how to properly deal with collections

[Simplyjays]

ive been in collections for my gym bill since 12/12/2012 but never recieved a letter or even a phone call. the way i found it is that i wondered what ever happened to it and i called abc finacial they are responsable for the payments to the gym... and they said it was turned over to the CA vision finacial. today is 3/23/2013 and it has not appeared on any 3 reports yet. what tactics can i use to prevent them from posting on my credit. i will pay them in full its only 60 bucks but dont need it on my credit reports... should i call first thing monday morning? (today is saturday) or....? im wondering is vision finacial even has the ability to go into someones credit and ruin it because i know not every CA can do that because its expensive to have that membership

[guiness56]

Call them and tell them you will pay in full for not reporting.  It would be better to get it in writing but if they refuse the written part, an oral agreement can be just as binding.

[Jon85]

Definitely call them first thing Monday and tell them you will be paying in full so they will not report.

This just happened to me in February. One of my CC debts got sold to a CA, and I called them and they said they hadn't reported yet, but would if it went unpaid for a while longer. I paid them right then on the phone, and they promised they wouldn't report.

It's been a month-and-a-half or so, and they haven't popped up, and most likely wont. 

[Simplyjays]

ok i hope they dont report man! its been since 12/12/2013 ill pay in full monday!

[Simplyjays]

how do i get proof of the oral binding ordeal.. i can just trust in it if they clearly state they will not report to the credit buero right

[Simplyjays]

thank you all by the way especally guiness your always the main person i run to when i have a problem..

[Jon85]

I think you should be fine with just the oral agreement. That's what I had.

All they said was "well if you pay it now, we wont report." I didn't request a letter or anything. I just wanted to get it over with ASAP, LOL... if I was paying for a delete, then that's something I would have tried for... but usually if they haven't reported and you pay in full, you don't have to worry about it if you have their word; at least from my personal experience. 

[guiness56]

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@Simplyjays wrote:

how do i get proof of the oral binding ordeal.. i can just trust in it if they clearly state they will not report to the credit buero right

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It would be more of a he said, she said thing.  But if it came to it I am sure they record calls.

[Henchman21]

I've recently received a lot of medical bills, and having moved in between ordeals, I invariably missed one. I called as soon as I saw it, but it had gone to a collections agency that very day. I paid them and they said it wouldn't even show because they only report once a month and as long as I was good with them, they wouldn't report anyhow. I wouldn't worry about it unless it showed on your cr.