Midland DV

[Aramos]

I want to try and send a DV letter to Midland for an account of mine. It is a collection with them that popped up recently, but only on EX. The account that it is supposed to be, is also a CO that is showing on EX and TU. So, I guess my question is does anyone have an email for them, I tried searching but could not really find anything on it. And also, if the DV Letter works on removal, would it also do anything for the CO that is reporting to both TU and EX or would something else need to be done like a dispute with the CRA themselves.

[RobertEG]

Having an OC also reporting a charge-off of the debt kinda suggests to me that the debt is valid????

If so, validation may be relatively easy, as it only requires they obtain confirmation from the OC.

If the OC still owns the debt, validation is pretty much assured.

If your DV is timely, it imposes a cease collection bar, and does not require any period for response

If they do validate, they can immediately report to the other CRAs.

If the debt is valid, you could enter into payment negotiations not to report to the other CRAs, and/or to delete from EX.

With a DV in place, they cannot negotiate any such terms with you, so you are placed in limbo until they choose to validate.

[Aramos]

Ahh, okay, I see. The only reason I was thinking about sending the letter is I'm pretty sure I remember paying the amount to the OC a couple of years ago over the phone(stupid I know, no paper trail) . I tried looking it up in my statements but couldn't find anything. 

Anyways, so to see if I'm getting you right, a better course would be to just go ahead and make a PFD offer? That would not apply to the OC reporting though would it?

[RobertEG]

Whether or not it is a better course is up to you.

A timely DV would prevent them from reporting to the other two CRAs until they first validate, so some might recommend sending a DV.

One must weigh the benefit against potetial pitfalls.

In my opinion, it seems that validation would most likely be pro forma on their part, and more could be gained by going directly for a PFD.

But that is just my opinion.

Yes, a PFD acceptance by the debt collector would apply only to their own reporting.

Deletion of the charge-off reported by the OC would be addressed separately.

If the OC still owns the debt and your bigger concern is removal of the CO, you could offer your PFD to them rather than the debt collector.

Most consumers consider the deletion of a collection to be more desirable, and thus send the offer to pay to the debt collector.

[Aramos]

Okay sorry for getting back to this late. But I want to PFD Midland then in order to remove the collection since I feel that would increase my score better for a auto loan I need soon. Is there a chance I could end up with the collection again due to paying the CA? And finally, does anyone have an email address that I could use to send the PFD to Midland?