topic Re: Collections!!!!!! AT&T in Rebuilding Your Credit

Collections!!!!!! AT&T

Northwick09 — Sat, 21 May 2022 18:10:58 GMT

i just had a collections added to my credit report from Enhanced Recovery Company. $572

i just disputed it, so waiting on that.....also asked for pay for delete and they dont do that

should i still pay it off without them wanting to remove it from my credit or just wait another 4 years until it falls off (its roughly 2 years old already from At&t)

if i pay it off then the 7 years starts over correct?

should i consider paying it off and asking for a good will removal?

what would yall advise?

trying to buy a house at years end and i completely forgot about that debt.........so i am pissed

Re: Collections!!!!!! AT&T

lucknpat — Sat, 21 May 2022 21:19:44 GMT

You should only dispute accounts that are not yours. If it's legitimate it'll just come back verified and may hurt your score.

If you PIF the 7 years will not restart. If you pay it, your credit should improve. I'd say that you'd be better off paying it and try a goodwill removal.

Another option that others may mention is that you can ask AT&T to recall the debt and let you pay them. This should remove the CA from your report.

Re: Collections!!!!!! AT&T

Northwick09 — Sun, 22 May 2022 03:58:08 GMT

@lucknpat yeah i called att and asked if they would recall the debt and she said no..but thats just me calling the collections department......i might try to dig a lil deeper and escalate it to upper management...i might get a different answer

Re: Collections!!!!!! AT&T

7774x — Sun, 22 May 2022 05:19:16 GMT

@Northwick09 wrote:
@lucknpatyeah i called att and asked if they would recall the debt and she said no..but thats just me calling the collections department......i might try to dig a lil deeper and escalate it to upper management...i might get a different answer

Ask them you want to do a settlement deal..since no pay for delete..collections on CR? mortgage unlikely..unless FHA

unless FHA route

Re: Collections!!!!!! AT&T

FireMedic1 — Sun, 22 May 2022 09:28:41 GMT

There have been reports that if you pay AT&T. They will recall the debt from ERC and it will be deleted. Doesnt mean its a 100% success rate. Paid is better than owed with any outstanding balance owed. Get it in the past and be done with it. Dispute only inaccuarate items.

Re: Collections!!!!!! AT&T

RonelTheGeek — Sun, 22 May 2022 13:55:42 GMT

Yeah 5 years ago i had a collection for $75 bucks with AT&T , didnt knew there was a last bill after porting. even though it with to an Collection called AFNI or something, i was able to call AT&T directly paid in full, and without asking they deleted the collection from my reports and AFINI also disappeared too. but YMMV , but i agree with Firemedic, a paid collection is always better than unpaid.

Re: Collections!!!!!! AT&T

Northwick09 — Sun, 22 May 2022 15:17:00 GMT

@FireMedic1 yeah when i was on the phone with att ...she did say if i paid them then the collection agency would delete it off my report.......then i asked for a letter stating that and thats when she changed her answer......"no i cant do that and the collection agency would just report it as paid in full" ........so i am assuming they r taught to say that in order to get the payment but if u ask for a letter then they change their tone....i will call again and ask for a manager! plus do a lil research to see if they actually do recall debt...i have read they have but who knows

@FireMedic1 wrote:
There have been reports that if you pay AT&T. They will recall the debt from ERC and it will be deleted. Doesnt mean its a 100% success rate. Paid is better than owed with any outstanding balance owed. Get it in the past and be done with it. Dispute only inaccuarate items.

Re: Collections!!!!!! AT&T

Northwick09 — Sun, 22 May 2022 15:25:55 GMT

@RonelTheGeek wrote:
Yeah 5 years ago i had a collection for $75 bucks with AT&T , didnt knew there was a last bill after porting. even though it with to an Collection called AFNI or something, i was able to call AT&T directly paid in full, and without asking they deleted the collection from my reports and AFINI also disappeared too. but YMMV , but i agree with Firemedic, a paid collection is always better than unpaid.

cant i just pay att anyway then dispute the collections on my report with the reason being i agreed to pay att and account is paid.....wouldnt they have to remove it by law?

Re: Collections!!!!!! AT&T

gdale6 — Sun, 22 May 2022 17:11:32 GMT

@Northwick09 wrote:
@RonelTheGeek wrote:
Yeah 5 years ago i had a collection for $75 bucks with AT&T , didnt knew there was a last bill after porting. even though it with to an Collection called AFNI or something, i was able to call AT&T directly paid in full, and without asking they deleted the collection from my reports and AFINI also disappeared too. but YMMV , but i agree with Firemedic, a paid collection is always better than unpaid.
cant i just pay att anyway then dispute the collections on my report with the reason being i agreed to pay att and account is paid.....wouldnt they have to remove it by law?

No, the only way to get the CA off before payment is for the OC to recall them or for the CA to grant PFD. After it updates to paid you can also begin a GW letter campaign to remove it.

Re: Collections!!!!!! AT&T

FireMedic1 — Mon, 23 May 2022 10:34:39 GMT

@Northwick09Creditors and CA's have contracts with the CRA's to report accurate info and they wont send letters to be used against them. Many delete as we know here anyways. The first scenario was successful on the phone although you pushed the envelope. Just pay it and be done with it.

Re: Collections!!!!!! AT&T

OmarGB9 — Mon, 23 May 2022 18:06:07 GMT

@Northwick09 wrote:
@RonelTheGeek wrote:
Yeah 5 years ago i had a collection for $75 bucks with AT&T , didnt knew there was a last bill after porting. even though it with to an Collection called AFNI or something, i was able to call AT&T directly paid in full, and without asking they deleted the collection from my reports and AFINI also disappeared too. but YMMV , but i agree with Firemedic, a paid collection is always better than unpaid.
cant i just pay att anyway then dispute the collections on my report with the reason being i agreed to pay att and account is paid.....wouldnt they have to remove it by law?

No, because there is no such law. There are rules creditors agree to follow with the CRAs. In fact, one of those rules explicitly says creditors should NOT delete their TL just because it was paid off.

I would just keep trying to get ATT to recall it and then pay. If that doesn't work, then still pay just to get it over with. Paid looks better than unpaid.

Re: Collections!!!!!! AT&T

Northwick09 — Mon, 23 May 2022 23:22:57 GMT

@FireMedic1 wrote:
@Northwick09Creditors and CA's have contracts with the CRA's to report accurate info and they wont send letters to be used against them. Many delete as we know here anyways. The first scenario was successful on the phone although you pushed the envelope. Just pay it and be done with it.

would it be best just to pay att directly the full amount (hoping the collection agency deletes it off my report).....or should i settle for less with the collection agency? whats the best option? i would think paying the full amount would be the best look if it remained on my report

Re: Collections!!!!!! AT&T

FireMedic1 — Tue, 24 May 2022 10:11:43 GMT

Re-post from me:

There have been reports that if you pay AT&T. They will recall the debt from ERC and it will be deleted.

Call again and see if the offer is still there and dont push for a letter. You had it as posted. And then lost it when you asked for a letter as you posted. Good Luck.

Re: Collections!!!!!! AT&T

Northwick09 — Tue, 24 May 2022 13:34:06 GMT

@FireMedic1 wrote:
Re-post from me:
There have been reports that if you pay AT&T. They will recall the debt from ERC and it will be deleted.
Call again and see if the offer is still there and dont push for a letter. You had it as posted. And then lost it when you asked for a letter as you posted. Good Luck.

i disputed the accuracy of the report through transunion and i got an update today and it was deleted....i am gonna pay att asap so it cant be added again (hopefully)

Re: Collections!!!!!! AT&T

NaimeseOGK — Sun, 29 May 2022 09:53:43 GMT

@Northwick09 wrote:
@lucknpatyeah i called att and asked if they would recall the debt and she said no..but thats just me calling the collections department......i might try to dig a lil deeper and escalate it to upper management...i might get a different answer

@Northwick09 When I had a sprint collection they sent ERC after me too. This might work but what I did was dispute the collection and it was deleted a few days after. Then I quickly paid it off after getting a sprint rep on live to agree to remove it from the collections department once it was paid off. If they won't agree to do it you can try to dispute it and get it removed and pay it quickly after so they won't assign the debt to another collection agency since there wont be any debt to be paid anymore.

Re: Collections!!!!!! AT&T

Mrflip09 — Sun, 29 May 2022 10:33:11 GMT

@NaimeseOGK wrote:
@Northwick09 wrote:
@lucknpatyeah i called att and asked if they would recall the debt and she said no..but thats just me calling the collections department......i might try to dig a lil deeper and escalate it to upper management...i might get a different answer
@Northwick09 When I had a sprint collection they sent ERC after me too. This might work but what I did was dispute the collection and it was deleted a few days after. Then I quickly paid it off after getting a sprint rep on live to agree to remove it from the collections department once it was paid off. If they won't agree to do it you can try to dispute it and get it removed and pay it quickly after so they won't assign the debt to another collection agency since there wont be any debt to be paid anymore.

That's exactly what I did...... read my last message.... but I disputed it and a few days later they removed it.....I paid it off instantly through att and now gonna wait to see if it's every added back as late payments.... hopefully it's gone forever

Re: Collections!!!!!! AT&T

NaimeseOGK — Mon, 30 May 2022 05:41:18 GMT

@Mrflip09 wrote:
@NaimeseOGK wrote:
@Northwick09 wrote:
@lucknpatyeah i called att and asked if they would recall the debt and she said no..but thats just me calling the collections department......i might try to dig a lil deeper and escalate it to upper management...i might get a different answer
@Northwick09 When I had a sprint collection they sent ERC after me too. This might work but what I did was dispute the collection and it was deleted a few days after. Then I quickly paid it off after getting a sprint rep on live to agree to remove it from the collections department once it was paid off. If they won't agree to do it you can try to dispute it and get it removed and pay it quickly after so they won't assign the debt to another collection agency since there wont be any debt to be paid anymore.
That's exactly what I did...... read my last message.... but I disputed it and a few days later they removed it.....I paid it off instantly through att and now gonna wait to see if it's every added back as late payments.... hopefully it's gone forever

You should be in the clear then most likely hopefully. They have no debt to assign to another collection agency since its been paid

Re: Collections!!!!!! AT&T

Fanta_Island24 — Sun, 31 Jul 2022 20:13:51 GMT

The collections item will fall off your credit report 7 years after first date of delinquent- No and, if, or but, thats the law. Even if you end up paying the collection. If the collection agency was able to verify your debt and won't do a PayForDelete, I would strongly recommend settling the debt for less. Start with negotiating at 50% of the total debt amount. Never pay them the full amount. Get everything in writing. Settling the debt for less will have the same effect on your score and report as paying it in full. Paying the debt looks better than having the collections open on your report. At the end of the day its up to you whether you pay them or let it ride off your report in 4-5 years.

Note: The debt collector you spoke over the phone may have said they don't do PayForDelete but sending them a letter via Certified Mail, stating you will settle the debt for less and have it removed from your credit might make them think again. Remember do not pay them anything until they send you a letter with the amount you agree to settle for.