Settlement Offer From Afni

[bigtim]

I have an old phone bill from Verizon, (the amount I do dispute but that's not the issue right now) from 2004. It has never been reported to the CRAs. I received a collection letter a few months ago from Debt Recovery Solutions, I think, and I called them, told them I was in dispute over the bill/amount, etc. because of the circumstances at the time (long story), and told them I did not agree on the amount - send me itemized proof, etc. The girl said, OK. I never heard another word from them.

Yesterday, I received a "Settlement Offer" from Afni, Inc. (dated 1/16/10 but I received yesterday) about the same bill. The OC they have listed is Bell Atlantic - I had my service through Verizon. I googled BA, and it came up Verizon - so either BA owns Verizon or vice-versa - doesn't really matter to me. Anyhow, Afni lists the total balance of $87.52 (which is less than what DRS tried to collect some months back), and the "settlement offer" is for half - $43.76. The offer states, "Once paid, our records will reflect the status of your account with Afni, Inc. as settled in full."

Now I don't have a problem paying this and be done - I don't want them to report. I don't really want to bother with the DV, PFD, etc. process if I can just pay and be done - it's not worth the bother to me, for $43, even if they can't verify, etc. But, I don't want to open a can of worms either... I don't want to pay Afni and have it pop up again with DRS or even Verizon, etc.

Should I call or email Afni, asking them to assure me they own the debt and if I pay the settlement, it will never show up on my CR from anyone - Afni, Verizon, DRS, etc...? I want to get this done if I can, but I don't want to mess it up either.

Thanks in advance for the help.

[Anonymous]

i never pay collection agencies at all

especially when the origional creditor keeps changing

i have one listing that the origional creditor keeps changing and i never had service with any of these places and some i never even heard of and the service dates the account was supposed to be opened also keeps changing

i would definately not pay until you get answers who you actually owe and verify the right amount since collection agencies like to add all these extra balances to get people that think they are settling for a good deal to actually pay a lot more than they owe

it is all the scams collection agencies do that i will never make a payment to a collection agency

good thing i have my only income as social security disability 

adding collection agencies have problems actually telling the origional creditor you did pay so the origional creditor keeps sending to agency after agency until there is no more left on earth to send to so your origional 43 becomes collections for thousands with all the multiple listings for the same account being collected by multiple collection agencies 

Message Edited by jamieg25 on 01-26-2010 04:16 PM

[llecs]

OP, it's likely DRS sold the debt to AFNI or returned the debt to Verizon who them passed it along to AFNI. Anyway, I would contact Verizon and ask them who owns the debt. It could be that they still own it. If they don't own it, then I would DV then send a Pay-for-not-reporting to AFNI. If AFNI owns the debt, they could possibly report if paid. I remember reading a case of that from them here recently.

[bigtim]

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@llecs wrote:
I would contact Verizon and ask them who owns the debt. It could be that they still own it.

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Thanks llecs. If I contact Verizon, and they do own the debt, can I offer to pay them to insure they don't report and have them contact Afni to inform them it's been paid, and then assume Afni can't report it thereafter?

[RobertEG]

Telecomm debt is covered under a federal statute of limitations of two years from date of first default on the debt, so there is no threat of enforceable legal against you at this time.  So you have the clout, they dont.,  That is probably why they have not posted to your CR

My advice.  Dont just settle and pay.  And dont call them!

Simply send the CA a letter that offers payment of the debt in exchange for their agreement to never post to a CRA, and to accept your payment as total discharge of the debt.

If they accept it, the debt is discharged once you then send them a check, and there is no post to your CR, and the OC can do nothing since the debt was discharged through their representattive, the CA to whom they assigned collection authority,.

Just get acceptance of a PFD offer, in wriiting, and in advance, from the CA.

That will end it.

Message Edited by RobertEG on 01-27-2010 02:38 AM

[bigtim]

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@RobertEG wrote:

Paying, in and of itself,   wont remove it fron your CR, and thus from FICO scoring.

It's not reporting yet, so I'm OK there for now, but I don't want them to report...

Telecomm debt is covered under a federal statute of limitations of two years from date of first default on the debt, so there is no threat of enforceable legal against you at this time.  So you have the clout, they dont.,

I've read about this 2y SOL on here before, I thought it was for cell service. Mine was a hardline (landline). Are you saying all is covered?

My advice.  Dont just settle and pay.  And dont call them!

Simply send them a letter that offers payment of the debt in exchange for their agreement to never post to a CRA, and to accept your payment as total discharge of the debt.

Are you referring to the CA? I'm a bit apprehensive about contacting them period, I was thinking of contacting Verizon first as llecs mentioned, but I don't want to stir up Verizon either if Afni does own this now..

If they accept it, the debt is discharged once you then send them a check, and there is no post to your CR, and the OC can do nothing since the debt was discharged through their representattive, the CA to whom they assigned collection authority,.

Just get acceptance of a PFD offer, in wriiting, and in advance, from the CA.

That will end it.

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Thanks for advice Robert, I was hoping you would chime in as well. Another thing that I finally remembered, after posting the original request for advice, is that I'm in NY, and a PAID bill must be removed from your report after 5 years. So I could use this scenario if it came to that, but I don't want them to post at all and then have to go through the disputing/waiting game to wait for removal.

Thanks again to both of you for the advice, I do appreciate.