First PFD success!? Confusing acceptance letter

[SLbaddie]

I recently sent PFD letters to three collection agencies.  One letter was to UCB collections in regards to two medical COs.  Today I received four letters from UCB stating that the accounts "have been cancelled from collections with our agency.  We will no longer pursue you for payment" and they have "requested to be removed from your credit file. Please accept our apology for any inconvenience this error may have caused."  Sounds like a great outcome and I was initially really excited! What has me confused is that I haven't actually sent them any money yet.  Is this normal?  Should I still send them the payment as I planned or do I have to worry that they've actually sold my accounts or something along those lines.  

This is my first post, I've been lurking for a few weeks. A huge thank you to everyone on theses forums for the giving me the knowledge and confidence to go about cleaning up my credit.  I've always became too overwhelmed to do anything before I found these forums.

[llecs]

It's possible they sold the debt prior to your PFD, or maybe they decided to give up. Sometimes CAs will see the "DISPUTE" within the standard PFD found in here without understanding the intent of the letter and give up. I wouldn't pay them if they no longer consider themselves the owner of the debt. I would pull all 3 reports frequently to look for softs to see if anyone is sniffing around.

ETA....I'd also check with the OC to see if I could pay them.

[DaBears]

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@llecs wrote:

It's possible they sold the debt prior to your PFD, or maybe they decided to give up. Sometimes CAs will see the "DISPUTE" within the standard PFD found in here without understanding the intent of the letter and give up. I wouldn't pay them if they no longer consider themselves the owner of the debt. I would pull all 3 reports frequently to look for softs to see if anyone is sniffing around.

ETA....I'd also check with the OC to see if I could pay them.

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@+1 @ llecs, I would call the OC and see if you can PFD or settle.

[SLbaddie]

Thanks for your responses!  I looked at every post relating to PFD letters before I sent mine so I opted for VERY brief, non-threatening letters that did not include language about disputing or include deadlines for responses. 

I do have a question about contacting OCs,  I have read a lot of posts from people here who have had success with that strategy, but I don't understand it.  If my debts have been sold to CAs, doesn't that mean that the OC no longer has the ability to take payment?

[llecs]

On occasion some CAs will pass the debt back to the OC. Worth asking them. At least there's a chance they could tell you where the debt would go to next.