Collection Agency says they do not own my debt

[Anonymous]

I recently mailed a pay for delete letter to a collection agency (which is reporting the debt to all three credit bureaus) for some medical collections. This company had multiple accounts (therefore, multiple reportings) all medical collections from two clinics here in town.  I offered a settlement of half if they would delete the items. (full amount is $500, so half $250) Their response was that they could not negotiate a settlement because they did not own the debt but asked me to call for a counter offer.  What does this mean?  If the don't own the debt, how can they report it?  If they can't negotiate, how can they have a counter offer? 

[cadavis0609]

The OC still owns the debt and have hired the agency to collect the debt,  so they are unable to negotiate on their behalf. Try contacting the OC and paying them directly, and when you do, request that they pull the account back from collections in exchange for payment.