Wanting to pay debt off with Portfolio Recovery Associates.

[Anonymous]

Hello, so I am trying to rebuild my credit so I can buy a house in the next year or so.

 Basically a couple years back I lost a job got in a bad spot and had several credit cards I could no longer pay. So I I have a couple accounts in collections with Portfolio Recovery Associates. Both being in the 1,200 dollar range.

Well I decided to call them, and one of them apparently is in their " Legal Department" idk I guess a laywer is looking at it??? Regardless, I offered to send them 500, well they very lowest they said they would accept is 800 and that was the bottom line. They also said if I did send the money, they would send me an email while on the phone with them, confirming payment and showing I settled that account with them.

A manager even got on the phone with me and said 800 was as low as they could go, they also said they wouldnt delete it off my credit report, just report account as settled and 0 dollar balance.

So the reason I'm comming here is, what should I do about this, send the 800?, pay with a pre-paid credit card, cashiers check, what? Should I offer 700 and see if they accept?

  I'm just trying to figure out my best options, they dont know where I work, they dont even have my cell number. Just my home address is all they have.

I'm new to dealing with collection companies, but from what I've heard Portfolio Recovery Associates is one of the worst ones.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hello, so I am trying to rebuild my credit so I can buy a house in the next year or so.

 Basically a couple years back I lost a job got in a bad spot and had several credit cards I could no longer pay. So I I have a couple accounts in collections with Portfolio Recovery Associates. Both being in the 1,200 dollar range.

Well I decided to call them, and one of them apparently is in their " Legal Department" idk I guess a laywer is looking at it??? Regardless, I offered to send them 500, well they very lowest they said they would accept is 800 and that was the bottom line. They also said if I did send the money, they would send me an email while on the phone with them, confirming payment and showing I settled that account with them.

A manager even got on the phone with me and said 800 was as low as they could go, they also said they wouldnt delete it off my credit report, just report account as settled and 0 dollar balance.

So the reason I'm comming here is, what should I do about this, send the 800?, pay with a pre-paid credit card, cashiers check, what? Should I offer 700 and see if they accept?

  I'm just trying to figure out my best options, they dont know where I work, they dont even have my cell number. Just my home address is all they have.

I'm new to dealing with collection companies, but from what I've heard Portfolio Recovery Associates is one of the worst ones.

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Is your employer listed on your reports?

[EAJuggalo]

Get whatever agreement you have with them in writing before sending them money.  Heard too many times from people about having made "deals" with CAs and the CA not following through.  If you have the $800 and they put it in writing I would pay them.  They are still sending me letters from an account charged off 15 years ago demanding payment for more than the original debt.  And it will come up in the mortgage process, better to have it paid and something you can say about it.

[Anonymous]

So I spoke with them on the phone, told them I want some kind of agreement in writing stating we agreed to a price and if i pay that amount , I will have zero obligation to that account and it will be considered paid in full.

I got off the phone with them about 30 minutes ago and have yet to get an email. They told me it could take 24-48 hours to recieve it. I told them Im not sending any type of payment intill I get the agreement email first. And then I will send a cashiers check.

They only gave me 4 business days to have the cashiers check to them or the deal is off so they say. This has me a little worried.

I guess when I go to the post office get over night shipping with signature required?

Also what if they get the cashier check and say they didnt get it by the date they told me and now they got 800 dollars from me but say I still owe?

[trnl2016]

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@EAJuggalo wrote:

Get whatever agreement you have with them in writing before sending them money.  Heard too many times from people about having made "deals" with CAs and the CA not following through.  If you have the $800 and they put it in writing I would pay them.  They are still sending me letters from an account charged off 15 years ago demanding payment for more than the original debt.  And it will come up in the mortgage process, better to have it paid and something you can say about it.

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This is unrelated to the OP (sorry) but question for EAJuggalo: are they even allowed to do that? I thought they can't report a bad debt past 7.5 years after the DOFD? Or are you saying they still call/write to you about it (even though it's not on your reports)?

[Anonymous]

Just pay them. I paid them over the phone with my checking account. 2 days later I got an email stating settled. 21 days later they sent me a hard copy. I wouldn't trust a small unheard of collection agency, but PRA will do what they promise you over the phone. A supervisor will get on the phone with you to confirm everything anyways. You can go onto their online chat within 24 hours and they will send you a settlement email if you want it quicker. They are the worse when it comes to GW deletes. Your good to go with them.