turned over to a collection agency

The dunning letter is standard requirement of federal law, they have to provide you in writing with their name, the amount owed, the original creditor, and they also have to provide you the information that you can dispute the debt within 30 days of receiving the letter and they also have to provide you the mini miranda (this communication is from a debt collector and is an attempt to collect a debt, any information collected will be used for that purpose)

You should respond with a debt validation letter (you can find a good template in the first link in my signature) send it certified mail, return receipt requested. Make sure they can prove to you that they own the debt and are legally entitled to collect on it. Make sure you get any offers in writing before agreeing to make any payments (make sure they also validate first) also never give out personal banking information, if you pay them make sure it is by money order or some other certified item that does not contain your account number (be it bank, debit card, or credit card) as they may use it to clean out your account.

If I may ask, I'd like to know the following.
1. What type of debt is it?
2. How old is the debt/when the last payment was made toward it?
3. What is the name of the collection agency?
4. What state do you live in?

Also debt collection agencies cannot require you make payments that incur extra costs to you, such as wire transfer (ex. Western Union) or money gram.

The type of debt is unsecured medical and credit card. The debts are fairly old although the last payment I made was in October. The 2 letters I received so far are from NCO Financial Systems Inc. and United Collection Bureau Inc. I live in the state of Ohio. These are debts that I am not disputing but no longer have the ability to continue to pay. I recently worked for a company that closed and had to take a job the pay significanty less. Also my son was recently hospitalized with a heart condition and I had no insurance so I am sure that there are going to be more collection letters to follow.

Those two are bottom feeders. They couldn't validate their way out of a paper bag. Here is what consumer attorney Bud Hibbs has to say about them:
http://www.budhibbs.com/debtcollectorpages/nco_financial_systems.htm
That's for NCO, UCB is about just as bad.
NCO group had to pay out 1.5 million dollars not too long ago for Fair Credit Reporting violations by reporting trade lines on peoples credit reports in a way that causes more damage than it should. I have 4 accounts with NCO and on each they have committed violations totaling 36, I'm in the process of litigation against them currently for $90k in FCRA violations plus punitive damages.

Chances are NCO did the same to you, if I were you I'd check my credit report. Common violations from them are:
1. Re aging, they report a later than actual open date in order to keep the trade line on your credit report longer.
2. Reporting the account as an open account which causes more damage to your credit score, all collection accounts need to be reported as collection accounts.
3. Reporting the account as a factoring company account, this also causes more damage to your credit score, if they have done numbers 2 and/or 3 you'll notice that NCO does not appear with other collection accounts, that is why.

NCO's violations were so gross in volume that the judge overseeing the case raised the maximum fine for FCRA violations from $1k to $2.5k and had them enter a consent decree which they continue to violate to this day.

The illegal reporting which they frequently do causes your FICO score to drop much lower than it should and can cause you to be declined for loans as well as make you pay more for certain other services such as cell phone, certain types of insurance and sometimes utilities. If they have violated your rights try going to naca.net to get in contact with a consumer attorney to file suit against these clowns.

If you wish to receive your free annual credit report entitled to you by the FTC under the Fair Credit Reporting Act go to annualcreditreport.com It is sanctioned by the FTC.

Thanks for your help. After speaking to a careone rep about consolidation plans and reduction plans, the only alternative I have left is bankruptcy. I just need to buy some time to get my tax return back to pay an attorney.

I think you may be jumping for the bankruptcy option too quickly. Bankruptcy laws have been tightened in the last few years, it's no longer the panacea that it used to be.

Check your credit reports for the things JCEMT listed first. Then spend some quality time consulting with a good consumer attorney. Many offer a free initial consultation.

If either company has wronged you sue them, get what you are entitled to by law. Then you can use the (most likely obscene proceeds) to pay what you owe.

I agree totally with the above post.Use bankruptcy as your last resort!

It's hard to declare bankruptcy more than once.