Keeping Collection off CR

[Anonymous]

I recently received a notice from a collection agency for $100 from a cable company I used to have an account with. I moved at the end of February and was unable to get a piece of equipment back to a store before the city then state I reside in closed non-essential businesses and issued a stay-at-home order that is still in effect where I live. I received no communication from Cable Company until I got this notice from a collection agency. This doesn't appear to have been reported to any CRAs yet, and is currently not impacting my score. My goal is to keep this off my credit report.

The letter I received from the third party collection agency seems a little odd to me, as one of the repayment options is that the equipment can be returned to Cable Company for a full credit. This leads me to believe I can still deal with Cable Company directly. 

This is my first time receiving a collection notice, so I have several questions:

- Why is this not appearing on my credit report yet? Is it possible that it will never appear on my credit report if I manage to settle this matter in a timely fashion?

- What would be the best way to approach resolving this matter to ensure I don't get a collection on my credit report? My instinct is to call Cable Company and deal directly with them, agreeing to pay or return the equipment in exchange for written confirmation that my account is PIF, and that any collection attempts by third parties are invalid. I can then dispute the validity of the collection attempt and hopefully that's the end of it.

- Does that seem like a reasonable approach, or do I need to try for a PFD with Collection Agency? If so, how likely is that to work?

Any suggestions on the best way to resolve this will be greatly appreciated. I have never dealt with a collection agency before so I'm clueless and a little nervous about dealing with them. I can come up with $100, I just need to keep this derog off my credit report if that's at all possible at this point.

[gdale6]

you are in the 30 day grace period before a CA will typically report to the CRAs. I would attempt to deal with the OC so you can return the equipment and you want them to recall this collection so it never hits your CR

[Anonymous]

You have one of two options. Pay it off completely or pay them $10 (Fico ignores collections under $100). 

[rckstrscott]

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@Anonymous wrote:

You have one of two options. Pay it off completely or pay them $10 (Fico ignores collections under $100). 

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Really? Is this true? 

-scott

[FireMedic1]

@Anonymous @rckstrscott For medical bills only. All others are the same. To help standardize medical debt reporting and protect consumers' credit reports from being unduly affected by medical debt, the three major credit bureaus (Experian, TransUnion and Equifax) now employ a 180-day waiting period before medical debt appears in your credit history. This six-month grace period is designed to give you enough time to correct any errors on your bill, pay the bill or get your insurance company to pay it, figure out a payment plan or otherwise resolve the problem. By taking action within the 180 days, you can prevent medical bills from hurting your credit score.

https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/can-medical-bills-affect-credit-report/ 

[rckstrscott]

Learn something new everyday... haha

Thanks @FireMedic1 

[Anonymous]

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@FireMedic1 wrote:

@Anonymous @rckstrscott For medical bills only. All others are the same. To help standardize medical debt reporting and protect consumers' credit reports from being unduly affected by medical debt, the three major credit bureaus (Experian, TransUnion and Equifax) now employ a 180-day waiting period before medical debt appears in your credit history. This six-month grace period is designed to give you enough time to correct any errors on your bill, pay the bill or get your insurance company to pay it, figure out a payment plan or otherwise resolve the problem. By taking action within the 180 days, you can prevent medical bills from hurting your credit score.

https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/can-medical-bills-affect-credit-report/ 

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Fico 8 ignores all collections under $100. This is initially. Paying off a collection after it hits your report won't help your credit score. Fico 9 is the only version that removes a paid collection from scoring. 

[FireMedic1]

In a way yes. But UW's still see it elsewhere. In late 2008/early 2009, FICO made several significant updates to the FICO credit score model, including how low dollar collections were factored in the score calculation. In the FICO8 model, collection accounts less than $100 are excluded from the calculation. This means an $8 collection would have no impact on your credit score. It’s important to understand that this is only the case with the FICO8 version of the FICO score. 

[gdale6]

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@Anonymous wrote:

You have one of two options. Pay it off completely or pay them $10 (Fico ignores collections under $100). 

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Whether fico scores it or not is based on the original collection amount and it would be reported as 100 with a 10 payment