Need some help/advice- First Premier CO and CA

[rbtextreme]

I have a CO from FP- 2008. A few months ago I received a letter from First National Collection offering a settlement on the account. FP is reporting on my CR's but the CA isn't . I'm not sure what steps I should take.. I tried paying FP directly but they wouldn't accept it and kept trying to send me to the CA. I was thinking about trying to work with the CA to see if they will accept payment and not report to the CB's. 5 months until closing so I need this to stay off my reports until then. Any help is greatly appreciated. What should I do?

[RobertEG]

it appears that an unpaid, delinquent debt is already in your credit file by way of  the charge-off reported by the OC.

So if a mortgage lendor requires payment of bad debt prior to final approval, it appears the issue is already before them, and may not be an option.

Reporting of a collection will, of course, do damage to your FICO score, but wont raise an additional issue of unpaid, bad debt that is not already in your report.

The OC could be refusing to accept payment, either with or without a PFD condition, because they no longer own the debt, or because their agreement with the debt collector sets forth that all payments must be made through them.  Their option.

If the mortgage lendor will require payment, then at least avoiding further score damage would be some salvage.

[JohnPTEX]

First Premier is very different than other companies.  They do not sell the debt.  The debt is collected by a third party but they actually retain the debt.  As such, FP will continue to report the unpaid balance, but WIL NOT accept payment directly to them.  You generally have to go through their collector (most times First National).  This is why no one ever gets a PFD from FP!  That is also why the collection company never reports.  There have been numerous success stories with paying a reduced sum and then GWing FP.

[Anonymous]

I spoke to FP last week about 2 co accounts I had with them, they tried to refer me to a ca but I told them according to my report they still owned my accounts and also told them I haven't received any collection letters so I would just want to deal with them and they agreed and gave me a settlement offer on both and would put paid in full and they sent me letters 2 days later with all the info in writing. Next step for me is sending gw's since they wouldn't agree to a deletion on the phone.

[injustifiiable]

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@Anonymous wrote:
I spoke to FP last week about 2 co accounts I had with them, they tried to refer me to a ca but I told them according to my report they still owned my accounts and also told them I haven't received any collection letters so I would just want to deal with them and they agreed and gave me a settlement offer on both and would put paid in full and they sent me letters 2 days later with all the info in writing. Next step for me is sending gw's since they wouldn't agree to a deletion on the phone.

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Hopefully they will GW it for you...FPB is a hard nut to crack. I have a baddie from them but it's gonna fall off this fall so I'm not even gonna bother with it...

[rbtextreme]

The damage is already done with FP reporting... I'll pay it off right before closing so it doesn't effect my score.

As long as First National doesn't start reporting i'll be fine. The debt is only for $480... In all reality i'd pay them double to not report..

Anyone else been in this situation?

[casmith1980]

FP never used a CA to collect my debt, but it was CO'd on my credit report.  Finally I decided to just pay the balance in full directly to FP and be done with it.  I didn't see any increase or decrease in my score.  It does feel good to not have a balance reporting

I'll GW them until it falls off my reports!

[RobertEG]

JohnPTex's post regarding how FP does business raises some questions in my mind.

They apparently have a normal policy, possibly also incorporated into their business agreements with their debt collectors, not to accept payment directly from a consumer.

That I understand.  What I dont understand is why that would be a reason for a debt collector not to report their collection activities to the CRAs,

Reporting collections to consumer credit files has become one of the most effective practices used by debt collectors to get consumer attention.

Why would they not report?  I doubt that not having to respond to PFD requests would be a reason, as they can just deposit those in their dumpster.  And most consumers are not even aware of the PFD process.

Does this really seem to be the standard practice of debt collectors assigned collection authority from FP?

[JohnPTEX]

I had a conversation at length with FP two Fridays ago to settle my account.  They would not speak to me or accept any payment regarding the account other than to give me the details of the balance.  Instead they sent me to an "affiliate" First National.  First National told me that they are merely the collection arm for FP and that they do not buy the debt from FP, but simply collect it..  I asked what the disposition of my account would be after settlement and was told by First National that it is entirely up to FP as the owner of the debt.  This is my experience with FP through various conversations, not really up for debate, at least as to my particular circumstance.  I was told hands down that a PFD would be impossible given the position of cellection versus reporting.  I'm more than happy to give anyone the number to First National if they think it may help their situation.

[poohda23]

I have two accounts with FP and emailed them about a PFD.  They would not accept the offer I submitted but stated that they would settle for 50%.  The email reply stated that they do not do PFD.