Hiya,
We don't have enough info from you to be able to tell, honestly.
Suppose they are trying to collect on a debt that's already passed the applicable reporting time according to law? Then they cannot report it because the reporting statute of limitations would have expired.
I am also curious about something...you said that they told you that you must either dispute it or pay it by August 2. I'm interested in their exact wording on that. Transworld Systems has recently found itself on the wrong end of a class action lawsuit because their validation notices did not state that the consumer must provide written notice of dispute within that 30 day time. This is just one of the many headackes that Transworld has earned itself. They were ordered to pay $2.5 million by the CFPB for filing false affidavits in lawsuits to collect student loan debts. They have literally thousands of complaints against them, so any time I need to deal with a debt collector like this, I look at everything they have done and make sure I account for any violations of law that I can find.
They recently agreed to pay a $1.56 million settlement for a class action suit involving them exceeding the number of times they could call MA residents within a 7 day period.
My personal rule of thumb--I won't ever pay a debt collector under normal circumstances unless three conditions are met--
1--that they can show I am responsible for the account in question
2--that they can show they are legally entitled to collect it
3--that they can properly verify the amount they are trying to collect.
If they cannot do all three of those, they don't get money from me.
