Collection Agency closed. What now?

[SLR72689]

I was going to ask for a removal of a paid collection. I have an address on my credit report and googled it to see if I could find an e-mail/contact name and google is reporting the collection agency as closed.

Can I dispute it to the CRAs? And if so, how would I go about that... as in what would my reasoning be?

[DaBears]

call the CA if the number is disconnected then file a dispute and choose other. state the CA is out of buisness it should be deleted with no issues!!!!

[SLR72689]

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@DaBears wrote:

call the CA if the number is disconnected then file a dispute and choose other. state the CA is out of buisness it should be deleted with no issues!!!!

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Will do, thank you!!

[SLR72689]

I called the number now to see what happens and it gave me the voicemail for the office. I googled it and the Chicago address says it has been closed. I can't find another address to see if it's been re-opened elsewhere. Every search brings up the supposed closed address. I guess I will call back on Monday during normal hours and see if theres a new address or if it really has been closed.

[mauve]

I don't think it's relevant if other offices are open - it's the one that's listed on your report.

[guiness56]

The parent company would probably need to be out of business in order not to come back verified.  See if you can find out who that is.

[LIGHTNIN]

A recent collection can hurt score by 80 - 100 points, then hurt less and less as time goes on.

So to me, it would depend on how old the debt is, on what action I would take.

If the debt is only 3-4 years old, i would spend time getting it removed.

If the debt is going to fall off in 1-2years, I would spend time on other thing on my CR.

[rckstrscott]

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@SLR72689 wrote:

I was going to ask for a removal of a paid collection. I have an address on my credit report and googled it to see if I could find an e-mail/contact name and google is reporting the collection agency as closed.

Can I dispute it to the CRAs? And if so, how would I go about that... as in what would my reasoning be?

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What CA is it?

-scott

[dddewdrop]

     If you dispute it with the CRA's they have to verify it and when they do they will give your the CAs contact info. I have had an easy time disputing stuff with the CRAs by just calling them. The numbers for them are available elsewhere on this site. I would call and explain to them the situation and they will most likely give you a different number for the CA to call them at or if it really is closed then they will delete the item from your report.

      I wouldn't get your hopes up too much though. How a collection agency works is that they buy debts from other people. Once they own the debt, then they get to keep the money when you pay it back. Debts have value. They buy them for some percentage of what is owed, say 5%. So if you owe 1000 dollars from 1986, a collection agency may buy that debt for $50 dollars. Then if they can settle with you for $500 they make $450.  If they were going to go out of business, they would most likely sell your debt to someone else not just "forgive" everyone's debts and shut their doors.  In the example I gave, they might sell your debt to someone else for $10 dollars. That times thousands of debts equals real money....

[SLR72689]

This is actually on my boyfriend's credit. I have had 7 collections removed this month by calling the CRAs and disputing them.

This is what it reads on his report:

Agency: Heller And Frisone, LTD

Address:  123 Abc St

              Chicago, IL

Date Reported: 6/2010

Date Assigned: 11/2006

Creditor Name: TCF National Banking

Original Amount Owed: $294

DoFD: 9/2006

Balance Date: 6/2010

Balance Owed: $0

Status Date: 6/2010

Status: Paid

I googled the exact address looking and according to google the law firm is closed. I didn't realize the DoFD when I originally posted... if it was in 9/2006 does that mean it will fall of sometime this year? Since it's older, I'm sure it's not dinging his credit as much, he's just looking to get a car loan ASAP and at the moment he doesn't have a credit score due to inactivitiy for two years so I'm trying to see what/if there's anything he can clean up.