Should I Pay an Credit Card Debt That Is 12 Years Old and now Owned by a Collection Agency?

no time has ran out for them to collect have should have done something before now

1. How do I get the collection agency to send a settlement letter dated for another day instead of today?

DO NOT agree to anything over the phone or by fax. You need an original letter sent to your home address that is dated for the date you are actually making the payment. If you sign with today's date and do not pay, then you will be in breach of contract and whatever you signed is void.

2. Will it affect my credit score if I've been through a collection agency but paid right away?

Some agencies do give a grace period to give you the chance to pay it before reporting it to your CBR, however if there is no grace period or if the grace period has expired then it will report and negatively affect your score. Once it hits your CBR it will remain on there for 7 years from the date of service, since you paid it it will show paid, which helps and with time will affect your CBR little if at all.. If the coll agcy told you that it would not report to your CBR then it probably wo not . I would definately make sure if you do not recieve that letter within the week that you call and make sure it was sent, proof is always good to have.. They do make mistakes and this will make it alot easier to get removed or corrected.. hope this helps

3. How do you get a collection agency off the credit report?

Are all these debts due to come off in or around October or any time soon after that? If yes, then do not do anything. Wait until the time for the original debt to drop off. Since the company that originally owned the receivable is still reporting it as a debt owed to them then, legally, the collection agency cannot also claim to own the receivable. So as long as both are showing up on your credit report wait for the original would ropoff' date to pass and then you do not have to pay any of them anything. That is the time at which you should highlight that the collections entries were erroneous duplications of the original debt. What the above poster stated is incorrect. The unpaid debts that you owe may linger in the creditor's databse forever, but the credit bureaus CANNOT keep them in your file beyond 7 years. There is a federal law known as the Fair Credit Reporting Act that strictly forbids the credit bureaus from doing this, and the only exception is if you declare bankruptcy, in which case they can keep the negative information on your credit file for as long as 10 years. If they do not remove the information after the 7 year period has passed, you can sue them and you will win. Its their screw-up so let them eat it.

4. Does being reported to a collection agency make your credit go down?

All collections lower your score, sorry

5. can a debt collection agency find him (anon) even though he's changed name, address and bank accounts?

I have a radical thought... how about paying the bill and be over with it?

6. What should I do when a collection agency tries to take my house from me for a $3000 debt? Is that legal?

Get an attorney and get one yesterday if you want to save this house.*

7. I have a defaulted student loan and have made a pay agreement with the collection agency?

The loan wil not be rehablitated without the paper signed., DO you know how many people call me pissed off because their loan is still in default after paying for years and years all because they did not sign the form? They will also reduce your collectin costs down from the 25% (average) down to 18.5% of the balance. In the end you save a ton of $ and clean your credit.

8. How do you market a debt collection agency?

Market in what fashion? A marketing strategy centers on your customer and the value you offer versus other alternatives. That's specific to your business.If you're referring to marcom, I have no experience other than as a customer. I can't recall the selection process but I suspect, like most SMBs, I Googled them, perused a few results, and asked for information. I also use in-house collection teams, so content with tips and benchmarks would be valuable and keep your firm top of mind.A referral from an accounting firm would carry weight.Collections specific to subscriptions, and dealing with the conflict of a business generating ill will via collections that can easily damage a firms online reputation, are topics I'd imagine are good marketing hooks.