What to do? Debts not reporting but I want to PIF

[Anonymous]

Hi guys,

I recently discovered that I have two collections that have been sitting with a collection agency with no activity for several years.  This was for some membership dues...  I moved and forgot about them.  They didn't have any way to contact me, so they must have sent them to collection.  They are within the SOL in my state (6 yrs).

They are not reporting on my CR but I feel an obligation to pay them. The thing is, it is 2 yrs old and they have tacked on interest and fees that are 6x the original debt. I want to make an offer to settle for some portion of the debt, but I'm afraid if I contact them, they will somehow figure out how to report it.  They don't have my SS#, so I'm not sure if that's possible.

Either way, I want to pay, but I don't want this to show up on my CR. Any ideas on how to approach the CA?

[jdxprs1]

if not showing  up on credit reports, i would wait til the sol expired then contact and offer settlement. puts you in a position of power.

[RobertEG]

Strange situation!

Your desire to pay is admirable, but by contacting them, they may come after you for the full amount of debt + interest.  Tough call.

I am curious how you learned of these supposed collections if they have no way of contacting you, and dont have your SSN?

Anyway, whenever a creditor or debt collector reports to a CRA, the CRA uses a logic algorithm to try to match their credit reporting to your consumer credit file with them.  The predominant matching parameter is SSN, for that is a unique identifier.  If the creditor doesnt supply your SSN, then they can attempt to fall back on name and address.  If they also dont have your address, the remaining significant identifier is your name.  But that is not a unique identifier, and will probably give them hundreds, if not thousands, of potential files. Thus, no match with any reasoable degree of certainty.

If you have updated your current address with the CRAs, and you then write the CA, thus supplying them your current return address, they will have name and current address, which is a pretty reliable matching that will probably enable them to post to your CR.

If you contact the CA, you can offer them payment for less than the full amount in exchange for their commitiment not to post to your CR.  That is similar to the traditional PFD offer that offers payment in exchange for CR deletion.  In your case, it would not be asking for deletion, but rather commitment not to report.

But such a letter is a conditional letter that they dont have to accept.  Your contact letter may give them enough info to post  immediately to your CR, thus putting you in a real PFD situation. Then they have the clout.

Simply waiting for SOL to expire will cover legal action against you, but wont block addtiion of a new CA to your CR until after 7 1/2 from the DOFD on the original debt.

Expiration of SOL and credit reporting are unrelated issues.