Sent to collections...please help. thx

[Anonymous]

hello all My wife and I are in the process of fixing our credit score. She had an account with T-Mobile for 5 years then we switched to Verizon. We ported the cell number from tmobile to Verizon on 9/4/2008. I guess once you port the number it automatically closes the acct. There was still a balance on the acct for T-Mobile, last payment made was on 7/30/2008. On the 9/12/2008 we get a letter from a collection agency trying to collect for the balance owed. We never got a call from T-Mobile in regards to trying to collect the past due. If we did we definitely would have paid it off. We should have taken care of this once we changed carriers but some how it fell through the cracks. We really don't want this to hit her credit score. Is there anything we can do to try to get this off my wife’s credit report? Thanks in advance -george

[Anonymous]

That is awfully fast to send you to collections.

Call T-mobile now and pay them over the phone today....then if they won't do it for you, send a letter to the Collection Agency stating the balance has been paid to original creditor.

I'm 100% sure that right now it is NOT on your credit report as Collection Agencies have to give you 30 days to dispute.

[Anonymous]

1111mel, thanks for the info. "That is awfully fast to send you to collections." That's what I thought. Should I get anything in writing from T-Mobile? "I'm 100% sure that right now it is NOT on your credit report as Collection Agencies have to give you 30 days to dispute." Is that 30 days from when the CA sent the letter? Thanks again

[Anonymous]

I called T-Mobile and asked them why my wife's acct was sent to collections. The operator told me that this is done automatically by there computer system and that it was 30 days past due. She said that if I pay the full amount that nothing is going to hit my wifes credit report. I asked if this is something they can put in writing and she told me that they do not have the means to do that. I have not paid them yet just because I know it's best to get these things in writing. I just need some advice on how to proceed. Should I just pay them and let the CA know that it has been taken care of? Or should I get something in writing from T-Mobile stating that this will not hit my wife's credit report. Thanks again in advance -george

[ralbusta]

This happened to me with Verizon. I'm pretty sure that your account is in internal collections since t-mobile is still willing to accept your payment. FYI - i paid verizon after getting a notice like this being 60 days late, never hit my CR. I would pay t-mobile and be done with it.