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!
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I have one bill collection angency that was after me for a while. My wife is decessed as of 7/15/07 and she ran up a bill at a raidaolagy that i did not know and plus I had a bill from a hospital in 2004 and I moved in this place where I am at now in 2009 and i want”ed to try to get a loan for a car but could not do it because of my credit history then I started to look into theses ones that had show”ed up on the report that the bank had print”ed off I paid off a couple of these credititors that were on the history report that was print”ed off but not the big bill my wife had from raidolagy which is still out there. I sill can not get a loan yet because of my history, what can I do in this type of situation. Please let me know what I can do about this so I can start getting a loan or loans. Thanks vary much
Alyssa,
Never send a check until you FULLY understand who these people are. I’d wait and see if anything else comes up. I swear let me know because I’ll call these folks myself and tell them I am your financial adviser. This stuff makes me sick.
Barry
I paid a bill over two years ago to an emergency facility. I paid the bill late but by the third letter of statement. About a month later I recieved a bill from accounts recievable. They want me to pay them $25 dollars for service that they didn’t do. I never recieved a final notice from the emergency facility of a true bill from the debt collections about the bill.When I spoke to someone they said I owe and I did send a check that was never cashed. What should I do? Not sure if this is a scam or if I truely owe this.
I have three debts totaling about $4500, all original debts are on my credit report, but nothing from the credit agencies; I’ve recently come into a few thousand dollars, not common for me, so I thought I’d take care of my debt. I figured I’d pay off the smallest in full and then do a down payment thing to reduce the amount owed on the rest and then get on a payment plan. I recieved a letter in the mail that my largest debt was purchased by a collection agency and that I need to call them to pay or make arrangements, so I did, but now that I’ve done more research I feel that might have been a mistake. I’ve read that I should have contacted the original creditors first, then if needed the collection agency and via writing first, not phone, offered a lump sum not get on a payment plan, asked them to validate the debt and some other stuff, mostly though that I should have gotten everything in writing. It’s safe to say that I am worried and confused. Here is what I discussed and agreed to via phone with the agency … $400 down payment on the 24th of this month, then $100 every month after starting in March. They reduced
the debt from 2800 to 2500 and there would be no interest if I made payments by checking account, didn’t give that info, instead of money orders. I guess I’m wondering what I should do now, is it too late to ask that the debt be validated since I already acknowledged it when I called, or to ask for the terms we agreed to over the phone be sent to me in a written statement before I make my down payment. Can I renegotiate all together to offer a lump sum and have the debt be considered paid in full? How do I know the agency will tell the original creditors that I paid the debt so that it gets fixed on my credit report? Can they ask for my bank account information and do I have to give it to them?
And receipts, can I ask for a receipt for every payment I make in the future? I’m a little lost and still have my other two debts to tackle,
but I’d like to handle them with a little more knowledge to get the best result, so any information would be appreciated.
can NCO send anyone who has a debt with them to jail if not paid?
I have a debt that has been turned over to a collection agency. I asked the collection agency if I could pay the debt off directly. They said yes and that the original co would let them know I was paid in full. I asked the original debtor (medical office) if I could pay off my debt. They said no. They said they called the collection agency and were told I had to pay the collection agency and could not pay them directly. It seems no one wants my money, but my credit is plummeting. Please advise.
Anonymous,
Read the following….
http://debtprison.net/wordpress/246/restrictions-on-wage-garnishment-for-debt-collection/
basically NO, I doubt you have anything to be concerned about. Nonetheless. I do advise seeking advice from a local lawyer that you trust. That way you know you are getting the correct advice for your state.
Barry
Can you garnish a 84 yr olds retirement check due to not paying a credit card.
Hey Tiffany,
Ok first, it looks like the original bank still owns the debt. So, with your letter in hand, which makes all those wonderful promises, you need to contact the original creditor and ask them if they agree to those terms (since the collection agency is making promises on their behalf). If the original creditor agrees to those terms, then document the date and time and with whom you spoke. This is to insure that they recognize this agreement, because they will renig on you and act like the conversation never happened. If they agree, and you get the names, dates, and times… then I’d pay the collection agency.
Read this:
http://debtprison.net/wordpress/170/collection-agencies-get-everything-in-writing/
let me know if you have more questions!! Good Luck!
Ok, so I have a situation where my account was turned over to the collection agency. The letter states: “Your creditor has placed your delinquent account with us for collection of the above captioned balance. Our client has authorized this office to accept $xxx.xx, which represents 50% of the outstanding balance as settlement in full of your obligation. Upon receipt of your payment, your account will be closed as settled in full.” I have tried to call the collection guy numerous times and only get voicemail. I’ve had this situation a long time ago and it was similar, can only leave voicemail and they call back. ALWAYS at a bad time then are REALLY rude. I want to avoid this whole issue, but want to clarify if this will go on my credit. Who do I ask? It ISN’T on my credit yet, thank goodness… not sure if it will actually affect me in that way. (if they were going to do it, wouldn’t they have by now?) Should I just pay the 50% to the collection agency? or not try at all and just ignore them? (going to call the company and ask if I can still pay them, but the guy already said the account has been turned over to the collection company. He did say ‘sold’, so not sure if that makes my account harder to deal with or not). Thanks for the assistance. Please email me when you are able to respond,dont want to miss it! I’d more than greatly appreciate it!