Here's my situation in short:
-I have a $1,400 account in collections...old credit card
-I've been paying $50/month for a couple years but the law firm that was handling the collections closed shop and the debt was assigned to a new firm (still with the same company that owns the debt, Midland Funding)
-I was never notified of the switch but when I noticed my last couple checks weren't cashed I looked into it and found out about the situation. I also recently received a notice from the new firm that they now were collecting for Midland.
-I got a credit alert about 10 days ago that Midland reported I was 30 days late on my payments. Although nothing seems to be showing up in reports, the alert is there. Weird.
I want to call Midland (I called the law firm and they said they just make payment arrangements, collect payments, and negotiate settlements) to offer to negotiate a pay for delete here. When I go to Midland's site it shows two other debts that are old and not on my credit reports. I'm worried that if I call (even to just discuss my $1,400 debt) those two old debts will again become active and maybe even hit my credit reports. Also, concerned I'll then be harrassed by Midland about these.
I've got a few questions:
-If I call about the $1,400 am I then at risk of "re-activating" the other two debts and/or having them hit credit reports or getting calls from midland about them?
-Is hoping for a pay for delete settlement realistic?
-If I offer about 1/3 of the total amount owed for a pay for delete might they accept, or is that a pipe dream?
-Finally, if they accept, what sort of documentation should I ask for before I make the payment to them.
Any help, advice, suggestions or just answers to these questions would be greatly apprecaited. Sorry for such a long post but it's a bit of a complicated situation. Thank you for any assistance you can give me here. Would really like to get this off my report as I am still rebuilding my credit.
