To Poke or Not Poke the Bear?

Anonymous · ‎06-20-2018

I need the experts, so naturally I came to you all.

I have a medical collection for $344 reporting on my TU only. I called the OC and they verified the debt as mine, but wouldn't let me pay them directly. I was given a phone number of the debt collectors they use and told to pay them. I called the number just to see what the name of the company was - Pendrick Capital Partners. My TU report says Nationwide Recovery Systems.

I considered disputing since the CA on my report is different from the CA the OC says owns the debt, but...
- I'm in Texas and the SOL is 4 years. My debt occured on August 25, 2014 - so not quite 4 years and I'm worried I run the risk of being sued.
- I'm afraid the debt will be verified (can 2 CA's own the same debt?) and they will in turn start reporting to all 3 agencies.

Since I am in Texas, I considered sending a Texas Finance Code DV letter, but most likely the debt will be validated, they will start reporting to all 3 agencies, and I will have a dispute comment on my report.

If I want to offer a PFD and know the OC won't work with me, should I first contact NRC or PCP? After researching both companies, it doesn't look like I'll have much luck with a PFD anyway, though I am willing to try.

Or, should I just let sleeping dogs lie, deal with the one baddie on TU only, and let it fall off in 3 years?
My only other derog is a paid charge off on all 3 reports, but I received an email this morning with a copy of the letter they sent the CRA's requesting deletion. Once that goes through, my EQ and EX will be squeaky clean.
Any and all advice appreciated.

pipeguy · ‎06-20-2018

I'd probably just leave it alone until they call you - I'm sure they are aware of the August 25th date. If/when they call you can offer to pay in full for the original amount of $344 for a PFD. Chances are they will have inflated the balance "fees and interest" but you can always offer a settlement amount. Frankly, a 4-year-old medical collection is not going to hurt your credit report very much and you do have a bit more leverage after the SOL runs out to "settle" (I believe in paying my debts, but not highly inflated ones or where paying it restarts the process).

cjane1 · ‎06-20-2018

How do you find out which collection agency has the right to report?

Anonymous · ‎06-20-2018

@pipeguy wrote:
I'd probably just leave it alone until they call you - I'm sure they are aware of the August 25th date. If/when they call you can offer to pay in full for the original amount of $344 for a PFD. Chances are they will have inflated the balance "fees and interest" but you can always offer a settlement amount. Frankly, a 4-year-old medical collection is not going to hurt your credit report very much and you do have a bit more leverage after the SOL runs out to "settle" (I believe in paying my debts, but not highly inflated ones or where paying it restarts the process).

I am with you. Now that I know it is my debt, I am willing to pay the original amount. I just want to make sure I am paying the right company! I for sure won't do anything until the four year mark has passed.

Anonymous · ‎06-20-2018

@cjane1 wrote:
How do you find out which collection agency has the right to report?

Yes, that is my questions exactly! What if I pay NRS and they no longer own the debt? Am I out that money? Then PCP still has the right to collect and report? So frustrating.

Anonymous · ‎06-20-2018

This sucker is apparently holding my TU score back by like 60 points!

pipeguy · ‎06-20-2018

@Anonymous wrote:
This sucker is apparently holding my TU score back by like 60 points!

I'd be surprised if its a 60 point ding for a 4-year-old $344 medical bill.

Anonymous · ‎06-22-2018

FWIW, I used to work in medical billing and on a few occasions received payments via check on accounts that had been sent to collections. Because our payment mailing address was a bank owned box, we had no way to intercept payment before it cleared. Since we already had the money, we'd update our system to reverse the write-off to collections, post the payment & notify the CA that the account had been cleared and they would delete the account. We had to cover the CA fees but the net payment was significantly higher than if the CA had collected.

TL;DR Send the OC payment. It may reverse everything and it seems you intend to pay anyway.