Seemingly impossible to pay old debt

[Anonymous]

This might be long-winded, so apologies.

I applied for an apartment recently as part of a large scale move/career change. Upon doing the process, a debt came up from an account from forever ago (account is 13 years old, past due for 6) that I totally forgot about. It's legitimate, just something that totally slipped by as I was rebuilding my credit. Well, the debt for this account (just under $2k) is higher than the allowable delinquent debt that the apartment complex can approve (1k) so conditionally I have to get that taken care of. Sure, no problem...

So it's a Sears/Citi card that I no longer have or use or anything. It was literally forgotten about for years. It is reported on my credit reports as SEARS/CBNA, with the amount still owed, and updates every month saying that no payment was made. Sure, fine. I'll fix it...

I call Sears. No record. They say to call Citi. Sure. I call Citi. No record. They eventually find that it was given to "Citi Centralized Recovery Department." So after some runaround I get hooked up with them. They tell me that they can't do anything because they basically gave up, they're not collecting the debt and statute of limitations has passed. So I provide that info to the apartment complex...

And they want something in writing stating that the debt was either paid, resolved, or no longer owed in some fashion. I call Citi again. They won't put anything in writing because my account no longer exists. I call the Recovery place again. Won't put anything in writing because it's past the statute of limitations and they've given up on collecting it. I inquire as to why that is and just get the runaround of "sorry we can't do anything." Eventually I just give up myself and say "Fine, I'll just pay it" (I don't care about the money, I just need this resolved ASAP due to the time crunch.)

They don't take payments over the phone. Or online. The literal only way I can submit this is via a check. I speak with apartment place again, as long as I can show proof that I paid it whether it's electronic or not, is fine.

So that's where I am. I have 20 days (essentially 19 now) to get this paid and proven so that I have a place to move in (which is 950 miles away by the way) on the 25th. 

Should I cut the check (or even use online bill pay from my bank) or is there something I'm missing here? I've literally never had such a problem trying to throw money at people. I don't care about paying it, I just need it gone. I don't think there's an eligible dispute here or anything on the credit reports, and even if there was I don't think I have time for that. I will also say I never received a 1099-C or anything like that, so there's no proof of anything and everyone refuses to put anything in writing.

At my wits end here.

[RobertEG]

If the creditor has cancelled the debt, perhaps they will issue you a form 1099c, "Cancellation of Debt."

That will make the amount taxable, but you will then only have to pay the tax on the amount as income, and not the full debt.

[Anonymous]

Boy, I wish you had more then 20 days. Your situation could probably be resolved with credit report disputes or BBB complaints... but.. you said it was 13 years old?  Where did they find it, not on your credit report?

This is just my impression, not actual advice - but I don't know if you will be able to pay it. Like you said, they don't have an account anymore. So you paying the money, will not get assigned to any account in their system and very well may be lost. Compounded with the fact that they confirmed they are not collecting on it.  Anyway, what I'm saying is - it's probably easier for them to get an executive to just sign off that you don't owe them money, as opposed to them having to "re-create" your account (probably illegal) or trusting that they have some kind of fail safe system to re-route your money.

Have they confirmed that they will take your money and mark your account paid??

[Anonymous]

It's weird. There's an "account" insomuch as they had one at one point and then they stopped collecting because statute of limitations. The amount that I "owe" is accurate based on what showed up on my credit report. The account was opened 13 years ago but the debt went bad about 6 years ago. So when I call them, they do show that I owed it at some point and since my CR still reports it as a derogatory debt, it showed up when the apartment pulled my background check/credit history. It just never really popped up before and flew under the radar for a long time. My fault for not paying and not checking reports often enough. 

The general consensus from other people I've talked to says to do bill pay through Wells Fargo (my bank.) They'll cut the check, it'll be trackable and verifiable for the apartment complex, I'll get the debt removed (the recovery place did acknowledge that paying the debt would remove it from my report) and everything will be settled. 

It's a crappy situation but it's one I was trying very hard to resolve since the apartment place gave me almost no time to fix it. Based on the circumstances (i.e. unable to pay with anything but a check) they extended it from EOB today to the move in date of 4/25. I'm the type of person to throw money at a problem until it goes away at this point, so I'm just making the bed I lied in and forgot I ever slept in.