**Disclaimer – Debtprison.net does not administer legal or financial advice. The contents of this website are my opinions on collection agencies and how to deal with them. Nothing on this website should be interpreted as legal advice or council. No opinions on this website should be used to replace the advice of your financial advisor or your legal council.
When possible pay the original creditor and bypass the collection agency. If your creditor has ‘assigned’ your defaulted debt over to a collection agency for collection… call the creditor and ask if you can just pay them directly. If they agree to accept payments then pay them and eliminate the third party. See also, How to deal with collection agencies.
Dear Debt Prison,
Here is my situation. We are overdue on a fairly large American Express bill. We owe the money but can’t pay it off right away. We are not disputing the fact that we owe the money.
We have been sent over to a collections agency, NCO Financial Systems. I do not yet know if they have purchased the bad debt or if AMEX has just assigned the case to them. If I call the AMEX number on the back of my card, I get an automated message that I need to talk with NCO Financial.
Of course, NCO Financial wants all of the money and they want to setup a payment plan of something like 30% down and some other payments. None of this has been in writing, just phone conversations.
I was able to talk with someone at AMEX. They said that they could NOT accept any payment plans since NCO was handling the account now but they will still accept any payments that we make to them. So, while they can’t officially agree to any sort of payment plan, they will accept any payments that we send them.
This is interesting! I basically said to AMEX, “Well, if I just keep sending you money, I will eventually payoff my account and I won’t owe anyone any more money, right” “Yes”. I can still login to the AMEX site and see all of my account information.
So I wonder if it’s in our own best interest to just keep stringing along NCO while continuing to make payments to AMEX for the next 6 months until the debt is paid? I am sending NCO a debt validation letter. We know we have to pay AMEX, but I don’t have to pay NCO until they can prove to me that I need to pay THEM, not AMEX. It will probably only take 6 months or less to pay off the debt.
Steve
Debt Prison response…
Good question. Yes NCO has been ‘assigned’ the debt by Amex. I would continue to make scheduled monthly payments to Amex and no longer speak with or have any correspondence with NCO. You owe the money to Amex, and if possible, I would pay them. Have you still been receiving monthly statements from Amex?
I would try and avoid dealing with a third party if at all possible. By ignoring NCO Financial you eliminate the need for a third party and any corresponding paperwork they’ll bring to the table. However, you should keep all correspondence from both NCO Financial and American Express just in case there is a problem on down the road.
NCO Financial may ‘accidently’ place negative strikes on your credit report. If so, you’ll need all paperwork to correct your credit report – if the negative strikes are inaccurate!
Discuss this article and meet new people at Debt Prison Forums.
Related Articles
* Will Debt Follow you Abroad?
* Restrictions on Wage Garnishment for Debt Collection.
* The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
* Reasons not to file Bankruptcy or Settle Your Debts
* Can you go to jail for not paying your debts?
* How to settle your debts on your own
