Your Credit Questions and Answers

 So many businesses that offer credit to customers do not want to take real strong action on customers who do not pay their bills.  So they work with Collect Agencies. After a certain period of time without getting paid the business will write off the debt and sell the debt , or turn the debt over to a Collection Agency. Selling  the Debt to the Collection Agency The Agency will pay between 4% and 10% of the debt balance depending on several factors involving the debt.  Those factors include Age of debt, last payment on debt, amount of debt, how much other business the collection agency does with the lender. Turning the Debt over to the Collection Agency There are a couple of ways this can work.  The lender can pay a fee per bad debt or the lender can give the Agency a percentage of the collection. After being contacted by a Collection Agency Never admit to owing money until the debt is verified.   A lot of collection attempts are made that are actual...

Collection Agencies have a bad reputation that they work hard to uphold.  Yup. However I would always be extremely polite when dealing with them.  They have a tough job and often will be able to work with you if you are nice. Contact the collection agency:  Warning everything you say will be aggressively used against you. The only thing I would admit to is my name and my mailing address. From your Credit History call them.  Ask them for their address. Send them a debt validation demand. ??? Before paying off the debt, reach out to the collection agency to verify that the debt is valid and negotiate the terms of payment.  You can request a written validation of the debt to confirm its legitimacy. Negotiate a payment plan with the Collection Agency: You must get the agreement in writing before paying them any money. If it is a large amount the maximum you should offer to pay is 50%. Do not make a payment or agree to a plan that does not delete the collection from ...