Hey everyone!
I need some assistance moving forward with a collections agency NCO Financial Services. Recenlty I recieved a letter in the mail regarding collections on an amount I was aware of. I pretty much broke all the cardinal rules when dealing with CAs.
I called the original creditor (a previous university) to see about paying the balance ($950) and they told me that if it's in collections there is nothing they could do. Being that it was the first potential negative/collections letter, I paniced and called the CA. I now know I should have disputed this and gone through validation and a possible pay for delete on a negotiated amount. Basically, I set up a payment plan for the amount the be deducted off my debit card over the course of a few months along with a downpayment. They also tacked on about $250 extra for their "fees" from which I understand there are laws about. The OC confirmed what I currently owe and is $250 less than what the CA told me. I really should have researched this before making any sudden decisions.
This owed amount had never been reported on my Credit Report for over a year but low and behold about a week after doing this I recieved and alert that a Collections had been added to TU CRA for the amount owed from OC NOT with the extra "fees".
Where should I go from here? I was thinking about calling and asking to speak for a manager and requesting the fees be removed being that it's against the FDCPA and then asking if this could be considered a pay for delete and get that in writing. Should I dispute the "downpayment" transaction with my card company and cancel any future payments?
Any advice would be extremely appreciated,
Thanks!
