Need Advice

[Anonymous]

So when looking through my credit report I see an account from Continental Finance ($450).  It was for an old Matrix card that I vaguely remember having.  I called Cont Fin today to ask what the account was for and they told me that the account had been charged off and Sold.  The account is from 2014 and thay haven't been reporting monthly.  The debt was sold to United Debt Holdings.  I haven't heard anything from that collection agency.  Should I call them and pay the charge off to get the balance to show $0 on my credit report?  Or just leave it be.  I'm worried about what an update to the account will do to my already fragile scores.  I'm trying to rebuild to qualify for a mortgage and this account scares me because I don't want a new collection showing up.

Any advice is welcome.

[RobertEG]

If the creditor has actually sold, as opposed to only assigned, the debt to the debt collector, they were required to have promptly updated the reported balance to $0.

Thus, removal of the debt balance from the OC account reporting should already have occured.

Send them a dispute of the accuracy of the reported balance based upon their statement that they no longer own the debt, and you should obtain an updated balance of $0.

The debt collector can report their collection at any time, and if still within SOL might still initiate civil action seeking a judgement.

You can either pursue a DV if you know the debt collector's address, or you can make them a pay for not reporting offer.

Or you could simply ignore them, and take your chances on their not reporting.

I prevention of a collection is your primary goal, then a pay for not reporting offer would likely be the recommended step.

[Anonymous]

Thank you.  I contacted the Collection Agency and paid the debt.  They claim they won't report to the Credit Bureau but they also claim that they never report to the agencies.  I didn't want anything creeping up on me so I figured I would just pay it and cross my fingers that nothing shows up.  I'll give it a month or so to see if the CHarge Off balance reflects $0 then I will dispute.  I don't want to poke a bear right now.  If I was completely done with my rebuild I would be significantly more aggressive.  We'll see how it goes.  I now have all of my collections and charge offs paid.  I entered a loan rehab for a defaulted student loan today and now all i can do is sit back and let time do it's part.  Good will attempts have failed for the 2 remaining paid collections.