Background: About 4 years ago after my credit had been completely trashed, I started turning my life around. At that point my credit couldn't get me approved for a stick of gum. I started an uphill battle to fix many of my personal problems (my credit being one of them). Today I am finally bad debt free, in control of my finances, a decent beginner retirement fund, emergency money in the bank, no longer check to check, paying a decent rate of 7.5% on my car loan and about to pay it off 2 years early, and just closed on my first home a week ago at a rate of 5.99%....I feel like I had finally made it. I can go on and on about my blessings but I'm sure you get the picture.
Problem: Two weeks ago I got a letter in the mail from a collection agency. It appears that I still had one more debt of $650 from 4 years ago that I never made good on. It never appeared on my credit report and I never heard from the the folks I owed the money too. So I completely forgot about them in the piles of debts that I was cleaning up.
Instead of contacting me (or maybe they just couldn't find me) they waited four years then sold the debt to the collection agency. According to the letter I can satify the debt my making a lump sum payment of 50% of the balance. I am doing this immediately. But I'm afraid of them putting something on my report after I pay it (sowing it as a Paid Collection) that will damage my four years of good history. They haven't put anything on my report at this point..but I'morried that they will after I pay it and I'll have one more thing sitting on there for the next 7 years. Am I worried for nothing?
