Tice Associates - Pay for delete (sample included)

[Minato08]

Well I have one collection on my report from this agency.  Now that I think of it, I believe that they have me recorded admitting to the debt, thus there is no point in a DV letter.  Instead I sent a PFD.  IF I receive a response, other posts here have caused me to expect that it will not be signed.  I have three issues which I would greatly appreciate responses to.

1.  Has anyone else had any experience with this CA?  How did it go?

2.  Has anyone dealt with ANY CA which accepted their PFD and signed it?

3.  Has anyone dealt with ANY CA which accepted their PFD and did not sign it?  Did they keep their end of the bargain?

As promised, here is a copy of  the PFD letter.  It is similar to the one floating around here, with a few tweaks. 

(CA Name)

(Address)

Re: Account Number

Amount:

To Whom It May Concern:

Nothing in this letter shall be interpreted as recognition of the debt as valid or acknowledgment of liability for the same.  Additionally, this is not a promise to pay and is not a payment agreement unless you provide a response in conformity with the terms below.

I am aware that your company has the ability to report this debt to the credit bureaus as you deem necessary.  Furthermore, you have the ability to change the listing since you furnished the information.

I am willing to pay this account IN FULL(or whatever your offer is), upon the condition that you agree to remove ALL information regarding this debt from any and all credit reporting agencies, including but not limited to Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, WITHIN TEN (10) CALENDAR DAYS of receipt of payment.  Payment is further and additionally conditioned upon your agreement not to discuss the offer with any third party, excluding the original creditor.  If contacted by any third party, including credit reporting agencies, CA will not acknowledge that any settlement offer was made, accepted or executed and will, in fact, deny knowledge of any such account.

If you accept the terms, I will send certified payment in the amount of ____ payable to CA.  As certified funds will be used for payment, there shall be no waiting period regarding the deletion of this account from the credit reporting agencies.

To accept this offer, prepare and mail a letter on your company letterhead explicitly agreeing to the above stated terms and conditions and have it signed by the authorized signatory of your company.  The letter will constitute a legal contract, enforceable under the laws of the state of (Your state).

Your acceptance must be postmarked no later than 15 days from your receipt of this offer or this offer will be withdrawn and I will request full validation of this alleged debt, pursuant to the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act.

Please address all correspondence regarding this matter to:

 (You)

[RobertEG]

Legallly, a PFD letter is a contract offer. Contract acceptance by them requires a legal, authorized signature.

As to the body of your letter, one thing they might balk at is your condition that they delete all informtion regarding the debt from your CR.

The CA may or may not even own the debt.  It may have only been assigned to them for collecxtion.

Additionally, did the OC make any prior posts to your CR?  The CA has no authority to commit to deletiin of any reporting on the debt that was done by the OC.

I would alter the phrase to require that they "delete any and all reporting of their collection account" witth the CRAs.

[Minato08]

Thanks for the above response.  I understand the fundamentals to contracts.  I was primarily looking for people to share their experiences in relation to this matter.

As for the criticism of the letter, thanks.  You are right to call that part into question.  In my situation, the collection was reported solely by the CA.  However, someone else wishing to use this letter should take into consideration that they should not send such a request to a CA which did not report the information.

[RobertEG]

As for experiences and concerns with the PFD process, I will share a few.

The biggest obstacle you have to overcome in making a PFD offer to the CA is, as you have said, the policy of the CA.

I have no direct experience with Tice, but here is how most CAs summarily dismiss your initial PFD offer.

Technically, a CA does not have the right to just delete prior, proper reporting.  When they sign up for credit reporting to a CRA, they accept the uniform credit reporting guidelines set forth in the credit reporting manual (the "Credit Reporting Resources Guide, (c) CDIA)

One of the provisions set forth, over and over again, in that manual, is that prior reporting should never be deleted based simply on later payment of the debt. So acceptance of a PFD violates their credit reporting agreements.  But, no, it is not illegal.

However, there is no way for anyone to contest a deletion from your CR, since the party requesting deletion does not have to give a reason.

If a CA posts a deletion with the CRA, the CRA will honor it.

You chances of PFD acceptance are not increased by setting a 15-day period for their response, with the threat of asking for debt validation if they dont.

You have already saId that you have admitted to the debt, you cant DV.  Additioally, if 30-days has already expired from when they sent their collection notice to you, then they have zero obligation under FDCPA 809(b) to even consider a DV request. I think they will view it as a threat, which wont help, and then as a threat that they can just ignore.  It sets the tone for litigation, not compromise.

What are the potential downfalls to a PFD?  If the debt is high enough, and is still within SOL, it may spur them to interpret it as intent not to pay, and push then into legal action.  Then you find yourself in court.    PFD letter is not a peril-free shot.  The consumer is not the party calling the shots.

[Minato08]

Thanks for your response.  Technically, you are correct.  I was vaguely aware of the guidelines and thank you for contributing to my understanding.  Technically, you are right about them being able to sue me. 

However, the ball is in my court at this point.  The amount of the debt is $90.  It would be impractical to sue me for this amount.  It would cost more than the debt is worth to pursue it.  I'm relying on the CA's sensibility.  The potential profit by complying with the request outweighs the loss since it is a near certainty of my not paying otherwise.  This is the basic appeal of a PFD.  Business is business and these days I doubt that any corporation should scoff at even the small amounts.   

I also don't see the time limit and DV comment to be a threat.  No one wants to turn this into a protracted experience.  Either they're going to accept or they're not.  Maintaining at least some control is beneficial in a number of ways.  Personally, I don't want to be left hanging waiting for an answer, or the lack thereof.