Who To Pay : Original Creditor vs The Collection Agency

[RobertEG]

It is not, in my opinion, always best to pay the OC rather than the debt collector.

If seeking deletion of a collection, only the reporting party (the debt collector) can agree to deletion of its reporting.

If you obtaian a PFD agreement, the collection is gone.

Offering to pay the OC is an around-the-barn process that requires the OC to first terminate any collection assignment given to the debt collector prior to accepting payment.

The OC presumably hired  the debt collector for a reason, and termination of that assignment may not be accepted.

Even if the OC terminates the assignment prior to accepting payment, there is still no provision of the FDCPA or FCRA that rhen requires the debt collector to delete their collectin.  Deletion then becomes only an internal reporting policy of the CRAs.  You may still have a fight with the debt collector or need to file a dispute with the CRA to obtain that polcy detletion.

[thesecondtimearound]

^^Very interesting.

In my case, the OC wasn't reporting, but the CA was. I paid the OC immediately upon noticing the neg rep and now the CA is reporting PIF. Can I dispute this mark with the bureaus since I never actually paid the CA? If I do, is it best to wait? It seems like disputes are more successful when they aren't so fresh.

[RobertEG]

No, you cannot dispute the update by the debt collector to show that the amount under their collection is now $0.

They are required under FCRA 623(a)(2) to have promptly updated their reporting to show that the balance under collection is now $0.

They still had collection authority when the debt was paid.

Under such conditions, the CRA credit reporting manual clearly instructs that they are NOT to delete their reported collection.

A dispute to the CRA would be asking that they reiinvestigate and delete for a reason contrary to their official policy.

[thesecondtimearound]

Not the news i was hoping for, but I sincerely appreciate your knowledgable reply. I still might try closer to year-end, however. Heck, if I don't try, that baddie defintely aint budging, so I'm not losing much by giving it a shot lol :-)

[RobertEG]

You could, in fact, be losing by filing a dispute.

While CRA p;olicy instructs debt collectors not to delete based payment of the debt, there is nothing legally preventing them from doing so.

They are not requried, should they decide to delete, to provide a reason to the CRA, so a simple reporting of a deletion would not be questioned.

Should you file a dispute asserting that their reporting is inaccurate, it may be viewed as antagonistic, reducing chances for a future good-will deleiton on their part.

Personally, I would not advise filing of an unsupported dispute.