Question Regarding First Premier Bank

[ORllyNao]

I just called First Premier Bank to talk to someone about settling my charged off card from 2014, and was told that the account has been turned over to Northland Group for collections, and that I need to contact them. The Northland Group collection is not currently reflected on my credit report, so I do intend to call them to set up something to keep it off my report. However, First Premier Bank IS showing on my credit report as a closed account with a balance of $873 that's counting hard against my utilization ($173 over credit limit).

I remember having this same issue with Fingerhut, and was able to get the Fingerhut balance on my reports to reflect as zero since the balance was now being reported on my CR through the collection agency (and they can't have the balance both places). So, my question is, if this has been sold to a CA, but the CA isn't reporting yet, can I still have the CRAs report my balace for the First Premier account as zero? Is there a way I should proceed with this to get the best outcome? 

Did any of this make sense?

Thanks in advance for any input or advice! 

[Anonymous]

First Premier typically doesn't sell their debt. They simply pay a CA to collect on their behalf. I suspect that's why FP is still reporting the balance on your CR's. That's what happened with mine, as well.  In regards to best outcome with FP - that ship has sailed, the best outcome for anyone is to NEVER deal with them!  Pay the CA, and move on. 

[ORllyNao]

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@Anonymous wrote:

First Premier typically doesn't sell their debt. They simply pay a CA to collect on their behalf. I suspect that's why FP is still reporting the balance on your CR's. That's what happened with mine, as well.  In regards to best outcome with FP - that ship has sailed, the best outcome for anyone is to NEVER deal with them!  Pay the CA, and move on. 

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That's what I thought, as well, but the person at FP outright told me the debt was sold. Maybe she was incorrect, though. I'm setting up an arrangement with Northland Group regardless. Thanks! 

[RobertEG]

The rep most likely did not understand that assignment of collection authority was not the same as sale of the debt.

Many assignment agreements stipulate that all dealings, including payments, must be made via the debt collector, and their custormer servie reps are told that they should simply refer all consumrs to the debt collector.  That seems to imply to the rep that they no longer own the debt.

[Anonymous]

One thing to always remember is that the first people you talk to on the phone are the lowest on the totem pole. They are the newest reps and are likely to not have complete information.