Dealings with Rannefeld & Assoc

We sent a settlement letter for an acct to Rannefeld & Assoc (plus others) the middle of August and asked them to respond in writing within 10 days. They contacted my husband today (his debt) and offered 70% then quickly lowered it to 50% after my husband said no to the 70%. My husband asked if they received our fax and the gentleman said that he had. At that time I came home and my husband handed the phone to me. The gentlemen than went on to state that Rannefeld had sent us an offer to settle our acct for the same amount that we had offered to them but that we had rejected their offer. I corrected him that we had sent the fax and we never heard from them. He then stated that the CACH didn't accept our original offer but would go for 50%. I gave him a counteroffer and after a few minutes on hold, he accepted the counteroffer. However he would only send it to me by FAX and that would mean that I would have had to run about 20 miles to get it (our fax machine does not work for incoming faxes as it only prints half a page). He also told me after I spoke with him for about 10 minutes that he was recording the call...that he had told my husband. I told him that he didn't say anything to me until that time about recording and he did not have my permission. My husband also later told me that he specifically told Rannefeld & Assoc that they did not have permission to record.

I was eventually turned over to his manager who still refuses to send me a letter accepting the offer to settle the debt. He also confirmed he was recording and I stated that he did not have my permission and he stated that he did not need it. He then contradicted his subordinate by stating that the counteroffer wasn't even approved and therefore he couldn't give me a confirmation letter. He wants me to send him the funds (post-dated check) so the company knows we are serious about settling this debt. I really am uncomfortable about doing that. I even offered to give my email address so he could scan the letter and email it to me but he said he can't do that until the offer is approved by company and he won't present the offer to the company until he receives my funds. He stated that they will proceed with legal action.

We made settlements with other companies and it went smoothly. This seems fishy to me. Any thoughts as to how I should handle. Please help. Thank you.