Better to deal with OCs or CAs?

[Anonymous]

Hi,

I am helping a friend deal with some credit issues. He has a couple of delinquencies from AT&T DSL service (DOFD = 10/2011) and Comcast cable service (DOFD = 03/2009), both of which are being reported by the CA (Enhanced Recovery). He called Comcast and they said that if he paid them directly, they would let Enhanced Recovery know to delete the entry. AT&T said that they would take the payment directly and also let Enhanced Recovery know that the account is paid in full. AT&T could not guarantee though that the CA would remove the entry. In those cases, is it better to PFD the CAs or work directly with the OCs? Thoughts?

Thanks.

[apandabear]

I think the general guidance around here is to always start with the OC. Only if they refuse to work with you should you contact the collection agency.

While the OC cannot force the CA to delete, from what I've read, they usually will. If they refuse, you can always try to contact them (after you've paid the OC) and work it out. Sometimes a kindly worded letter or a friendly call to the right rep pays off.

Your friend is headed in the right direction. Keep it up!

[Burned2manybridgesB4]

One dirty tactic is to pay the OC, then wait a little, then dispute with the CRA to validate, or DV the CA (full media).

[llecs]

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@Burned2manybridgesB4 wrote:

One dirty tactic is to pay the OC, then wait a little, then dispute with the CRA to validate, or DV the CA (full media).

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What's the reason for the dispute?

[RobertEG]

To cloud your thinking, I have a different opinion.  In most cases, I feel that it is better to deal with the debt collector.

If you send a PFD to the OC, then your payment is contingent only upon their agreement to delete their own reporting.  They can ask their debt collector to also delete, but the debt collector is not required to do so.  You take your chances.  For a creditor to ask another party to delete accurate reporting based on payment of a debt is technically asking that party to violate their reporting agreement with the CRAs. 

Most consumers consider a collection to be a more significant adverse item than prior reporting of delinquencies by the OC.

If deletion of the collection is your primary goal, it is, in my opinion, best to deal with the party authorized to delete their own reporting.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the responses.

RobertEG - I see what you mean, but once the OCs (AT&T and Comcast) are fully paid, wouldn't the CA (Enhanced Recovery) be reporting a debt that no longer exists? And if they reported as paid in full, wouldn't that be incorrect as well since they were not the ones to receive the payments? 

[RobertEG]

No.

The fact that, while the debt remained unpaid, they had collection authority is not negated.  They reported the fact that they were collecting on the debt.

Once the deb is satisfied, they are obligated to close their collection and report a $0 balance under collection.  They are not obligated to delete their prior reporting of the fact of their collection activity.

What an assigned debt collector reports is not the debt they own, it is simply the amount of debt owned by another that they have been assigned the right to attempt to collect.  Thus, satisfaction of the debt, regardless of to whom paid, is not relevant to their reporting, and not basis for its deletion.

[xthatgamerguyx]

I have actually had better success dealing with the CA's, believe it or not.

[Anonymous]

It depends on a number of factors, but generally I think working with the collection agency can be more beneficial. They WANT YOUR MONEY AND they want it NOW. That collector is already tallying up how much money she brought in that day to meet her quota and bump into commission. Paying at the end of the month to a CA can also be helpful sometimes but collectors want their money in early so that the rest of the month is gravy.

The OC gets nothing more than they would have originally, maybe less. Most billing office workers get nothing extra no matter how many payments come in. They really don't care as much.

That said, the CAs customer is the OC (lots of debtors consider themselves customers of the CA, which is NOT the case at al). They want the OC to be happy and will do whatever they need to for that to happen. If the OC has a policy that says they don't delete, the CA won't do it.