CA vs. OC question

[whodatnation2]

I have a old cell phone bill thats like 2 years old. A CA had reported it on my CR but now its gone. My question is.....if I can pay the OC, can a new CA report it on my CR after I have paid the OC? How could they report something that 1) has been paid...and 2) they never reported to CR or even sent a dunning notice. Thanks for the help

[RobertEG]

The answer is yes, it is possible, but it is unlikely.

The key technically is whether the OC has referred the debt to a new debt collector prior to your date of payment.

Once a debt collector has received collection authority, they are entitled to report that fact to the CRA.

However, reporting is primarily a collection tool for a debt collector.  Even if they have received collection referral prior to your payment, if they become aware of termination of that authority by way of your satisfaction of the debt, they would have no business reason to report. 

Reporting would have possible detriments to them, such as time and effort in anwering any potential comsumer disputes, and would require monitoring of their reporting to update and maintain the accuracy of anything reported.  It would thus actually be a hindrance for them to report.  But yes, they could.

Does the OC still own the debt?