curtisp Posted March 9, 2005 Report Share Posted March 9, 2005 03/08/05Hey.My name is Curtis, I am 27 yrs old and I recently got my credit reports. One from Equifax and TransUnion - I am still waiting for the 3rd. I am new to Discussion Forums! Anyway, I thought that my credit would be worse than it is. I have about 10-15 items under the collections section of my reports. They total about $2000.00. Two are medical that are fairly large. The others are small things like bad checks from when i was in college. I just need advice on contacting the collection agencies. Do I trust the addresses on these reports? Do I go ahead and send payment? Should I try to find phone numbers and call first? What should I say in the letter that I'd include with full payment??? Also, I had a car repossesed - (charge off?). On the report from TransUnion it says that the Estimated date this item will be removed is 04/2005. Should I call the bank and have them remove it next month OR just I just wait and request another report in a few months to see if it has?? ...or something else?? Simple questions, but I just don't know the best way to handle and your helpful advice would be great.Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
divemedic Posted March 9, 2005 Report Share Posted March 9, 2005 Hello, Curtis. Welcome to the boards.First things first. Read the "sticky's" at the top of each forum. They will answer many of your questions. The first thing I would do with your collections, before offering to pay, is to find out if you owe them money. If a man walked up to you right now and said, "A doctor helped you once, pay me $1000", would you do it? Of course not. You need to make sure of a few things first:That you owe THAT doctor money.That the collection agency is collecting for that doctor.That the statute of limitations is not expired.It is legal for that collection agency to collect from you in your state of residence.That the amount to be collected is factual.Did you know that paying a collection won't help your credit score one bit?Doing the right thing and paying will only empty your wallet and then you will have nothing to show for it, unless you do this correctly.Check with the state, make sure they are licensed in your state. Then DV them. Check everything. Read the stickys, they will tell you everything.The repo will expire off of your report in a few weeks, don't worry about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sultan Posted March 9, 2005 Report Share Posted March 9, 2005 everything divemedic said, thats all solid advice. G/L and welcome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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