Initial contact from a collection agency ??s

hi guest--

interesting situation....lets see if I can help you out...

OK, the credit bureaus are within the US and are required to operate within US laws. Anyone who reports something to them must also do so in accordance with the laws of the USA. If an international creditor wants to place a debt on your credit report, they have to follow the federal laws that govern credit reporting just as if they were not a foreign company.

That said, the law is clear about reporting on your credit file. They are allowed to report to your credit file. Once you send them a debt validation request, they are required to change any report they have made to include the fact that you are disputing it. If they choose not to provide validation(or if they cannot), then they are not allowed to continue reporting the debt to the credit bureaus. Reporting to the credit bureau is considered to be collection activity by the FTC, and they do not allow collection activity to continue if the CA doesnt validate.

Send out the DV letter. If they dont send you anything, but keep reporting on the credit files and keep trying to collect from you, then you can sue them.

If they can provide me with the validation and I decide to pay off the debt completely will it then be removed from my report? Or will it just show as a collection paid?

If it was reported on your CR and you pay it, it will say that it has been paid. But if you do decide to pay it you could ask for a "pay for delete" sometimes you can get a CA to delete it from your CR if you pay it in full. I got a CA to do that for me. It doesn't hurt to ask, all they can say is no. And it will just stay on your report as a paid collection.

If you go PFD, get the agreement in writing prior to making your payment.