Collection account

I wanted to set up internet + cable on my new apt for me on my roommates through time warner. i called them today and htey said that i had a collections account from 2 years ago that i never paid at my old college for digital cable. they claim that i never returned the equipment for digital cable, but im sure i did. they said that i owe them 450 dollars before they will open up a new account for me at this new address. I basically told them no im not paying them, and i called one of my rommmates later and had him set up in his name.

I am wondering if this collections account is on my credit report, but free cred reports don't become available in my state until Sept 1, 2005. This account is from May 2003, by the way, so it's quite old.

[Shajen]

I believe no matter what state you live in you are entitled to one free report a year.

Do some googling, it's out there...

[meleader2]

i haven't returned mine yet and it's been 2 months. i wonder what they'll do? it isn't in my bill or anything...

[ QUOTE ]
i haven't returned mine yet and it's been 2 months. i wonder what they'll do? it isn't in my bill or anything...

[/ QUOTE ]

No it wouldn't be. They just refer it to an incompetent collections agency I think. I just found out about it this morning and the account is almost 2 and a half years old.

[ QUOTE ]
I believe no matter what state you live in you are entitled to one free report a year.

Do some googling, it's out there...

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes I can get one free one, but it's not available in my state till Sept 1, 2005:

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/freereports.htm

I just checked my credit report and it has this information about that collections account:

COLLECTION ACCOUNTS:
Count: 1
Balance: $400.00
Current: 0
Delinquent 0
Other 0

Account Name: XXXXXXXXXX
Account Number: XXXXXXXXXX
Acct Type: Collection Department / Agency / Attorney
Acct Status: Closed
Monthly Payment:
Date Open: 4/1/2004
Balance: $400.00
Terms: 1 Month
High Balance:
Limit:
Past Due: $400.00
Payment Status: Seriously past due date / assigned to attorney, collection agency, or credit grantor's internal collection department


Does all of this mean that I don't have to worry about them coming after me, since the account is closed?

[Maulik]

[ QUOTE ]
I just checked my credit report and it has this information about that collections account:

COLLECTION ACCOUNTS:
Count: 1
Balance: $400.00
Current: 0
Delinquent 0
Other 0

Account Name: XXXXXXXXXX
Account Number: XXXXXXXXXX
Acct Type: Collection Department / Agency / Attorney
Acct Status: Closed
Monthly Payment:
Date Open: 4/1/2004
Balance: $400.00
Terms: 1 Month
High Balance:
Limit:
Past Due: $400.00
Payment Status: Seriously past due date / assigned to attorney, collection agency, or credit grantor's internal collection department


Does all of this mean that I don't have to worry about them coming after me, since the account is closed?

[/ QUOTE ]

no it means they won't extend service to you.

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I just checked my credit report and it has this information about that collections account:

COLLECTION ACCOUNTS:
Count: 1
Balance: $400.00
Current: 0
Delinquent 0
Other 0

Account Name: XXXXXXXXXX
Account Number: XXXXXXXXXX
Acct Type: Collection Department / Agency / Attorney
Acct Status: Closed
Monthly Payment:
Date Open: 4/1/2004
Balance: $400.00
Terms: 1 Month
High Balance:
Limit:
Past Due: $400.00
Payment Status: Seriously past due date / assigned to attorney, collection agency, or credit grantor's internal collection department


Does all of this mean that I don't have to worry about them coming after me, since the account is closed?

[/ QUOTE ]

no it means they won't extend service to you.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ok what if I don't care about that? Let's say that I have a girlfriend who will gladly put her name on any future Time Warner accounts that I need. Then I don't need to pay the $400, right? They won't come after me?

What I'm really wondering though is if this is hurting my credit score. Experian says that I have a credit score of 548 which they classify as "very poor", the worst category. In my short credit history, I have this collections account, and one late credit card payment(which was only because I lost the bill and forgot about it, but I paid it promptly afterward). Is the collections account hurting my credit score even though it is now closed?

[Al P]

It means you're screwed for 7 years.

Yes it's hurting your score and will continue to hurt it for 7 years from the date of last activity (date you last paid them).

Right now the worst thing you could do is pay them as that will actually re-trigger the date of last activity and it will still show on your report for 7 years from todays date. The only way you'll ever get it taken off is if you get in writing that they will delete the tradeline as consideration for you paying off the balance. Or you could request validation and dispute et al. but I never really had much luck with that except for getting collectors to STFU and not contact me any more.

Check out the forums at http://www.artofcredit.com for some decent info.

[ QUOTE ]
It means you're screwed for 7 years.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is going to hurt my credit for 7 years?

[censored]. I can't improve it by continuing to pay my bills on time and continuing good credit?

[Shajen]

Yeah, it's killing your credit score.

548 is pretty bad. If I were you, I'd start up the process of fighting this. Or, I'd find a buddy with an extra cable box and ship that to them.

[TheIrishThug]

i would go with yes. a balance of 400 that hasn't been paid for over 2 yrs is def gonna suck for ur credit score. yes u can not pay it and just get other ppl to set up ur cable, but ur score is only gonna get worse if it stays unpaid.

the late payment shouldn't be that bad cause it was slightly late and then paid off. but i'd put money on this balance being the major reason for ur bad rating.

Keep calling and fighting the cable company. Same thing happened to me 2 years ago after I returned the equipment and they (Charter Cable) said I didn't. Obviously I know I did, but I had no way of proving it. They said I owed like $250 or something but after probably 3 months of calling them, I finally got everything cleared to my name.

Basically this is how it happened...

I would call and say I returned the equipment, the person I was talking to eventually would believe me and would say that they fixed it on their computer and tell me everything was cleared up.

Some time would pass and I would get mail from Charter saying I owe money for equipment that I didn't return.

I call Charter and argue again, and once again, they tell me they fixed it and everything is cleared up.

A little time passes and I get mail saying that Charter is going to use a collection service to get the money I owe.

I call Charter again, furious, and they clear it up once again. I get the ID of the person I talk to and record the conversation. I call again after a few days to check the status of my old account. Verified. Called again. Verified. Eventually get a $17 refund from Charter for a partial month of service I did not use. Case finally closed.

Long story short, fight them, and then fight some more. Eventually, with persistence and record keeping, it will get fixed.

On a side note, never use them for services again.

MisterW

[ QUOTE ]
It means you're screwed for 7 years.

Yes it's hurting your score and will continue to hurt it for 7 years from the date of last activity (date you last paid them).

Right now the worst thing you could do is pay them as that will actually re-trigger the date of last activity and it will still show on your report for 7 years from todays date. The only way you'll ever get it taken off is if you get in writing that they will delete the tradeline as consideration for you paying off the balance. Or you could request validation and dispute et al. but I never really had much luck with that except for getting collectors to STFU and not contact me any more.

Check out the forums at http://www.artofcredit.com for some decent info.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks for your help Al. Here's the thing. They said that they have been trying to contact me at my old college address for two years, with no success, obviously. I think that they have given up on the account seeing that is now listed as closed on Experian.

What can I do legally to fight this and get it removed? A friend suggested to me that I contact the collections agency and ask them to produce a copy of my contract, the friend thinking that the collections agency will not have a copy of my contract because they are not Time Warner, and if they cannot produce the contract then they must remove it from my credit report supposedly. What do you think?

I have no proof that I returned the cable box to them even though I know that I did. I might have been given a receipt after returning it but I just found out about this morning and the account is almost 2.5 years old, so I don't have the receipt anymore.

I'm a little bit lost.

[ QUOTE ]
Keep calling and fighting the cable company. Same thing happened to me 2 years ago after I returned the equipment and they (Charter Cable) said I didn't. Obviously I know I did, but I had no way of proving it. They said I owed like $250 or something but after probably 3 months of calling them, I finally got everything cleared to my name.

Basically this is how it happened...

I would call and say I returned the equipment, the person I was talking to eventually would believe me and would say that they fixed it on their computer and tell me everything was cleared up.

Some time would pass and I would get mail from Charter saying I owe money for equipment that I didn't return.

I call Charter and argue again, and once again, they tell me they fixed it and everything is cleared up.

A little time passes and I get mail saying that Charter is going to use a collection service to get the money I owe.

I call Charter again, furious, and they clear it up once again. I get the ID of the person I talk to and record the conversation. I call again after a few days to check the status of my old account. Verified. Called again. Verified. Eventually get a $17 refund from Charter for a partial month of service I did not use. Case finally closed.

Long story short, fight them, and then fight some more. Eventually, with persistence and record keeping, it will get fixed.

On a side note, never use them for services again.

MisterW

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks Mister for your very interesting and similar post. The key difference between your situation and mine though is that I have not been receiving the letters since they were sent to my old address, and Time Warner and the collection agency did not have my new one. I just found out about it this morning and the reason that I want to get it removed is that it is obviously killing my credit score.

Should I call Time Warner of Rochester right now? What should I tell them? Or should I ask for the number of the collections agency instead and then call them?

[Al P]

Yes you can improve it by doing those things.

I have 3 collections from 1998-1999 still on my reports but my score is 709. Good enough to get me a 15K car loan at the second best rate offered.


Also it would be very rare for them to try and sue for $400. I had some $3000, $2000, $1700, etc. bills and all I ever got was nasty phone calls and nasty collection letters.

Also there's a thing called Statute of Limitations for collecting debts. http://www.cardreport.com/laws/statute-of-limitations.html

Basically after X years a debt isn't even collectable anymore however they can still try all they want. And if they mention court all you have to do is mention the SOL as your defense.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Keep calling and fighting the cable company. Same thing happened to me 2 years ago after I returned the equipment and they (Charter Cable) said I didn't. Obviously I know I did, but I had no way of proving it. They said I owed like $250 or something but after probably 3 months of calling them, I finally got everything cleared to my name.

Basically this is how it happened...

I would call and say I returned the equipment, the person I was talking to eventually would believe me and would say that they fixed it on their computer and tell me everything was cleared up.

Some time would pass and I would get mail from Charter saying I owe money for equipment that I didn't return.

I call Charter and argue again, and once again, they tell me they fixed it and everything is cleared up.

A little time passes and I get mail saying that Charter is going to use a collection service to get the money I owe.

I call Charter again, furious, and they clear it up once again. I get the ID of the person I talk to and record the conversation. I call again after a few days to check the status of my old account. Verified. Called again. Verified. Eventually get a $17 refund from Charter for a partial month of service I did not use. Case finally closed.

Long story short, fight them, and then fight some more. Eventually, with persistence and record keeping, it will get fixed.

On a side note, never use them for services again.

MisterW

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks Mister for your very interesting and similar post. The key difference between your situation and mine though is that I have not been receiving the letters since they were sent to my old address, and Time Warner and the collection agency did not have my new one. I just found out about it this morning and the reason that I want to get it removed is that it is obviously killing my credit score.

Should I call Time Warner of Rochester right now? What should I tell them? Or should I ask for the number of the collections agency instead and then call them?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, I think calling them (the cable company) is the best idea. A collection service is bad news and they are used to force you to pay your debts by essentially taking your money. They are terrible for your credit, which is the reason I was furious to receive that notice.

The best advice I can give is to call them and be honest and friendly, but persistent. Explain the situation to them, tell them how you found out about it, and be nice about it. You will be talking to a customer support person who probably deals with angry people all day, and he/she just has to click a button and contact a few people to erase your debt.

Usually places have some sort of protocol where they will reduce the fine by increments until you are content to pay... just keep trying and they should erase it eventually.

MisterW

Edit: Edited to clarify calling the cable company rather than collections

[HopeydaFish]

The Credit Agency just reports what it's been sent by reputable lenders, in this case Time Warner. The Collections Agency won't remove the black mark on your credit report based solely on your say so that you didn't know about the $400 bill. This isn't the Credit Agency's problem. Until Time Warner tells them to remove this information from your file, it'll remain there for the next 7 years. Even then, you'll have to convince Time Warner that you would have paid the $400 had you known that this amount was owing, otherwise they'll just report to the Credit Agency that you have paid your bill, but the fact that you were very late in doing so will still appear on your credit report, as will the fact that it went to a Collections Agency.

Actually, Time Warner might not do anything at all to remove this from your credit report. They sold your outstanding balance to a Collections Agency (at a loss), so Time Warner is no longer owed the money. You owe the Collections Agency the money, and they won't have the power to remove the black mark that relates to Time Warner from your credit report.

I think you're screwed, quite frankly. The best you can do is talk to the Collections agency, Time Warner, and the Credit bureau to see what you can do to slightly mitigate the damage.

[Al P]

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&rls=GGLG%2CGGLG%3A2005-31%2CGGLG%3Aen&q=debt+validation+letter

You could try validation.

Edit - I wouldn't call anyone. Do everything in writing.

[HopeydaFish]

When I was in University, I had some outstanding fines for overdue library books at the public library. I think they totalled about $80. I'd returned the books at the overnight drop box because I didn't have the $80 to pay the fine (being a starving student and all). About 6 months later I received a notice from a collections agency looking to collect the money. I'm sure this didn't help my credit score one bit. /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

I just totally bitched the collections agency lady out. I couldn't help myself. She threatened legal action against me and I just lost it.

As far as I am concerned, she broke the law. I asked for debt validation and she refused and threatened me. I think I need to contact an attorney.

She said that she was going to put a note on my credit report that I'm refusing to pay.

[CORed]

Of course it's too late now for both you and the OP, but this sort of thing is a good argument for insisting on a receipt (and not losing it) when you return equipment to the cable company. If you have a receipt signed by a cable company employee, you have proof that you did in fact return the equipment.

[ QUOTE ]
I just totally bitched the collections agency lady out. I couldn't help myself. She threatened legal action against me and I just lost it.

As far as I am concerned, she broke the law. I asked for debt validation and she refused and threatened me. I think I need to contact an attorney.

She said that she was going to put a note on my credit report that I'm refusing to pay.

[/ QUOTE ]

Update- I have decided that I'm not paying this under any circumstances and am just going to forget about it as best I can. I'm going to keep paying my credit cards off on time, etc. and wait for this to drop off my credit report.

I will not pay, but I may write letters to the credit bureaus, and do other minor things.

[Al P]

Seven years is a long ass time. It'd be worth it to pay for deletion because if you ever get a loan the bump to interest rates that this will cause you will probably be more than the $400 you owe. Not to mention that collection agencies buy accounts for $.10-$.20 on the dollar (depending on age of the account) so you can always get a discounted amount to pay them off.

I'd go through some credit forums (artofcredit and creditnet), find some sample letters, and send a letter saying you'll pay $300 for deletion. Remember to never acknowledge that the debt is yours.

[soweak.]

You can dispute directly with the credit bureaus. It will temporarily help your credit as well. Else, try to settle with the and ask they will delete you (as opposed to "Paid in Full")

Naw Al I'm not settling it. I'm filing disputes with the credit card bureaus and those fuckers at the agency will get nothing from me. I'm aware of my rights and have decided to pay $0.

[daryn]

766 babayyyyy!

Can you elaborate on what 766 is dude?

[daryn]

credit score, isn't that what we are talking about?

[ QUOTE ]
credit score, isn't that what we are talking about?

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh yeah. I wasn't paying attention.

[censored] YOU and your high credit score you bastard. /images/graemlins/frown.gif

[HopeydaFish]

[ QUOTE ]
766 babayyyyy!

[/ QUOTE ]

729 for me. However, I just recently totally paid off my credit cards with my (forbidden word) winnings, so I'm assuming that my score will rise as a result.

Next debt to tackle is the $17k left of my student loan... /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Damn I hate you.

[Freakin]

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766 babayyyyy!

[/ QUOTE ]

729 for me. However, I just recently totally paid off my credit cards with my (forbidden word) winnings, so I'm assuming that my score will rise as a result.

Next debt to tackle is the $17k left of my student loan... /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

What kind of rate do you have? My rate is 3.3% on my loans, so i'd rather just leave the money in ING@3.3% instead of paying off the loans immediately.

Freakin

[HopeydaFish]

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[ QUOTE ]
766 babayyyyy!

[/ QUOTE ]

729 for me. However, I just recently totally paid off my credit cards with my (forbidden word) winnings, so I'm assuming that my score will rise as a result.

Next debt to tackle is the $17k left of my student loan... /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

What kind of rate do you have? My rate is 3.3% on my loans, so i'd rather just leave the money in ING@3.3% instead of paying off the loans immediately.

Freakin

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm paying too high of an interest rate. You have just reminded me that I need to go try to negotiate for a better rate. I'm being charged much more than the 3.3% that you are quoting.

I just shot my bank an inquiry through my online banking service. I told them they have one chance to offer me a better rate to keep my loan there or I'll be moving it.

[Freakin]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
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766 babayyyyy!

[/ QUOTE ]

729 for me. However, I just recently totally paid off my credit cards with my (forbidden word) winnings, so I'm assuming that my score will rise as a result.

Next debt to tackle is the $17k left of my student loan... /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

What kind of rate do you have? My rate is 3.3% on my loans, so i'd rather just leave the money in ING@3.3% instead of paying off the loans immediately.

Freakin

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm paying too high of an interest rate. You have just reminded me that I need to go try to negotiate for a better rate. I'm being charged much more than the 3.3% that you are quoting.

I just shot my bank an inquiry through my online banking service. I told them they have one chance to offer me a better rate to keep my loan there or I'll be moving it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Good luck! There was a recent increase that took place on like july 1st. They tried to raise my rates by 2% if I didn't consolide or some crap. I don't know what it all means, but I was quite happy when I saw ING's rate bump up/

Freakin