One of our readers, Heather sent us a question.

The collection company she believed she had already paid off has sold her debt to another collections company, and she is being taken to court over the total amount of the debt she previously owed. You can see Heather’s full question in the comments section here.

Dear Heather,

Thank you for your question. This is a terrible thing to have to go through.

Here’s the thing: you have taken the right steps – you’ve sent certified letters, you kept records of everyone you spoke to, you saved your payment receipts. You are going to have to go the extra, final mile to finally get this settled.

Get your papers in order, but do not send them off to the county court just yet. If you want to have any chance at having this resolved in your favor you are going to have to get a lawyer, and go to court on your assigned date. Do not make the mistake of assuming you can send the papers and have it resolved virtually. You will most likely end up with a judgment and a wage garnishment if you do it that way. Not showing up is as good as an agreement that they are right and you are wrong.

Given the amount of supporting paperwork you have I would imagine that you have a fairly strong case in the hands of a professional. Hiring a lawyer may be expensive, but it is really the only way to ensure that you don’t have to continue paying on a debt that you have already paid off.

So, once you have your papers in order, let’s take a quick look at how you would begin the process of finding a lawyer:

1. Research and contact a lawyer in the area you will have to go to court in, or one who is willing to travel (if you have to). Make sure that it is someone who has handled your type of case before. If you can find someone who specializes in it, even better.
2. Look for a lawyer who offers a free consultation. There is no sense in paying for something if you do not have to. When you sit down with them, bring your paperwork. Make sure they know that you have payment records, but not a settlement agreement, or a debt discharge letter.
3. You will need to be able to give them the history of the debt, from the first company to the last. They will need phone numbers, addresses, etc.
4. Make sure they are willing to make payment arrangements with you. Any good lawyer will do this. If they do not, move on.
5. Ask them if there is anything else you can do prior to the court date to help resolve the issue.

I know the last thing you want to do is incur even more expense because of a debt you have already nearly killed yourself paying off. But if you do not, it will follow you. They will garnish your wages, the judgment will show up on your credit report for many years, and you will not be able to get a decent line of credit for a very long time. By jumping through the last final hoop, you will save yourself a lot of grief in the long run. Even if you think your credit is bad now, it will be damaged even further by this new company if you do not meet them face-on.

Trust me when I say, when you leave that lawyer’s office the weight of the world will come off your shoulders. You will have an expert who can tell you what to do every step of the way. Once it is finished, you can begin the process of rebuilding your credit and in a few years, you will be back on top.

As a final note, once this is settled, be sure to wait a few months and get a free copy of your credit reports. You will need to do this so that you can be sure the new company is no longer reporting the debt to the credit bureaus. If it were me, I would take a copy of whatever the court decides and challenge any negative information from the new collection company that may already be on your report. That should help raise your score a bit and get you back on track.

I wish you all the best as you handle this matter. It is horrible, but as long as you take the necessary steps, it will be over soon and you can finally move on!

Thanks,
Jenna

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This entry was posted on Friday, July 11th, 2008 at 9:45 am and is filed under Tips and Advice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.