Verizon collections. Need help understanding and what to do

[mjkcredit]

I had a wireless router that was not confirmed returned and wound up getting a collections for the cost of it $192 back in July 2024.  My understanding was to just leave it as is, not pay it and let it age out was the best case scenario.  Am I doing the right thing ?  Should I just continue to leave it or attempt to pay the collections agency?  I fear if I do pay it that will restart the aging process.  It is showing closed on the main page of my credit report on Credit Karma but the accounts page when I opened it up it shows that is in collections/charge off.   What should I do ?

[AndrewF]

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@mjkcredit wrote:

I had a wireless router that was not confirmed returned and wound up getting a collections for the cost of it $192 back in July 2024.  My understanding was to just leave it as is, not pay it and let it age out was the best case scenario.  Am I doing the right thing ?  Should I just continue to leave it or attempt to pay the collections agency?  I fear if I do pay it that will restart the aging process.  It is showing closed on the main page of my credit report on Credit Karma but the accounts page when I opened it up it shows that is in collections/charge off.   What should I do ?

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Paid or unpaid it'll have the same effect on FICO 8. I'd say at this point save your money.

$192 isn't enough for them to sue you.

You could dispute it on all three bureaus and say you returned the router. Sometimes it just falls off. But include any evidence if you can.

AT&T sent my mom to some sort of "AI collection company" and they never responded and it fell off. They claimed that after they ported all her numbers out that they continued to bill her for lines that did not exist.

[mjkcredit]

The money isn't the concern. I just wanna make sure that it's not continually renewing itself every month with me not doing anything about it. It was closed with Verizon in July 2024 but it's still showing as a collection charge off. I wanna make sure that it's not restarting the clock every month with the way things are

[AndrewF]

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@mjkcredit wrote:

The money isn't the concern. I just wanna make sure that it's not continually renewing itself every month with me not doing anything about it. It was closed with Verizon in July 2024 but it's still showing as a collection charge off. I wanna make sure that it's not restarting the clock every month with the way things are

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That's not how it works. The account is on your report already as a collection. It will have a Date of First Delinquency, which is the date the account became delinquent and then was not paid. 7 years after that date, it falls off.

Paying it doesn't delete it or get you a better FICO score (except on FICO 9 and 10, which most lenders don't use, and even then they can still consider that the collection account is there, they're not bound to approve you because your FICO score doesn't consider the account even if they use that model).

For the most part, paying it just means that collection activity should cease (again, they likely won't sue over <$200), and it should update as a "paid" collection, but that won't help most of your credit scores or get the account off your file sooner.

Collection accounts don't "renew" just by sitting there. Also, delinquent debt has a "statute of limitations" that varies by state, usually 5-6 years, where unless they can trick you into admitting it's yours, it's too late to initiate a lawsuit.

Again, that's separate from a credit report. 

Me, personally. I'd just leave it alone or dispute it and say you sent the modem back. It's not worth paying at this point because it's a nuisance amount, the damage is done, and they blew the wad.

[LIGHTNIN]

Sorry for the late reply, but here's my 2 cents. 

Understand you just want this  $192 CA off your CR, to improveyourCS.  I suggest to do a PFD.  Get the CA, send you an agreement 1st in writing, agreeing to delete if FIL or less than full amount.  See link below in my siggy. Good luck.