Collections past the 30 day initial dispute period

[Blue Jay]

Please give me advice on this. I think I know the answers from reading these boards, but I still lack confidence. I live in South Carolina. I have 5 or 6 collections that have been with the CA for a few years, so they won’t roll off my credit report for about 3 more years. I never responded to the initial letters sent to me, so I am well beyond the 30 day initial dispute window. Also, I am willing to pay the full amount on each collection if they will delete it from my credit report. It is worth it to me. My questions are:

1. Would the 1-2 punch work for me at this point? Would the CA legally have to validate it to the credit reporting bureau if I dispute, even though it is beyond the initial 30 day dispute period?

2. Also, since I am willing to pay the CA’s the full amount in exchange for deletion, is there any danger in simply sending them a letter that states that while I don’t admit the debt is mine that I will still pay the full amount in exchange for deletion. I ask, because I know that they now don’t have to legally validate the debt to me if I send them a DV letter.

I just don’t want to do anything that would restart the 7 year SOL. I would rather just wait until they roll of the credit report than pay the CA and have that 7 year clock start over again. The only way I will pay them is in exchange for a written pay for delete agreement.

3. Some of the tradelines on my credit reports don't show the date of first delinquency. If I dispute that and they can't verify, doesn't that mean they have to be removed?

4. One final question. A couple of the collections are medical. I called the hospital and without giving any information on me or the account, asked the woman in the billing department if I paid them directly and not the CA, would they then legally have to recall the debt from the CA and stop reporting to the credit bureau. The woman said that they couldn’t take the payment now and I would have to pay the CA. Is this true? I thought there was something HIPAA related that says I could pay these and they would legally have to be removed from the credit reporting bureau files. Am I wrong on that?

Thanks for any help and advice. Have a great day.

[Lian]

If you don't request debt validation within the 30-day period after receipt of a collection (dunning) notice, you can no longer enforce the "cease collection" provision of FDCPA 809(b). So any attempt to use the "cease collection" provision of FDCPA 809(b) as a tool in the so-called 1-2 punch process becomes non-existent.

As for the threat of offering a PFD, it depends primarily on whether your state SOL for the debt has expired. If still within SOL, it might trigger legal action on their part. However, if SOL has expired, you have that as a legal defense against any legal action they might take.

The FCRA period for continued credit report inclusion is not an SOL issue.

It relates only to how long a collection can remain in your CR. That period is fixed to the DOFD on the OC account, and cannot be reset based on any other information reported by the debt collection. The collection can only remain for up to 7 years plus 180-days from the DOFD on the OC account. That is a legal date-certain.