Debt Collection not on Credit Reports?!

[Anonymous]

Went into Las Vegas Athletic Club to sign up after not being there for a few years.

They told me my old account went into collections. Weird because I've been rebuilding my credit and the only collection I have is a Recent medical collection which is been PIF.

The last payment was in 2/8/2009, making the first Date of Delinquency 3/8/2009 with a contract end date of 4/5/2010

The rep put me on the phone with LVAC Corporate who was asking for the full payment. I told them if the debt was sold to a collector, shouldnt I be paying THEM and not LVAC? So I demanded the number to the collection agency they sent the account to.

I called Quantum Collections to inquire about it and ask for a validation since it's not on my credit reports and I never knew about it.

This collection agency is local and they want me to come in and PIF so that they can "delete it off my reports" even though it's not on there to begin with.

I asked them for a debt validation and they said "The Athletic Club should have your information. That's the validation right there"

I asked about statute of limitations since th account is so old and he said its out of the statue of limitations.

He also said thy reported to the bureau on the 15th of last month. (Really? After 5 years you want to report it all of a suddent) I just pulled my reports on the 3rd and sure enough they aren't there.

Something doesn't sound right. What should I do?

[Anonymous]

Most small businesses do not 'sell' their bad debt, they assign it to collection agencies. The agencies usually report at their discretion, often only after a debtor refuses to pay.

IMO, you should have just paid the OC after having them recall the collection, rather than 'demanding' the info on the collection agency that was not reporting. Since you seem to have taken an adversarial stance with the OC (and the CA?), you may just find a new collection on your reports no matter what you do or who you pay.

The best response when told a debt 'went to collections' and its NOT been reported, is to ask yourself (and the OC/CA) "How do I keep this off my reports?"

[Anonymous]

I did mention to them that I could PIF so long as it remains off of the reports (PFD in a way). But wasn't sure if when I paid it, they'd then report the collection then show it as "paid".

Should I ask for a paper/written PFD statement to ensure it doesn't pop back up on my reports? They said if I come in and pay they'll give me a statement saying it's settled, but nothing about deletion