disney Posted October 21, 2004 Report Share Posted October 21, 2004 I have an unpaid phone bill since 1998 that has never appreared on my credit report. I have been receiving letters in the mail from a collection agency for the last 2 years but now they have offered me a settlement for half of what I owe and I would really like to take them up on their offer. My question is if I pay the bill will it now appear on my credit? I need some advise, please help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retmar Posted October 21, 2004 Report Share Posted October 21, 2004 Not knowing which State you live in, I can only assume the debt is timebarred. You would have to check your State's Statute of Limitations to determine for sure.But, assuming it is, take them up on their offer and be sure to inlcude in your letter accepting this offer that they also agree to not report to any CRA. Stipulate that you are aware the debt is timebarred and they have no legal recourse to the debt. Therefore, if they do not accept your offer, then you will sever all contact and they can sit on it. They must send you a signed letter agreeing to this before payment and the signature must be an authorized signature.The very important thing to remember is that even though the debt is timebarred, they can still deny service until debt is paid. Remember, the debt never goes away, only their right to sue. So, if you did not pay them, you would never be able to get service again in your name. As it is, when you pay the debt, they still have the right to charge you a very high deposit before allowing service to begin and will more than likely hold it for the duration, or more than the normal period of time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disney Posted October 21, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2004 Thanks for the info. I am very new at this so can you please explain what timebarred means and I live in the state of Texas. I believe that the collection agency recieved the account in 2002 even thought the last bill was paid in 1998 . I actually have been able to get phone service with another company by paying a very small deposit. I have been trying to work with a couple of different agencies since I am cleaning up my credit but they all say that they will post account or amount settled on my credit report and they are also giving me a deadline as to when I need to pay this. They also say that is the only way that they can post it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anti-something Posted October 21, 2004 Report Share Posted October 21, 2004 1. they are lying. the law says IF they report it must be accurate, so yes, IF they report they would need to report it as a paid collection. BUT the law doesnt say they HAVE to report at all.take retmars advice and write them a letter, stating you will pay only after you receive a letter stating that they will not report this account.also time-barred means that they lost their chance to sue you and win, texas has a 4 year limit on most claims, meaning they have 4 years to sue you for the money after you failed to pay your bill. so in your case, they could not win against you in court.any deadlines given are pretty much bogus at this point, your paying it is completely voluntary, so dont let anyone pressure you into paying this quickly if you do not feel comfortable about it. demand the letter, sit back and see what they say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
breathing_easier Posted October 21, 2004 Report Share Posted October 21, 2004 I am very new at this so can you please explain what timebarred means and I live in the state of Texas.The Statute of Limitations for each state can be found under the "Statute of Limitations" link at the top of this page.Lookee that...I'm the Big 5-0-0! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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