OK, so my daughter messed up. She left an apartment, breaking the lease and the landlord said that was fine but she didn't get it in writing. 6 months later the landlord sold the "debt" to a collection agency.
They wrote to her but to the wrong address. They kept trying via phone and eventually found her and I took over.
They gave me all the info to know this was legit, and also said that they were trying to be paid before it was due to go on her CR. I got it in writing that if paid by a certain date it "would not be reported to TU, EQ and EX".
I paid and it was not reported.
They were professional, friendly and courteous throughout. They took the time to try and resolve it before reporting it to the CRAs
From their point of view it was a perfectly legitimate debt, and I think they handled the whole thing very well.
Much as I hate to say nice things about a CA.......
The slide from grace is really more like gliding
And I've found the trick is not to stop the sliding
But to find a graceful way of staying slid