I had an $850 collection from Verizon from December 2022 that was sold to IC System a few months ago. They tacked on additoinal fees and my new balandce was $1,015. I started by sending a written letter via USPS Certified Mail requesting debt verification as I really had no knowledge of the account. I also had called Verizon several times in an attempt to have them recall the debt back in house, but they refused. IC System initially hit me with a settlement for $549. I continued to call Verizon and on one of my last attempts, they let it slip that their contract with IC System was for a 6-month term and was expiring February 10th - finally, some leverage. Armed with this info, I called IC System and initially was told they couldn't go any lower than $450. I was persistant with my offer of $200 and once I mentioned their contract was almost up, they almost imeditaly accepted. After a few weeks of negotiations, I was able to settle for 80% off. They wouldn't send me an agreement before I paid, but I felt $200 was worth the risk after I confirmed multiple times on the phone that this was a settlement. It was a stressful process, but persistence and strategic timing paid off! Now I am appealing to Verizon in an attempt to get the item removed from my report alltogether.
