If your debt is charged off or written off in 2008 and the date of last payment or date of last activity is in 2008. If you decide to settle or pay in full your account today; the date of last payment or activity will not change.

Fair enough... Any idea how long it would take for the credit file to be amended once I contact the first two agencies? Once I notify them are they obligated to notify the credit profiles or do I request something from them then send it to the credit agencies?

It sounds silly, but paying it usually keeps it on there longer. Proof the system is flawed.

If you intend to apply for credit at any point, you're going to want it listed as paid.

That's great news. The original debt is from 2008 and there are now 3 collection agencies on my credit file for the same debt. One in Sept. 2008, Sept 2009 and Sept 2010. I am going to try to call the first two and use your advice to see if I can get them removed then I will figure out what to do about the third collection agency. They only called a couple times and have never called back (I think one time they called I told them it was the wrong number). Anyways. I have never received a single notice form any agency in the mail.

The debt is about $800 and I would pay if that will get it off the file quickest but I just want to make it go away now. This started off from a stupid argument that I had with Rogers over charging me and they would not credit their error so I quit and didn't pay. Guess they got the last laugh cause it messed up my credit score a bit.

Side question. If I pay the third agency now will that collection info be on my profile for 6 or 7 years starting from now?

Thanks

Sorry, that wasn't advice... just a rant.

First thing, find out which agency does not have your debt and then get them to remove the record since you are not under collection with them. Just tell them you are settling with the other agency but need to ensure you have the duplicate entry removed before you are prepared to do so. I've been told from the agencies themselves that they are obligated to do this.

Then you can pay the debt with the agency... get the best deal you can. If it's really old you can do maybe 50 or 40%... tell them it's disputed, etc... sold you a phone and wouldn't replace it, whatever. Be prepared that they might say no... tell them that they can call you back if they change their minds... give them a few days and stick to it, then renegotiate if you cant get anywhere.

How old is the debt? is it worth paying?

I have successfully dealt with a similar situation.

At one point I had a debt with one collection agency which was then went back to the original creditor and was re-assigned to another agency. Both were on my credit history.

When I contacted the first collection agency they were very helpful and advised me that they are legally required to remove the "collection" from my record if the debt is not with their agency. They removed the collection and sent me removal letters as well.

Interesting point on this incident - I had an agreement to pay the original principal of the debt, which is all I felt I owed but is besides the point. Anyways... before I paid it, the account was transferred. The new agency would not accept the agreement, and also tacked on a few hundred dollars of additional interest. When they threatened to sue, which is illegal to do unless there is actually a pending case, I took the agents name and reported it to the Alberta regulatory office. I find that if you can entice them into telling you something illegal, you have the upper hand. Such as, "and what happens if I don't pay you?", etc. Get it on tape if you can... with solid evidence and an official complaint they will dump your file. A lot of the times their agents are not licensed, which can also get them into trouble... it's actually really easy to get them to break the rules on tape.

After I lodged an official complaint regarding improper collection practices, the debt was removed from my record without confirmation and I did not have to pay it. This seems to be a common response to official complaints as I have used this twice now with the same result.

At one point I considered bankruptcy, but instead decided to just default on everything since it was all unsecured. It's been 6 years now and it was the right decision, with the bad stuff dropping off of the record.

I have found that they also will only transfer your file so many times. So, I was checking my record and would call the agency once and a while to ask if the account with still with them. Once it was not with the agency, I had it removed. This seemed to work better than actually paying the debt, which would have caused it to stick around for 6 years.

Just my experience. The best tool I had was to never sign for registered mail, and to put a block on my phone to not allow calls from Ontario. If a collection agency could get through I used the call management feature (rogers feature) to forward calls from their number directly to their own office. It didn't take that long for them to give up trying.

Thanks for the response.

Just to clarify...

For a single debt (like this one with Rogers) Can only one collection agency be noted on my credit profile? On my profile I see 2 agencies but both are for the same debt so I assume both have a negative affect right?

One is from Sept 2008, the second is Sept 2009, and now as I said in the original post a new agency is trying to collect on the same debt Sept 2010. So should I also assume a new agency will show up on the credit profile and then there will be 3 collection notes.

Finally. Should I pay Rogers the full amount to resolve this or at this point should I just make a deal with the last agency trying to collect (at a much lower payoff). Also If I do make the arrangement with the 3rd new collection agency will this finalize my debt? My main concern is paying the agency then Rogers still trying to continue to collect as the debt as it appears to just keep transferring to new collection agencies.

If your last payment to Rogers was in August 2007 and you have made no written acknowledgement of this debt signed by you to either Rogers or any collection agency, then pursuant to the Ontario Limitations Act, 2002, this debt is now statute-barred. What this means is that Rogers cannot initiate legal proceedings ( i.e. sue you ) in Small Claims Court in the hopes of obtaining a court order in their favour. However, the debt still exists and their only remedies remaining is to contact you by phone or by mail in the hope of collecting part or all of this outstanding debt.

In my previous blog, I indicated to you the procedure to be followed by a collection agency when they have been assigned a debt to collect from a creditor. Once again, the collection agency MUST send you a letter by ordinary post stating who the collection agency is, the name of the original creditor, the account number of the debt, the amount owing including interest and that they have been authorized by the original creditor to collect on their behalf. After they send this letter to you, they must wait 6 days before they can contact you by phone. And again, if this procedure has not been followed, refuse to speak to the collector until they have complied with the Collection Agencies Act, Regulation 74.

You mention in your thread that collection agencies have attempted to contact you on your new number. I am assuming that you are referring to a cell phone. On your current plan with Bell, are you billed for all incoming calls like most users are or do you have a plan whereby there is no charge for incoming calls but is included in your monthly bill? If you pay for all incoming calls, did you know that under the Collection Agencies Act, this practice is ILLEGAL. In a letter dated April 28, 2009, Brian Pitkin, Registrar of Collection Agencies who are registered in the Province of Ontario informed the Agencies that this practice is illegal and must be stopped immediately. All collection agencies know that this practice is illegal but some still flaunt the law. You can stop this practice by contacting the collection agency and inform them of this illegal practice and if it continues you will make an official complaint to Brian Pitkin, Registrar of Collection Agencies in Ontario. This practice falls under Section 22 of the Collection Agencies Act.

PRACTICES PROHIBITED

22 No collection agency or collector shall,

( a ) collect or attempt to collect for a person for whom it acts any
money in addition to the amount owing by the debtor,

( b ) communicate or attempt to communicate with a person for

the purpose of collecting, negotiating or demanding payment
of a debt by a means that enables the charges or costs of
the communication to be payable by that person.

What usually happens in the collection industry is when the original creditor is unsuccessful in collecting a debt ( usually after 6 months ) they will ASSIGN ( not sell ) the debt to a collection agency to collect. The collection agency will then attempt to collect the debt within a certain time period. If they are unsuccessful, the debt will be returned back to the original creditor. The creditor will then assign the debt to another collection agency and the process starts all over again. It is not customary for 2 or more collection agencies attempting to collect the same debt at the same time. This is why as I mentioned previously that when a collection agency has been assigned a debt to collect that they must send you a letter indicating they are the current collector of the debt. Otherwise, you don't know who you are dealing with. Sometimes, a creditor will sell ( not assign ) a debt to a collection agency. These are known as "debt buyers" and the same rules apply to them. Once again, they must send you a letter stating that they have PURCHASED the debt from the original creditor. Now, the original creditor is out of the picture.

Every time a collection agency is assigned a debt or purchases a debt, it is customary for that agency or debt buyer to do a credit inquiry. Inquiries are broken down into HARD inquiries and SOFT inquires. The Consumer Reporting Act does not distinguish between Hard and Soft inquiries. Hard inquiries are supposed to be for consumers applying for credit or seeking to increase their existing credit limit. All other inquiries fall under Soft inquiries. However, in the real world that doesn't always happen. Many consumers have found that collection agencies and debt buyers will do a Hard inquiry in addition to a Soft inquiry. When this information is brought to the attention of the credit bureau, they simply look the other way. You are a nuisance or irritant to the credit bureau. Their primary concern is for their customers who pay an annual fee to belong to the credit bureau plus a fee for each credit report that is requested. All Hard inquiries will affect your Credit Score. All Soft inquiries have no affect on your Credit Score. Equifax retains all inquiries for 3 years while TransUnion retains inquiries for 6 years before they "fall off the table".. Under the Consumer Reporting Act, a credit bureau must maintain all inquiries for a minimum period of 3 years. There is no maximum period specified in the Act. Once a collection agency reports a collection account to a credit bureau, it stays on your report for 6 years with Equifax and 7 years with TransUnion even if you pay the outstanding debt in full. It will simply show as "Paid by Debtor". Under the Consumer Reporting Act, no negative information can remain on a credit report after 7 years. The exception to this is if you have declared bankruptcy for a second or more time. Then the bankruptcy stays on your credit report for 14 years.

Good Luck and have a GREAT DAY

Hi,

Thanks for the very detailed info. As far as the Rogers account is concerned. I made my last payment in August 2007. I did receive a letter at that point indicating that the payment had to be made or sent to a collection agency and as far as I remember they closed the account very promptly (15-30 days max). I moved from my condo in about April 2008 and I never received anything from a collection agency prior to moving or at any time since then at my new address. As part of the original Rogers account I had my phone and now it is with Bell yet the collection agencies have called my new number so I assume who ever they got the new number from could also provide them my new address. Still I have not received anything from them. Also, I have never spoken to or responded to the collection agencies as of yet. I mostly just ignore the unknown numbers that call anyway and I only found out that it is collection agencies when 2 of the 3 left messages and I reverse searched their numbers (the first agency I did not even know of except via the collection note on the credit profile).

As for my outstanding debt, Is there any limitation on how many collection agencies can attempt to get this money? Because each new one that attempts to collect causes another flag on my profile for 6 years right? Who keeps selling the debt to collection agencies. Is it Rogers or the previous agency?

I think I wil try to contact Rogers and make the payments to them if I can and that way it will close the account through them like you advised. If I do it this way though how do I get the current collection agency to stop trying to collect or a new agencies from popping up and trying to collect?

Also, If I make the payments via Rogers. Could I have any way of getting the collection agencies removed from the credit profile?

Thanks again

Pat

You raise a number of issues and I will deal with each one individually.

When did you make the last payment to Rogers Communications? Have you made any written acknowledgement and signed by you of this outstanding debt to either Rogers or any collection agency subsequent to your last payment on the account? This information is very important because in Ontario we have a Limitations Act which among other things says that the creditor ( Rogers ) has 2 years to begin legal proceedings to get a court order, otherwise the debt is statute-barred. That does not mean that the debt disappears. It does mean that the creditor can no longer sue you in order to get a court order.

If this debt has been assigned to a collection agency, under the Collection Agencies Act, they are required to send you a letter stating who they are and they have been assigned this account to collect from the debtor. In this letter, they must state who the original creditor is, the account number of this debt and the amount claimed as owing. They cannot contact you by phone until 6 days later to discuss this debt. If they have not sent you this letter, the next time that they call you, tell them that you refuse to discuss this matter until you receive this letter.

Do not waste your time in contacting the credit bureaus as they will send you a "boilerplate" letter that they send to thousands of consumers requesting changes. Their response will be to contact the creditor. If the creditor wants to change any information in your credit file, they will communicate that to the credit bureau. That then becomes the credit bureau's authority to amend or remove information in your credit file.

Do not concern yourself with the Rogers account shown as OPEN. That simply means that Rogers has not written you off as an uncollectable account and it has zero effect on your credit score.

You are not required to deal with any collection agency. You can chose to deal with the original creditor ( Rogers ). If Rogers claims that you must deal with the collection agency and you wish to pay down this debt, keep sending your payments, referencing your account number to Rogers. I can guarantee you that Rogers will cash the cheques which denotes that they have accepted your payment. The collection agencies may still contact you to convince you to make the payments to them because that is how they get paid. Simply ignore any claims or threats that they make and hang up the phone. Remember, there is no law in Canada that says that you have to talk to a collector.

Once a collection account appears on your credit report, it remains there for 6 or 7 years with Equifax and TransUnion respectively. It matters not whether you pay this collection account. If the account is subsequently paid, it will be noted as paid by debtor. Even if the creditor or collection agency requests the credit bureau to remove this PAID collection account from your credit file, the credit bureaus will refuse unless it can be proven that this collection account belongs to another consumer or was reported to the credit bureau in error.

Inquiries remain on your Equifax report for 3 years and on your TransUnion report for 6 years. Collection agencies do not need your consent to make an inquiry. When you signed a contract with Rogers, it will state that you have given Rogers and their ASSIGNS ( namely collection agencies ) the authority to review your credit file. Most consumers do not read and understand the contract before they sign it. I suppose they feel that it's so much "mumbo-jumbo" and if they did read it, they wouldn't understand it anyway. This is where most of the problems and misunderstandings arise..

Good Luck and have a GREAT DAY