a PFD is what you want to aim for so the derog is removed entirely.