Question regarding Verizon account

[Anonymous]

In 2015 I had a Verizon account go into collections/charge-off.  The account  was sold to Jefferson Capital.  I sent 2 attempts for a PFD to Jefferson a month and a half ago with no response, however the entries from Verizon and Jefferson are now gone from all 3 of my credit reports. 

I am trying to see if there is any further steps I should take given that I have not received any response from Jefferson.  I read a similar post that stated that in a case like this, Verizon should be contacted and paid immediately if possible to prevent it from being re-entered on the credit report.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[Anonymous]

I'll be curious to hear what others say (who will have more experience with collections and PFDs than I do).  One thing that may help the other folks advise you is to get a little clearer what has happened thus far.

Specifically:

(1)  Have you actually paid the collection?  You mention that you contacted Jefferson twice regarding a proposed PFD, but it is not clear whether you then paid it off when you were unable to get that PFD agreement.

(2)  Did you at any point dispute the accounts?  This might also explain why they might have disappeared.

A timeline of events might help, e.g....

When did you become aware that the account had been sold to Jefferson? 

When did you make your first attempt to discuss your PFD proposal?  Did you reach out to them in writing or by phone or through an electronic system? 

When was the second time?  (Same questions)

If you paid the collection at some point, when did that happen?

The "when" questions could be answered with a Month/Day (best guess).

Again, I am no expert at this sort of thing, but other people know more and can likely best help you if they understand what you have done thus far and when.

[RobertEG]

If a debt collector has theri collection authority terminated, either by termination of assigned collection authority, or if they were the owner and sold the debt, they are instructed under CRA reporting policy (and not any formal requirement of the FCRA) to delete their reported collection.  That CRA policy was implemented because a new debt collector can then obtain collection authority and immediately report their own collection, which would result in two collections simultaneously reporting on the same debt.  By deletion of a collection upon termination of collection authority, that possibility is avoided.

Verizon is well known for terminating collection assignment to a first debt collector and reassigned periodically to another debt collector.

That begs the question as to whehter you are sure that Jefferson Cap actually owned the debt, or merely had assigned collection authority.

If Verizon still owns the debt, you can contact them directly and offer to pay before they reassign, thus preventing reporting of a new collection.  However, if Jefferson Cap actually owned the debt, then Verizon is out of the picture, and you cannot pay them, period.

Verizon usually does not sell their delinquent debts, so chances are that they never actually sold the debt to Jefferson Cap ......

[Anonymous]

1) I have NOT paid the collection for Verizon.
2) I called Jefferson around 2 months ago to discuss a PFD, they said they do not do them.
I decided the same week to send them a certified pfd letter anyway. I heard no reply after 3 weeks and sent the same letter again, also certified RR.

It’s been 2 weeks since the 2nd pfd letter went out, I rechecked my my credit reports this week and both Verizon and Jefferson are now completely off of all 3 Credit Reports.
Jefferson and Verizon were both on my credit report 2 months ago.

RobertEG- thanks for the reply!
How would I find out who actually owns the debt?

[Anonymous]

Should I call Verizon and ask a representative who owns the debt?  Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Are you planning to buy a house -- or something like that?  Something where, if the collection reappeared a week before closing, it could have a devastating effect on you?  If so, I can understand the desire to get this ironed out ASAP .

If there's nothing like that coming up, however, you might want to consider doing nothing for 3-4 months.  Maybe you have gotten lucky and the collection has somehow been removed for good.  By calling people to discuss a debt that no longer appears on your reports, you have a good chance of reminding them of it and having it put back on -- not to mention coming after you legally to force payment.  This is sometimes in these forums called Poking The Bear.

By adopting a wait and see approach, you may save yourself the cost of the debt and the bad mark on your report.

A few things that should be part of your decision:

     * How much is the debt for?  If it is for < $99 then there is no impact on FICO 8.

     * What is the SOL for this debt?  (That doesn't affect whether it appears on your reports, but does matter as far as whether they can sue you for it.)