Library Collection - $40.00 PFD Question

[Anonymous]

So I owe the local county library $39.50 for a lost book and some late fees.  They sent me to a collection agency that is based here in Indiana, I certified mailed a PFD letter to the address listed on my CR for the CA.

They responded with a letter saying

"We recently received correspondence from you stating you would like to have your account number xxxxx with the Monroe Public Library removed from your credit report once it is paid in full.  This is not our normal operating procedure.  We do, however, update the credit bureaus with a paid collection status once accounts are paid in full.  Your account has not been settled with us, or the library.  You will need to submit $39.50, without stipulations, for account number xxxxx before the account will be considered settled.  You may also return materials and/or pay fines and fees directly at the Library."

As we all know, if I pay it -- it does no good for my score, the collection account needs to be deleted.

Also, the account number they listed on the letter is different then the account number listed on my Credit Report - and the amount is different, they say I owe $39.50, the credit report reads $40.00.

TWO QUESTIONS:

1)  Will it make any significant change to my score to have this removed, or should I just let it time out under SOL (5 more years)

2)  What should my next step be to have this removed from my CR, if it will make a change in the score?  Should I attempt a DV letter to them now, or should I pay directly to the Library since it sounds like they still own the debt.

Okay THREE questions..

3)  If I pay the library directly, is there any hope of getting the collection account removed?  What if I got someone at the library to write a letter to the bureau's asking for it to be removed 

Side note:  The CA is reporting to all 3 bureaus. 

Date Opened:  1/2011

Reported Since:  5/2011

Date of Status: 5/2011

Last Reported: 5/2011

[llecs]

I'd resend the PFD to the CA. Don't worry about the account number since they found you anyway. I'd offer whatever is reporting on your CR. I'd also call the OC to see if they can pull the debt back from the CA. Some can/will; most won't.

The difference in account number could be the library's acct number vs. the CA's internal acct number. The difference in amount could be due to interest.

IMO, this CA would be a big drain due to the last reported date. Don't confuse SOL with CRTP. SOL is the time frame a creditor has to sue. SOL has nothing to do with reporting. CRTP is the time frame something has to report (7-7.5 years from DOFD for this baddie).

Always DV before sending a PFD, even if you know the debt is yours. Any DV you send would have any legal teeth because it's after the 30 days set forth by the FDCPA, but worth sending anyway. If they verify and you agree, then resend the PFD.

If you pay the library directly, there is a chance that the CA will report $0. In all likelihood, the CA's agreement with the OC requires the OC to forward the money to them or it requires the OC to notify the CA that is was paid. If after a few attempts at PFDing fail, and the OC won't pull it back from the CA, then I'd argue to pay it without a PFD. Then you can GW the CA to delete or ask the library to lobby for you. Also, while some CAs are impossible to get a PFD with, the very ones are open to GWs and deletion once paid. Look around for others' examples and success if the CA is known.

[Anonymous]

Great advice!  Thanks a lot!

I went ahead and just wrote the library and e-Mail this afternoon, basically explaining what I am trying to do.  The circulation manager called me back within a few hours, and after having a great conversation with her, she is going to make contact with her account manager at the collection agency and see what can be done.  She was totally sympathetic with me and said she would do anything in her power possible to help me - as long as I pay the $40.00

Thanks again for the advice.  

I'm well on my way!

KFish

[RobertEG]

You can, of course, send a DV request to the debt collector at any time, but as pointed out, if it has been more than 30 days since they sent you dunning notice, it would be untimely, and thus not invoke any cease collection bar on them.  Since they have clearly identified the creditor, and you appear to agree that the debt is legit, I doubt that even if the DV was timely, verification would be a problem.   DV is a debt verification process, and is unrelated to your CR deletion issue.

You cant send PFD to the OC, as they have no credit reporting to delete.  YOu can pay them, if they accept, but your PFD issue is solely with the debt collector.

Since they have already indicated that they dont grant PFD's, you can try again, but meanwhile the collection remains on your CR, and the PFD might just be ignored.

It really does not matter, deletion issues aside, whether you pay the OC or the debt collector.  Their statutory obligations would arrive at the same point.  Both would have to update their reporting to $0.  The OC would update to paid, and the debt collector would close their collection account.

I doubt that $40 would be a big incentive for the debt collector to deviate from their no-PFD policy, but you can try.  Personally, I would just pay the debt collector, and go for a request for GW deletion.

[Booner72]

I got the exact same letter.  I just posted about it!

Did the letter come from a person w/ the initials S. D? 

I'm so worried that when it updates to paid it will make it worse, too.  I'm worried if I do nothing, it will get reported to all 3.  Which bureau is yours reported to?????  Mine is only on EX.

[Anonymous]

S.D. - yep, you got it.

I heard back from the library today -- they apparently couldn't get ahold of their normal contact because he is out of the office but a secondary contact at the CA said basically the same thing to them as they did to me.

Something along the lines of "reporting to the agencies is our way of showing our teeth, its our only tool available, if you take that away from us we won't have that power anymore"

They (the library) said they would continue to try and fight for me -- but they can't promise anything.  

[Booner72]

I'm in Oregon - if you're cool with telling your state (or PM me) we could see what a small world it is.

We can also laugh at what SD must have been thinking when she got the same kinda letter from two people possibly across the country from each oth

Which bureau is yours reporting on???????????????????

[Anonymous]

I am in Indiana -- where the collector is located -- they are just about two hours south of me on the Ohio.  - Unique National Colletion is only reporting to Experian.

[Booner72]

OK.  That means they must only have an account with EX, so they aren't going to update to EQ and TU, which is what I was most worried about.

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly.

My next step is to write back to ol powerhouse SD and tell her that updating it will make my credit look worse as this is from 2007 and I don't want any newer dates.  I'll tell her I want to go pay that library but what can she do that's within their personal rulebook that won't screw me.  OR, I could just not pay it.  I have disputed other CA's and when they came back verified, they also were updated, and it didn't hurt my score one little bit, so maybe I'm worrying for nothing.  It's DOFD.  Everyone says that here, but then they say updating is bad, so I get confused.  But i know from MANY updated collections that my score has not been hurt (Except once I lost one point).

What are you going to do if the library can't help you?  We should write identical letters or something.

[-Cain-]

I had a similar issue with Unique. Long story short, the library got its book back and was happy. They spoke to Unique and let them know. Unique's agreement with the libraries has them report for a certain time period and then they remove after accounts have been handled. I can't remember if it's 6 months-1 year, but they did delete mine much sooner, and I did not send any GWs, it happened on its own.

You can search Unique here and find similar stories.