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Questions on Two Debts.

Submitted by kuehnau on Sat, 05/12/2012 - 12:06
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Awhile back I was in good standing with Capitol One and they were actively increasing my credit limits every few months. But at some point I fell on hard times and ended up not only maxing out my card, but going into collections.
I made several attempts at paying them, but they all fell short.

At some point the debt went from Capitol One to another Company, whom I had started making monthly payments to. I went from owing close to $4,000.00 to $400.00, but then I became unemployed.

The collection company didn't care I had made all my payments on time, they said that if I didn't pay them, they'd sue me and were very rude about it, so I just decided to ignore them.

When I got a new job, I called up the collection agency to start making payments again, who informed me the collections were given back to Capital One. I called up Capital One to ask about making payments and made a few. While checking my credit score online I found out Capital One ended up having my debt "written off".

Looking around online I am given the impression that 7 years after the first time the debt goes into collections, it will fall off your credit report. Other people seem to say that as long as you make payments, it "refreshes" the 7 year drop off point. Other people insist that it's simply 7 years after the debt first goes into collections. Yet more people claim that if the debt is sold to another company that you should attempt to get them to verify the debt immediately.

So the Capital One debt is starting to get really close to it's 7 year mark based on when they first put the account into collections (although I don't have much of the original paper work), they gave my debt to a collection agency, who in turn after awhile gave it back to Capital One, the debt is now "written off", exactly what should I do at this point with Capital One? I was informed they are incredibly aggressive and refuse all requests for a pay for delete.

My second question on debt revolves around another debt that went into collections around a similar time. I had an account with T-Mobile, when I found out I was moving I checked and they offered no services in their area. I went and spoke with a T-Mobile employee and they informed me that as long as I could prove residency when I got there, I could close out my account, no questions asked, no fees.
When I finally did move I got all the paper work I thought I might need and called T-Mobile, my newest bill had just come out and they were refusing to release the information until I paid my account, I told them as soon as we got the rest of my business settled, then I'd make a payment on the account and they refuse, so I refused.

Several years later I got a letter in the mail from a collection agency attempting to collect on the T-Mobile account for the full amount (year due, fees, ect), I sent them a certified, signed letter explaining to them what had happened and why I didn't feel like I owed the amount they were asking for. I simply never got a response from them and I never got another collection letter from them again either.

I had assumed it was fine, but then a few years later, I got another letter in the mail attempting to collect on the same debt, from a different collection agency. I sent them a signed, certified letter stating that it was not an acknowledgment or acceptance of the debt, as I have not received any verification of the debt, but was willing to pay the entire debt in agreement to remove all information regarding the debt from the credit reporting agencies. And if they were not willing to do so I would be requesting a full verification of the debt. It has now been one month and I have heard nothing from them.

I am in the process of writing a letter now to request a verification of the debt they are attempting to collect on. I am under the impression that if they do not have any papers that show I agreed to pay what you say I owe, then they have to delete that debt? Is that how it works?

In any event I'd like someone who has had to deal with this in the past to give my post a read and give me some advice. I'd like to start working on my credit score so that in a few years I can think about buying a house, but I need to take care of these burdens first.


your account has been written off since you were 180 days past due.

Found this while googling...
Does a Partial Payment Restart the SOL?
Depending on what state you live in, if you make a partial payment, you could be postponing the Statute of Limitations' taking effect on your collection account or charge-off. A collector might call you one day and say you waived your rights when you made a deal with the collection agency. Do not take anything a collector tells you for granted. Make them prove it to you, in or out of court. For about half the population, the Statute of Limitations started ticking the day they made the last payment for their account.
Some states have laws which specify that a partial payment does not restart the clock on the SOL, unless there is a new written promise to pay. What that means is that you actually write out a new agreement with the orginal creditor and/or collection agency. If you live in one of these states, simply sending in a check doesn't restart the clock. The statute of limitations is only extended by new written promise to pay in these states:
Arizona, California, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Texas, Virginia, West Virgina, Wisconsin.


Submitted by SOAPLADY on Sat, 05/12/2012 - 15:25

SOAPLADY

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soaplady, while you are correct on the individual states' collection SOL, the OP is asking about the reporting SOL, which is entirely different. The reporting SOL is federal, and does not change. A negative account can remain on your credit for 7.5 years from the date it first became delinquent. The payments you made have no bearing on this because the account is still delinquent and was never brought current. The original delinquency that caused the account to go to collections still exists, so the original date of delinquency is still the same. Add 7.5 years to that date and you will know when the account should drop off your reports. The original creditor wrote the debt off--that doesnt mean you do not owe it anymore. It simply means that they wrote the amount off. Original creditors do that after a certain amount of time, and then they often sell the debts to debt buyers, who then come after you trying to collect. But at the end of the day, the federal reporting SOL has not restarted in your case. If the account were delinquent, and you brought it current, then it would restart if you became delinquent again to the new date of delinquency.


Submitted by skydivr7673 on Mon, 05/14/2012 - 10:33

skydivr7673

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Skydivr nailed it pretty good. I would say that if you owe the bill you should pay it, but you seem to be motivated solely by your credit score. Keep in mind that the SOL for filing a suit against you works differently. Depending on your state, the SOL is 3-10 years from your last payment. If your balance is below $800 it is very unlikely that legal action would be considered, but Cap1 can be very aggressive when it comes to this.

As for T-Mobile, you have 30 days from the date they mail you the first demand letter to request verification of the debt (VOD). If a VOD is received by a collection agency they cannot continue collections until they verify the debt. The FDCPA does not define what needs to be provided to verify the debt, so pretty much anything with your name, the creditor's name and a balance will work.


Submitted by TribeFan61 on Fri, 05/18/2012 - 11:59

TribeFan61

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