T-Mobile Collection

[Anonymous]

Hello -

I have a collection agency trying to collect on an old T-Mobile cell phone bill.  The amount is less than $100.00 and I am able to pay in full; however, my question is, is it possible to contact T-Mobile directly to pay the bill and ask them if they can pull the collection back from the agency?  I really do not want to deal with try to PDF with the CA if I do not have to.  What are some of your recommendations?

Thanks!!

[RobertEG]

Has the OC also reported to your CR?  If so, are they now reporting a $0 balance, indicating that they no longer own the debt?

If they no longer own the debt, they cannot accept any payment from you.

Payment to the OC can only result in negotiating an agreement with them to delete their own reporting.  They cannot agree to "pull back" reporting done by a debt collector.

If the debt collector is the only one reporting and you seek deletion, you have no option other than to deal with them.

[Anonymous]

T-Mobile is not reporting on my credit report only the CA.  So I guess I have to deal with them   Should I do a standard DV with the CA and then try to work an angle of PFD?

[RobertEG]

Whether to first send a DV is a personal choice, depending upon your situation.

If you have issues over the amount of the debt, the name of the creditor, or their ability to obtain verification from the creditor, then you can first send a DV.

A primary consideration in deciding to send a DV is whether or not it is timely (i.e.,  whether they have sent dunning notice, and if so, whether 30 days has passed since date of the dunning notice).  If untimely, a DV imposes no cease collection bar, and they can ignore it and proceed as usual.

A secondary consideration is how soon you want/need deletion.  Sending a timely DV will impose a cease collection bar, thus putting negotiation of the debt into limbo.

If you wish to immediately begin PFD negotiations, a DV might slow down the process, pending their sending of debt verification.

[Anonymous]

That's good to know as I am still within the 30 day window from the dunning notice I received about two weeks ago.  I don't want to slow this down any more than it needs to.  I think I will write up a PFD letter and see what type of response I get.  I can still request that all communications be via mail and I am not contesting the validness of the debt.

[RobertEG]

Why do you want to limit negotiations only to the mail?

A call from them might expedite matters........just know not to admit to owing the debt.

[Anonymous]

I work in a call center, not a collection call center but as a customer service rep, and I know that phone converstations can never be 100% accurate regardless of if they are recorded, so it is my preference to only communicate via mail.  This way we both have record of what was said and there is no disputing it.  Additionally, I have taken some phone calls from this collection company (I can't think of their name right now) and they haven't been very pleasant.

[llecs]

CAs record the calls and they'll say or do anything to get you to slip up and either get you to admit to the debt or get you to pay any amount, both of which can reset SOL in some states. And if you wanted to negotiate with a CA, CA's word is never their bond. Never trust a CA so keep it via mail.

[rckstrscott]

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@llecs wrote:

CAs record the calls and they'll say or do anything to get you to slip up and either get you to admit to the debt or get you to pay any amount, both of which can reset SOL in some states. And if you wanted to negotiate with a CA, CA's word is never their bond. Never trust a CA so keep it via mail.

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Mail negotiations take inherently longer, so I don't negotiate through the mail if it is something that needs to be taken care of sooner rather than later.

-scott

[Anonymous]

Ok, so now I'm even more confussed.  I had a super score, or whatever it is called, that I purchased end of March this year and I had 8 collection accounts.  I just purchased another one today becuase I was curious to see what was on there.  I had 2 medical collections not reporting and this T-Mobile collection is now not on my most current one.  I've only went up about 19 points since then and I've take out some student loans as well.  Nothing new and paying down a JCP store card that has never been late.  So, what should I do concerning this T-Mobile collection?  If it's not reporting now, will it show up magically later?  And if I do pay it without a PFD do they have the right to report it later?