Paid the collection to original creditor. What's next?

[Anonymous]

Hey folks. I had a time warner bill that went into collections that recently showed on my credit report. I called Time Warner (now Spectrum) the full amount not too long ago. They accepted the payment, gave me an approval code and told me to call the collections agency to have it remove in my credit report/talk to them about since its already paid. Does this sound right? Should I call collections agency to have them remove it or should I just dispute directly to credit bureaus since it has been already paid?

Thanks!

[thornback]

Time Warner / Spectrum should  recall the debt from the collection agency on their own since you paid in full .  You can contact the collection agency directly to request removal.  Once they verify payment, there should be no issue in removing it from your reports - unless they actually own the debt.   If you've received a pay-off statement from Time Warner / Spectrum,  provide a copy of that to the collection agency to speed verification up a bit.  Disputing with the bureaus may only ensure the account is updated to reflect paid. 

[Anonymous]

I hate to rain on your parade but the CA has the right to report to the CRA's that the account is paid in full while leaving it on your reports.  Therefore when you contact them talk very humble and sweet.  

[Kree]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

I hate to rain on your parade but the CA has the right to report to the CRA's that the account is paid in full while leaving it on your reports.  Therefore when you contact them talk very humble and sweet.  

---

I believe this is incorrect.  Because the OC accepted payment, they must still own the debt. Because they accepted payment, the CA loses their collection authority.  As the CA does not have collection authority, or own the debt, they cannot report to the CRA.

[Anonymous]

---

@Kree wrote:

---

@Anonymous wrote:

I hate to rain on your parade but the CA has the right to report to the CRA's that the account is paid in full while leaving it on your reports.  Therefore when you contact them talk very humble and sweet.  

---

I believe this is incorrect.  Because the OC accepted payment, they must still own the debt. Because they accepted payment, the CA loses their collection authority.  As the CA does not have collection authority, or own the debt, they cannot report to the CRA.

---

OK thanks for thanks correction! This is great news for the poster. I'm glad I was wrong.

[RobertEG]

The debt collector did have collection authority at time of payment of the debt.

Collection authority is terminated once the debt is discharged, but it was not terminated prior to payment of the debt.

There is no requirement that a debt collector delete a collection based on its payment while they had legitimate collection authority.

In fact, CRA policy clearly instructs debt collectors not to delete their collection based on payment of the debt.

The only CRA policy instructing debt collectors to delete is if their collection authority is terminated while the debt remains unpaid.

A creditor cannot recall or terminate collection authority retroactively.

If they accept payment while the assignment of collection authority is in force, there is no ability to later recall that collection authority prior to the date of discharge of the debt.

Deletion of the collection is not required in the posted scenario, and recourse is by way of good-will request to the debt collector for their voluntary deletion.

[Anonymous]

Ok that makes my posting correct.  That's why the smart thing is to get a PFD before paying.  I have in the past made the mistake of paying without a PFD.