topic Re: My first collection posted to my account over the weekend in Rebuilding Your Credit

My first collection posted to my account over the weekend

heckofagator — Mon, 27 Feb 2017 16:02:26 GMT

We had a service that stored the stem cells for our son back in the day. At some point, we decided we no longer needed this and I thought we cancelled the service but I'm unsure if that officially happened. My wife is looking for any documentation now, but at this point in the game, I'm going to assume we have no documentation cancelling the service.

This collection agency has called my wife a few times over the last few years. I recognize the name of the collection agency. They would never give me any info, only that it was an urgent matter and that she needed to call them back. But I would say we haven't heard from them in a good 2 years. So this weekend a collection popped on my MyFico monitored credit report. The first delinquency is listed as 8/2011. I have never officially received anything from them, as far as I'm aware. I'll assume both of our names are on the original account.

So doing a little reading this am, my first step would be a Debt Validation letter? And then if it's successfully validated, I would move onto a Pay for Delete letter? It's a couple hundred dollars. Not chump change, but I guess I would probably pay it to get my 40 FICO points back. Will my wife need to do this, too, separately, or will one set of letters take care of us both as long as long as we specify?

My wife is also thinking about calling the original creditor to ask what's up with the account. Is there any harm in that?

thanks in advance, Aaron

Re: My first collection posted to my account over the weekend

RobertEG — Mon, 27 Feb 2017 17:37:04 GMT

The first issue to decide is whether you wish to contest the debt, or accept the debt and either not pay, or pay, with or without a PFD.

If you decide to first contest the legitimacy of the debt, then contact with the original creditor would be appropriate.

Does the OC still own the debt, with the debt collector only having assigned collection authority, or has the debt collector purchased the debt?

A call to the OC might reveal that info.

If the OC still owns the debt, you could deal with either party as to offering payment. If you obtain a PFD directly from the debt collector, that will mandate removal of their reporting. If you obtain agreement to pay the OC, they cannot directly commit to deletion of the collection. In order to get the collection deleted, the OC would have to first terminate the assignment to the debt collector before you pay the OC, and then the deletion of the collection would be mandated per CRA policy.

Sending a DV would provide you a temporary block of any additional communication from the debt collector until they have first sent validation, but a timely DV sets no period for or requirement to validate, so you would be in a state of limbo with regard to any negotiations until they first sent validation.

With validation not being required, it may be a substantial period until you can negotiate anything with them.

Would that serve your needs?

As for whether you need to negotiate separately, the FDCPA explicitly states that a spouse is also considered as the "consumer" for purposes of dealing with the consumer.

Thus, you can negotiate a single, joint settlement or PFD offer that includes both parties.

Re: My first collection posted to my account over the weekend

heckofagator — Mon, 27 Feb 2017 20:51:49 GMT

thanks for the great response. Sounds like we've got some decisions to make and need to find out who actually owns the debt at this point. Need to talk with the wife tonite but I think if had to guess, we'd want to just get this off of our credit asap, so maybe just paying the amount would be the easiest. And likewise, it appears that getting the PFD with the collection agency is least amount of hassle, although I'm not sure what goes into a termination of the assignment to the debt collector.

Re: My first collection posted to my account over the weekend

Anonymous — Mon, 27 Feb 2017 21:07:37 GMT

You won't get any points back for paying it. If the debt us yours you should pay it.

If the collection is removed then you would see score improvement providing you don't have any other delinquent or derogatory accounts present on your files.

Re: My first collection posted to my account over the weekend

heckofagator — Mon, 27 Feb 2017 21:11:42 GMT

Yeha, I still need to find out if this debt is ours. But if it is, you would agree that a pay for delete would be the preferred course of action, right? At which time, I should get back most, if not all, of the points that my score went down after this collection posted, correct?'

It wouldn't make sense to just pay the collections without at least trying to get the collection deleted first (I don't think)

Re: My first collection posted to my account over the weekend

Anonymous — Mon, 27 Feb 2017 21:15:57 GMT

PFD would be the ultimate goal. If you have no other baddies you should regain your scores.

If the CA refuses to PFD, you should still pay it if the debt is yours. Then you can start a goodwill campaign.

Mind sharing who the collection agency is? We may be able to tell you what success you may have with then.

Re: My first collection posted to my account over the weekend

heckofagator — Mon, 27 Feb 2017 21:28:58 GMT

sure, the CA is CAINE & WEINER COMPANY INC I just find this strange as this popped up so suddenly. I kinda thought everything was taken care of years ago and they had never tried to contact me before, which makes this all the more strange as to why this is on my account now, too. Agree that if the debt is valid, it should be just paid. Nice thing is that its almost 7 years already from the date they have listed as the first delinquency, so I feel a little ahead of the game, in that regards.

Re: My first collection posted to my account over the weekend

Anonymous — Mon, 27 Feb 2017 21:32:36 GMT

Request debt validation immediately. If it validates, offer a pay for delete, and get it in writing (mail, email, or fax).

Re: My first collection posted to my account over the weekend

Anonymous — Mon, 27 Feb 2017 21:40:45 GMT

If you are honestly unsure of this debts validity, you should without a doubt find out before you pay anything.

Let's see if anyone chimes in who may be familiar with this debt collector. In the mean time keep us updated with any new or ongoing developments so we can help you along.

Re: My first collection posted to my account over the weekend

heckofagator — Mon, 27 Feb 2017 21:39:34 GMT

Thanks. Will def update as I learn more. Does it seem odd that I didn't get any demand, letter or any other contact beforehand? I have been reading about DV letters and collections in general, and it appears most collection agencies are in contact with people before hand. I have never heard personally from these people. The only reason I know is because of the MyFico score monitoring.

Re: My first collection posted to my account over the weekend

Anonymous — Mon, 27 Feb 2017 21:42:03 GMT

@heckofagator wrote:
Thanks. Will def update as I learn more. Does it seem odd that I didn't get any demand, letter or any other contact beforehand? I have been reading about DV letters and collections in general, and it appears most collection agencies are in contact with people before hand. I have never heard personally from these people. The only reason I know is because of the MyFico score monitoring.

It's not uncommon at all. Have you moved from that area?

Re: My first collection posted to my account over the weekend

Anonymous — Mon, 27 Feb 2017 21:45:31 GMT

There is information on these forums about the debt collectors you named. Do a forum search and you can read up on them.

Re: My first collection posted to my account over the weekend

heckofagator — Mon, 27 Feb 2017 22:05:49 GMT

thanks. I did find some references to them on the forum, but it seemed to be people just mentioning them here and there cause they had debts with them. I'll look more for something more helpful.

Re: My first collection posted to my account over the weekend

stargazer25 — Mon, 27 Feb 2017 22:39:04 GMT

I've actually dealt with Caine and Weiner. They were totally nice and did a PFD for me. Send me a PM and I will look up the info for the person I worked with. I never received any paperwork from them and had moved.

Re: My first collection posted to my account over the weekend

stargazer25 — Mon, 27 Feb 2017 22:39:34 GMT

This was within the last year.

Re: My first collection posted to my account over the weekend

heckofagator — Mon, 27 Feb 2017 22:51:28 GMT

thanks stargazer, PM incoming