How To Deal With Debt Collectors
Phone calls and other communications from debt collectors can be incredibly frustrating. They will cause some to change numbers and even move just to avoid it.
This frustration will quickly be multiplied if the debt is not a valid debt. It is not uncommon for a lender mistake to cause your account to go to collections. Unfortunately explaining this situation to someone that has already paid money for your debt is not a recipe for success.
If you are in this position then you should request validation of the debt. I strongly suggest you do this through certified mail so you have documentation that they did get your debt validation letter.
We strongly discourage you requesting validation over the phone; unfortunately these requests are often ignored. In addition you only have 30 days to request validation of the debt, once notified.
In addition it is becoming common for debt collectors to sell your account if you request validation. This is why I suggest you request validation through certified mail so you can prove that your request was ignored.
Instead I suggest you hire a credit repair firm to dispute and remove the bad credit items that have been posted to your credit report. This way your credit score will not be ruined because of a lender mistake.
If the debt is valid then you should settle it. You should start your settlement offer at approximately 50% of the balance.
Do this because the debt collector has purchased your account for a fraction of the balance. In addition you are showing the debt collector that you are willing to pay if you can agree on a price so they will negotiate on the balance.
Before you pay you should get the collector to agree to remove the item from your credit in exchange for your payment. If you do not do this it will only change the item to a paid collection and will still damage your credit score.
In sum I suggest a service to repair your credit report of debt collectors.
This frustration will quickly be multiplied if the debt is not a valid debt. It is not uncommon for a lender mistake to cause your account to go to collections. Unfortunately explaining this situation to someone that has already paid money for your debt is not a recipe for success.
If you are in this position then you should request validation of the debt. I strongly suggest you do this through certified mail so you have documentation that they did get your debt validation letter.
We strongly discourage you requesting validation over the phone; unfortunately these requests are often ignored. In addition you only have 30 days to request validation of the debt, once notified.
In addition it is becoming common for debt collectors to sell your account if you request validation. This is why I suggest you request validation through certified mail so you can prove that your request was ignored.
Instead I suggest you hire a credit repair firm to dispute and remove the bad credit items that have been posted to your credit report. This way your credit score will not be ruined because of a lender mistake.
If the debt is valid then you should settle it. You should start your settlement offer at approximately 50% of the balance.
Do this because the debt collector has purchased your account for a fraction of the balance. In addition you are showing the debt collector that you are willing to pay if you can agree on a price so they will negotiate on the balance.
Before you pay you should get the collector to agree to remove the item from your credit in exchange for your payment. If you do not do this it will only change the item to a paid collection and will still damage your credit score.
In sum I suggest a service to repair your credit report of debt collectors.
About the Author:
Fore more tips to repair credit or to see a squidoo page about how you can dispute credit report.
posted by Credit Counseling at
3:24 AM
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