Paid collection - Any options?

[Misha]

Hello everybody. I really screwed up and am trying to figure out if I have any options left. Three weeks ago I was forced to pay a CA (NCO) to get a mortgage. This was before I found this board. From what I've learned so far...I did everything wrong and paid collections are very difficult to get removed. I spoke to them on the phone and didn't get anything said in writing. What they sent to validate is pretty lame. I asked for more, they said no, I said okay. I have the two letters NCO sent me and copies of the two I sent them but I have no other documentation. I didn't even document the phone conversations. I never contacted the OC. I did everything NCO told me to do. I played nice and now I'm here. And I didn't know about pay for delete.

Based on the time frame - I do have documented - it is obvious I only paid to get a mortgage. 4/2005 I checked CRs in prep for mortgage. All is good. 5/2005 NCO reported me. 6/2005 Applied for mortgage. Forced to pay NCO.

Is a payment admission of the debt being yours to pay? At the time I paid, NCO and myself had not yet figured out if this debt is mine to pay or my former insurance co. When my lender notified me that it was on my CR and that I had to pay, there was no time left to complete the process and figure out who's supposed to pay it. I wasn't going to blow a mortgage for a $300 medical bill. At this point my goal is not necessarily to get the ins co to reimburse me. It would be nice but I really just want NCO off my CRs. Is it too late to do anything?

I was thinking of the following options...

1-Write NCO and play dumb like I had been and ask for deletion.

2-Write NCO and state that I was forced to pay before the case had been fully investigated. Therefore, this is not over etc

3-Try to get ins co to reimburse me so I can go to NCO and say "Look it really wasn't mine to pay. Now delete"

4- Contact OC. Not sure if they can do anything though.

Any thoughts on this? I would really appreciate a little guidance so I don't dig myself deeper. Thanks

[codename_fortyseven]

#1, they aren't going to reimburse you, just because you ask.

#2 They aren't going to delete just because you ask.

Depending on how you paid, you could do a charge back or something if you paid via credit card or check by phone. Might want to start by talking to your bank.

If you paid under duress, because you had this other deal pending, I'd say that is grounds for you to fight it.

FYI, it is no accident that the debt landed on your credit report while you were mortgage shopping. They know you are looking for a mortgage. They get tipped off by the CRA's.

Get it in writing from your mortgage broker that the deal hinged on getting this collection taken care of, how little time there was for the deal to close, etc...

Also, PFD's are rare. Don't think they are the norm. Many companies simply won't do them.

Don't play nice, get angry. Read my sig.

[Misha]

Thanks for responding 47. I'll get that statement from my lender. It seems to be common knowledge here that you can't get a mortgage with something in collections. Hopefully, my lender will come through with that.

The difficult thing with this is that I never received a bill from anyone. This is supposedly part of a hospital visit from 1999 that the ins co paid 16k for. I owed nothing. Nobody can tell me exactly what this collection bill is for other than it's from the same visit and that it was never sent to ins co. And to top it off the OC had my correct contact info then and it hasn't changed. Instead of sending me a bill they sent it to collections. I was just trying to get someone to send the bill to ins co as it should have been years ago.

NCO's initial letter to me specificly said that upon my request they would obtain from the OC proof of the debt and then forward that to me. They sent me a bill (not itemised) on NCO letterhead. I don't think the OC uses NCO letterhead! NCO refused to send more.

Anyway, I figured that I'll try to get any docs I can from OC, ins co or even the hositpal itself. I don't think I can do anything with NCO except send them the notice from my lender along with a stern letter. And this time, everything'll be in writting. But one things for sure, I am definately done playing games and being nice about this. I'm not sure how far I'll get but thanks for giving me a place to start.