To pay or not to pay?

[joeyoey]

I've got an old bill from an apartment complex from 2009 that's set to come off in Dec. of 2016.  The amount is $3489.  The collection agency contacted me & agreed to do a PFD...for $2000.  I don't really have the money and I'd have to put it on another credit card but I'm so close to having my report perfect, I'm tempted to do it.  This is the only item on my report from when I was having problems where there is still a balance.  After this there will be nothing but positives & a few things that were paid to zero (but still not set to fall off until next year).

Should I even consider this?  I don't plan on buying anything anytime soon and I don't think I'll be applying for credit anytime in the next few months.  And, even if I did I think  my score is high enough now that I can get anything I might need, within reason.  The only reason to do it is to sort of "finish" what I started last year when I began to clean up things.  I was hoping they'd go lower than $2000 but they seem pretty firm on this.

Any suggestions?

[Anonymous]

Is it past SOL?

[joeyoey]

Oh yeah, they can't do anything at this point.  I just "want" it off of my report.  I probably should just let it go & fall off next year.

[Anonymous]

Use that fact as leverage and send them this: "This is old, time barred debt, and you and I both know that I cannot legally be compelled to pay this. The only advantage to me in paying it is if you delete the entry from my credit reports. I currently place the value of removing this debt from my reports at 20% of its face value. Each month draws closer to the time it will be excluded from my reports by law. At that point I will no longer be interested in paying this debt at all. Is your company more interested in making a profit from its investements or in punishing debtors for past mistakes?"

Keep sending that with lower percentages each month, eventually it reach someone with a double digit IQ, or it will reach exclusion time. Win/win either way.

[joeyoey]

Thank you Norman...I'm going to try that.  I would happily pay 50% (well, maybe not "happily") but I'm going to just drop it to 20% as you suggested.  At this point it's 20% and the closer it gets to Dec 2016 the lower it gets.

[Anonymous]

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@joeyoey wrote:

Thank you Norman...I'm going to try that.  I would happily pay 50% (well, maybe not "happily") but I'm going to just drop it to 20% as you suggested.  At this point it's 20% and the closer it gets to Dec 2016 the lower it gets.

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You can be pretty certain they paid under 10 cents on the dollar for it. Typically the average price for bad debt is 3.5-7 cents on the dollar for the first sale. Once it hits the secondary market (meaning its been sold off once already) its typically bought for about 1 cent on the dollar. There are some videos out there where execs from Midland discuss this fact. Never feel bad about making these vultures lowball offers. They are still making a very respectable profit on their investment, even at 10%.