A closed collection simply means that the debt collector is no longer seeking collection of delinquent debt.
That status normally occurs because the debt is paid, and thus there is no longer any Open collection activity.
However, a collection can be closed to further active collection in other ways, such as the debt collector owned the debt and sold it to another, or the debt collector only had assigned collection authority, and the owner terminated that assigned authority for some reason.
A collection closed due to the debt having been paid is not subject to deletion based on that fact.
CRA policy clearly instructs debt collectors not to delete based on payment of the debt, and thus closed collection status.
However, if the collection is closed due to termination of collection authorty, either by sale of the debt or by cancellation of assigned authority, and the debt remains unpaid, CRA policy instructs debt collectors to delete their reported collection.
The basis for that CRA policy is that if the debt remains unpaid, a new debt collector can acquire collection authority at any time, and immediately report their own collection, which would result, if the prior collection were not removed, in two collections simultaneously reporting on the same debt.
The issue of disputing to remove a closed collection thus depends on WHY the collection was closed, and whether the debt remains unpaid.
Do you have unpaid collections where you know that the debt collector no longer has active collection authority?
