One question I get asked a lot is "Will paying off old collections help or improve my credit score?" The answer to this is No!
Oh, you want an explanation? Okay, here it is. If you've read some of my old posts, you'll know that I often say, once bad, always bad. In other words, if you have a bad trade line or bad credit entry on your report, especially from a collection company, whether you pay it or not it is bad. If you pay it, it is just a paid bad credit entry. So, you don't want to pay it, you want to get it removed.
What if you feel like you have a moral responsibility to pay the debt? My suggestion, get therapy and get over it! Okay, I'm kind of kidding. But think about it. If its a collection company, did you sign a contract with them - uh, nooooo. You don't sign a contract and set up accounts with collection companies, they buy old bad alleged debts and then try to make you think you owe them. But you don't owe them. You NEVER owe them.
Did you watch the video about how loans and credit really work? I love that video. He makes it so clear. First of all, banks and creditors don't lend money. They create it with a few strokes on a keyboard. They don't lend credit - well, actually they do, but that is illegal. It is fraud and they get away with it all the time because these different entities have brainwashed and manipulated your thinking to make you believe you actually owe money that was never lent to you.
Besides the fact that none of these creditors every really lend any money to anyone, they insure this made up debt and after 3 months of no payment, they put in a claim for insurance monies and at 6 months, they charge it off and take tax credits as well. So, how are they hurt? Oh, well, they get hurt in that they didn't make as much of an obscene profit as they were hoping for, but, they still got money from you that you didn't really owe and they got interest for money they never lent, and they got tax credits and they got insurance monies.
What did you get in return? You got to buy something with credit collateralized by your signature, which they insured and sold many times over and never applied the money they got from the sale of your promissory note to the phony baloney credit you used. You got harassment and credit dings, and higher interest rates and extra exorbitant fees. You probably got denied credit. Wow, now there's mutual consideration and fair trade. What you actually got is a void contract that they never disclosed to you, that they actually had no right and have no right to receive any money from you.
So, what good comes of paying collections or judgments? Well, if you're trying to get a loan or some new credit, the lenders/creditors like that you pay your alleged debts. But your score doesn't really go up too noticeably. It may go up a little bit when you pay off a judgment because it really helps your debt to credit ratio. But, what you may not realize is that when you pay these old, alleged debts, it resets your date of last activity (DLA) and that's like fresh bad credit and then you get to fight with the bureaus for another 7 to 10 years to get the crap off.
Oh, and paying off accounts with a settlement agreement. Should I even go there? That makes me want to scream! If you pay off an alleged debt with a settled, less than full payment, you know what you get for that moral decision? You get a new DLA on your credit report and you get a form 1099-C to pay taxes on cancelled debt. Yes, taxes on the magic money that the creditors already got a tax break and big fat insurance bonus on. And you get a lower credit score because you didn't pay in full, as agreed. And, since it was probably already a bad debt, now you have a paid bad debt.
Do you see why I don't like the idea of paying off these old alleged debts? Judgments, sometimes you just don't have a choice because they put liens and garnishments on you. The best thing to do before you get a judgment, is to set yourself up with some asset protection to block them from getting anything from you. Then, in 10 years, most likely they are not going to renew the judgment and you're good to go. If you've already had a judgment put against you and your wages have been garnished or you've paid it already, make sure you get that notice of satisfaction and make sure they record that with the courts or they will be screwing you over on your credit for many years to come.
If your credit has these negative trade lines, bad credit, derogatory credit entries and you are ready to fight but need some help, please email or call me. If you don't fight back and if you don't try to repair your credit reports, they will just stay bad. Collectors, creditors and the bureaus will not go out of their way to remove old bad credit on their own most of the time. It is up to you to make them do it. I would love to help you get your credit back to when it was looking much prettier. My contact information is up at the top on the right. Please call me or email me so I can help you get started.
Showing posts with label negative tradeline. Show all posts
Showing posts with label negative tradeline. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Sunday, March 3, 2013
How Bad Credit Affects Your Credit Score (Part 3/3)
Part 3: The effect bad credit habits have on your credit score
In the first 2 parts we talked about 2 of the most popular credit scoring models. Now I'm going to try to expose how the different bad categories affect your credit. When I say "categories" I'm talking about collections, charge-offs, liens, late pays, judgments, bankruptcies, and accounts that are showing "Settled". All of these things are negatives and hurt your credit score. What's worse, is that they cost you money in higher interest rates, higher insurance rates. Even your ability to get a better paying job, (or a job at all, in this economy), can be affected.
When you have negative credit on your credit report, the negatives cost you the most points when they are newly reported. As time goes on, your score will raise a bit, regardless if you paid off the negative tradelines or not. I always tell people that a negative is bad and once bad, always bad - even if its paid. It is just a "Paid" bad and costs you points. In fact, when you pay an old negative, it sets a new date for how long that negative can stay on your credit. That's one of the reasons why I don't advocate paying old debt at all. You need to get those off, not just showing paid.
Exactly how the scoring and how many points for each baddie is figured, I can't say. I do know some general information. They like to keep the percentages and algorithms a secret. Its my opinion that they do this because they don't want everyone having good credit. Bad credit is Big Money. Think about it, when you are offered pre-approved cards in the mail, they are almost always attached to higher interest rates, annual and sometimes monthly fees, teaser rates to start off with and then the rate jumps, and almost always, the type of cards offered are for people needing to rebuild their credit.
These companies get your information from the bureaus. The bureaus sell your information. They have lists of people grouped and categorized for sale. Those with bankruptcies approaching 2 years, those with paid collections or charge-offs, low FICO score range lists. This is one of the main ways bureaus make money. Now, these companies offering the credit cards, the ones that buy the lists from the bureaus, they stand to make a ton of money because the interest rates and fees are higher than what someone with A credit will accept. As I said before, bad credit is big money, its big business.
So how many points do these negative items cost you? Its not the same amount for every person. One thing that affects the amount your score will drop is what the FICO score was before the negative was placed on the credit. The higher the credit score, then the more points a negative mark will cost you. I believe because this is true, that the points it costs you is a percentage of the starting score. Also, the amount of points you get back when you get the negative removed is generally going to be less than the amount it cost you because the longer the negative is on your report, the less it costs you. In other words, every time your credit score is updated, you may gain a few points. Sometimes it updates because a new negative is put on, but it can be offset by the score raising a little bit, from the length of time older baddies have been on the report. So time and changes to the report affect the score.
Here are what some of the different "baddies" will cost you in points, and why you need to get these deleted from your report, not just paid off. Remember, its based on what your starting score it.
New Collection: Avg. 50 - 150 point drop for each one
Points lost are based on your starting score and the dollar amount of the collection reported. It is a confusing formula, but this is what I have learned through research. Initial points lost 50-100 for the first $236 then another 35-50 points lost for each additional $354. Then, they add back some points ranging from 76-175. On a $1200 collection with a starting score of 700, there would be a loss of approximately 112 points.
Charge Off: Avg. 50 - 150 point drop for each one
Points are lost based on your starting score, but don't forget, this point drop is in addition to all the drops your score has suffered from the points lost for each 30 day late pay (and 60 - 180+ late pays), and then, when they sell it to a collection agency, you get dinged again when they report!
Late Pays: Avg. 60 - 110 point drop for each one
Points are lost based on your starting score. The higher your score was to start with, the more points it costs you. With each successive late payment, it should drop less and less because the score is lowering each time. But, late pays really hit you hard and cost you a lot of points.
Bankruptcy: Avg. 130 - 240 point drop
Points are lost based on your starting score. You see the effect right away, but it causes all the collections, judgments, anything included in the BK to show paid. By the end of 2 years, your credit score can really see some recovery. I've seen some credit reports that had the whole payment history removed on accounts that were included in the BK. Removing all those late pays, helps offset the huge point loss you get from BK's.
Foreclosure: Avg. 85 - 160 point drop for each one
Points are lost based on your starting score. Don't forget, you have been losing a ton of points all along with the late pays and NOD's (I don't know what an NOD point cost is - I figure probably similar to another late payment).
Judgment: Avg. 50 - 150 point drop for each one
Points are lost based on your starting score. Again, you've most likely lost points already for late pays and charge off, and collection. This is just another hit with a hammer. Time passing does help. Paying it helps because it really affects your debt ratio, and if you try to buy or sell a house, it will have to be paid before escrow can close.
Settled Account: Avg. 45 - 125 point drop for each one
Points are lost based on your starting score. You've probably been hit with late pays, charge off, and / or collections, costing you a ton of points before you get to this scenario, then you get to lose more! But, I absolutely loathe settling accounts. First, I don't agree that you actually owe most creditors, and definitely not a collector. But what's worse, is you will get a 1099 Tax Form making you pay taxes on the amount forgiven as if it was income!!!! Can you hear me screaming not to do this?
Maxed Out Account: Avg. 10 - 45 point drop for each one
Points are lost based on your starting score. I think the higher monthly payments you have to make on the account are worse than the point drop you get. Besides, as you keep making payments, you'll recover from this one fairly quickly - at least if you can make more than just the minimum payments.
"Hard" Inquiries: Avg. 5 - 55 point drop for each one
Points are lost based on how many you have in a short amount of time. If you're applying for credit all over the place, that's going to cause a lot of "hard" inquiries - the kind that cost points and everyone that pulls your credit can see. If you're applying for a mortgage, they don't count multiple pulls against you though, if they are within a 30 day period, because they know that loan officers may be required to pull several times when "shopping" your loan to get you the best rates. Also, points from inquiries only affect your score for 1 year, and then there is no impact from them at all.
When you remove negatives like these from your credit report, you can expect to see your score increase. I don't know the formula for that either, but you can sort of figure it will be about half the points from the low end to half the points of the high end in the point range for each item. This is because time heals a bit and the points you initially lost are greatest right away then slowly you start getting some back.
Well, I hope I was able to give some information that may answer some questions. Please remember that because the algorithm is not disclosed, these numbers are just from testing and tracking done by research groups trying to have a better understanding of the scoring formula, and bits of information that FICO releases to give a little insight into how they score in order to help people manage their credit.
In the first 2 parts we talked about 2 of the most popular credit scoring models. Now I'm going to try to expose how the different bad categories affect your credit. When I say "categories" I'm talking about collections, charge-offs, liens, late pays, judgments, bankruptcies, and accounts that are showing "Settled". All of these things are negatives and hurt your credit score. What's worse, is that they cost you money in higher interest rates, higher insurance rates. Even your ability to get a better paying job, (or a job at all, in this economy), can be affected.
When you have negative credit on your credit report, the negatives cost you the most points when they are newly reported. As time goes on, your score will raise a bit, regardless if you paid off the negative tradelines or not. I always tell people that a negative is bad and once bad, always bad - even if its paid. It is just a "Paid" bad and costs you points. In fact, when you pay an old negative, it sets a new date for how long that negative can stay on your credit. That's one of the reasons why I don't advocate paying old debt at all. You need to get those off, not just showing paid.
Exactly how the scoring and how many points for each baddie is figured, I can't say. I do know some general information. They like to keep the percentages and algorithms a secret. Its my opinion that they do this because they don't want everyone having good credit. Bad credit is Big Money. Think about it, when you are offered pre-approved cards in the mail, they are almost always attached to higher interest rates, annual and sometimes monthly fees, teaser rates to start off with and then the rate jumps, and almost always, the type of cards offered are for people needing to rebuild their credit.
These companies get your information from the bureaus. The bureaus sell your information. They have lists of people grouped and categorized for sale. Those with bankruptcies approaching 2 years, those with paid collections or charge-offs, low FICO score range lists. This is one of the main ways bureaus make money. Now, these companies offering the credit cards, the ones that buy the lists from the bureaus, they stand to make a ton of money because the interest rates and fees are higher than what someone with A credit will accept. As I said before, bad credit is big money, its big business.
So how many points do these negative items cost you? Its not the same amount for every person. One thing that affects the amount your score will drop is what the FICO score was before the negative was placed on the credit. The higher the credit score, then the more points a negative mark will cost you. I believe because this is true, that the points it costs you is a percentage of the starting score. Also, the amount of points you get back when you get the negative removed is generally going to be less than the amount it cost you because the longer the negative is on your report, the less it costs you. In other words, every time your credit score is updated, you may gain a few points. Sometimes it updates because a new negative is put on, but it can be offset by the score raising a little bit, from the length of time older baddies have been on the report. So time and changes to the report affect the score.
Here are what some of the different "baddies" will cost you in points, and why you need to get these deleted from your report, not just paid off. Remember, its based on what your starting score it.
New Collection: Avg. 50 - 150 point drop for each one
Points lost are based on your starting score and the dollar amount of the collection reported. It is a confusing formula, but this is what I have learned through research. Initial points lost 50-100 for the first $236 then another 35-50 points lost for each additional $354. Then, they add back some points ranging from 76-175. On a $1200 collection with a starting score of 700, there would be a loss of approximately 112 points.
Charge Off: Avg. 50 - 150 point drop for each one
Points are lost based on your starting score, but don't forget, this point drop is in addition to all the drops your score has suffered from the points lost for each 30 day late pay (and 60 - 180+ late pays), and then, when they sell it to a collection agency, you get dinged again when they report!
Late Pays: Avg. 60 - 110 point drop for each one
Points are lost based on your starting score. The higher your score was to start with, the more points it costs you. With each successive late payment, it should drop less and less because the score is lowering each time. But, late pays really hit you hard and cost you a lot of points.
Bankruptcy: Avg. 130 - 240 point drop
Points are lost based on your starting score. You see the effect right away, but it causes all the collections, judgments, anything included in the BK to show paid. By the end of 2 years, your credit score can really see some recovery. I've seen some credit reports that had the whole payment history removed on accounts that were included in the BK. Removing all those late pays, helps offset the huge point loss you get from BK's.
Foreclosure: Avg. 85 - 160 point drop for each one
Points are lost based on your starting score. Don't forget, you have been losing a ton of points all along with the late pays and NOD's (I don't know what an NOD point cost is - I figure probably similar to another late payment).
Judgment: Avg. 50 - 150 point drop for each one
Points are lost based on your starting score. Again, you've most likely lost points already for late pays and charge off, and collection. This is just another hit with a hammer. Time passing does help. Paying it helps because it really affects your debt ratio, and if you try to buy or sell a house, it will have to be paid before escrow can close.
Settled Account: Avg. 45 - 125 point drop for each one
Points are lost based on your starting score. You've probably been hit with late pays, charge off, and / or collections, costing you a ton of points before you get to this scenario, then you get to lose more! But, I absolutely loathe settling accounts. First, I don't agree that you actually owe most creditors, and definitely not a collector. But what's worse, is you will get a 1099 Tax Form making you pay taxes on the amount forgiven as if it was income!!!! Can you hear me screaming not to do this?
Maxed Out Account: Avg. 10 - 45 point drop for each one
Points are lost based on your starting score. I think the higher monthly payments you have to make on the account are worse than the point drop you get. Besides, as you keep making payments, you'll recover from this one fairly quickly - at least if you can make more than just the minimum payments.
"Hard" Inquiries: Avg. 5 - 55 point drop for each one
Points are lost based on how many you have in a short amount of time. If you're applying for credit all over the place, that's going to cause a lot of "hard" inquiries - the kind that cost points and everyone that pulls your credit can see. If you're applying for a mortgage, they don't count multiple pulls against you though, if they are within a 30 day period, because they know that loan officers may be required to pull several times when "shopping" your loan to get you the best rates. Also, points from inquiries only affect your score for 1 year, and then there is no impact from them at all.
When you remove negatives like these from your credit report, you can expect to see your score increase. I don't know the formula for that either, but you can sort of figure it will be about half the points from the low end to half the points of the high end in the point range for each item. This is because time heals a bit and the points you initially lost are greatest right away then slowly you start getting some back.
Well, I hope I was able to give some information that may answer some questions. Please remember that because the algorithm is not disclosed, these numbers are just from testing and tracking done by research groups trying to have a better understanding of the scoring formula, and bits of information that FICO releases to give a little insight into how they score in order to help people manage their credit.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Myths and Bad Advice Regarding Credit Repair - Part 2
Credit bureaus, as stated before, are in the business of making money. So they don't always tell the whole truth about information that is on your reports, especially negative information, and whether or not it can be removed.
First myth. The tradeline has to stay on your credit for 7 to 10 years. This is false. There is no law that says information has to be there at all.
Second myth. You can't remove accurate negative tradelines. This is tricky, but more false than true. This is because of the word "accurate" in that statement. The truth is that more than likely, though most of what is reported may be "accurate", it can be removed because the law says it has to be 100% accurate. It is very, very rare that it is 100% accurate. Little mistakes like the type of account it is can make it not completely correct. Maybe the amount is off by a few dollars. Maybe the date is not exactly right. It doesn't matter. If it's not a charge off, and being reported as one, then it is not 100% correct. If it is a bankruptcy and the amount is $0, well why the heck would you need to file bankruptcy if the amount was $0. That's a very common mistake.
Third myth. You can't remove personal information from your report. This is false. If it's not exactly right, maybe the street name is misspelled or the numbers or correct apartment is not there, or missing, it's inaccurate. Dispute it. Just remember 100% accuracy is required by law.
Fourth myth. They verify the accuracy with the submitting party as required by law. Nope, false again! They verify, but it is not done the way the law says is sufficient. They verify electronically using codes. The info submitter sends a code back saying it is accurate or not. Well, the courts have upheld against all 3 major bureaus - TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax, that electronically verifying is not thorough enough. It's case law. Black's Law Dictionary sums up verification as being Confirmation of correctness, truth, or authenticity, by affidavit, oath, or deposition. This means that the actual person verifying the information as accurate must have first hand knowledge (they don't) willing to state under oath in a court of law, that they know as fact that every bit of information regarding the disputed tradeline is correct. You are the only one who knows first hand everything about the account. Do you think whoever punched in the code back to the bureaus would be able to accurately and honestly testify under oath that the information they have supplied to the bureaus is 100% true? No! They can't and won't, and if forced to, would commit perjury!
Fifth myth. Information removed from your credit report can be re-inserted at a later date. This is true. It sucks, I know. But there is a catch. The law says that if they are going to re-insert something on your credit report, they have to notify you in writing within 5 days. Now, go back to the fourth myth. Supposedly they have verified the information, it just took longer than the 30 days the law gives them. Have they really confirmed the information with someone willing to testify under oath that they have first hand knowledge that what they have just verified is accurate? NOOOOO! If they re-insert and do not notify you, they have violated the law, nothing new. However, that violation is worth $1000 to you. That is the fine that will be imposed on them should you follow through and take them to court. Then, they will have to pay you AND remove the tradeline. Not bad!
Last myth for today. Writing a 100 word statement regarding a negative tradeline is good to do. False. I don't do this because you are kind of admitting that you had an account with whoever. If you don't accept it as being yours, it's easier to dispute. Sure lender's may read it, but it's still a "he said/she said" situation. The tradeline with or without a statement affects your credit score. If it's negative, it's better to keep trying to get it removed than resign yourself to adding a statement. Always remember that like in a court of law, the burden of proof lies on the company or entity that submitted the information. By law, they are supposed to remove what they can't prove.
It is hard to get some of this stuff off. This is because they all think they are above the law. It's "catch me if you can" with them. You need to demand from the bureaus that they give you the name, title and all contact information for the person that verified the information. The law says that if you demand that information from the bureaus they have to supply it to you. But what do they do? They send you a letter stating that they verified electronically. That doesn't meet the burden of proof as required by law. It's a crappy game. So, sometimes, you will have to drag their butts to court. If you prepare and document consistently and take it to court, you can end up getting a monetary judgement against them and have the tradeline removed. Many people have been successful with this. It's not easy, it's not quick, but it does work.
Here's a couple tips for you on your credit repair journey. Dispute with the collectors first - before disputing with the credit bureaus. Always dispute CMRR. Then, when you get the "green card" back saying that the letter was delivered, dispute with the bureaus. This is because the law says when you dispute with the creditor/collector, they have to stop all collection activity until they have validated the debt with you. Verifying with bureaus is considered collection activity. So, if they obey the law, the bureaus will not get a response and will have to remove it.
If you are trying to remove a bankruptcy, don't go after it first. The first steps in that is to dispute and remove the tradelines that are negative that have any association with the bankruptcy. They are not going to remove a bk when there are tradelines stating that it was included in a bk.
Remember also, collectors that report do not have the entire file regarding any account. They buy in bulk and get whatever the creditor forwards to them. They do not have first hand knowledge. They are not a party to the original contract, so they are a voluntary payee and just paid off your account for you at a settled amount. You don't owe them a dime! They took a gamble, stand firm and make them eat their losses!
First myth. The tradeline has to stay on your credit for 7 to 10 years. This is false. There is no law that says information has to be there at all.
Second myth. You can't remove accurate negative tradelines. This is tricky, but more false than true. This is because of the word "accurate" in that statement. The truth is that more than likely, though most of what is reported may be "accurate", it can be removed because the law says it has to be 100% accurate. It is very, very rare that it is 100% accurate. Little mistakes like the type of account it is can make it not completely correct. Maybe the amount is off by a few dollars. Maybe the date is not exactly right. It doesn't matter. If it's not a charge off, and being reported as one, then it is not 100% correct. If it is a bankruptcy and the amount is $0, well why the heck would you need to file bankruptcy if the amount was $0. That's a very common mistake.
Third myth. You can't remove personal information from your report. This is false. If it's not exactly right, maybe the street name is misspelled or the numbers or correct apartment is not there, or missing, it's inaccurate. Dispute it. Just remember 100% accuracy is required by law.
Fourth myth. They verify the accuracy with the submitting party as required by law. Nope, false again! They verify, but it is not done the way the law says is sufficient. They verify electronically using codes. The info submitter sends a code back saying it is accurate or not. Well, the courts have upheld against all 3 major bureaus - TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax, that electronically verifying is not thorough enough. It's case law. Black's Law Dictionary sums up verification as being Confirmation of correctness, truth, or authenticity, by affidavit, oath, or deposition. This means that the actual person verifying the information as accurate must have first hand knowledge (they don't) willing to state under oath in a court of law, that they know as fact that every bit of information regarding the disputed tradeline is correct. You are the only one who knows first hand everything about the account. Do you think whoever punched in the code back to the bureaus would be able to accurately and honestly testify under oath that the information they have supplied to the bureaus is 100% true? No! They can't and won't, and if forced to, would commit perjury!
Fifth myth. Information removed from your credit report can be re-inserted at a later date. This is true. It sucks, I know. But there is a catch. The law says that if they are going to re-insert something on your credit report, they have to notify you in writing within 5 days. Now, go back to the fourth myth. Supposedly they have verified the information, it just took longer than the 30 days the law gives them. Have they really confirmed the information with someone willing to testify under oath that they have first hand knowledge that what they have just verified is accurate? NOOOOO! If they re-insert and do not notify you, they have violated the law, nothing new. However, that violation is worth $1000 to you. That is the fine that will be imposed on them should you follow through and take them to court. Then, they will have to pay you AND remove the tradeline. Not bad!
Last myth for today. Writing a 100 word statement regarding a negative tradeline is good to do. False. I don't do this because you are kind of admitting that you had an account with whoever. If you don't accept it as being yours, it's easier to dispute. Sure lender's may read it, but it's still a "he said/she said" situation. The tradeline with or without a statement affects your credit score. If it's negative, it's better to keep trying to get it removed than resign yourself to adding a statement. Always remember that like in a court of law, the burden of proof lies on the company or entity that submitted the information. By law, they are supposed to remove what they can't prove.
It is hard to get some of this stuff off. This is because they all think they are above the law. It's "catch me if you can" with them. You need to demand from the bureaus that they give you the name, title and all contact information for the person that verified the information. The law says that if you demand that information from the bureaus they have to supply it to you. But what do they do? They send you a letter stating that they verified electronically. That doesn't meet the burden of proof as required by law. It's a crappy game. So, sometimes, you will have to drag their butts to court. If you prepare and document consistently and take it to court, you can end up getting a monetary judgement against them and have the tradeline removed. Many people have been successful with this. It's not easy, it's not quick, but it does work.
Here's a couple tips for you on your credit repair journey. Dispute with the collectors first - before disputing with the credit bureaus. Always dispute CMRR. Then, when you get the "green card" back saying that the letter was delivered, dispute with the bureaus. This is because the law says when you dispute with the creditor/collector, they have to stop all collection activity until they have validated the debt with you. Verifying with bureaus is considered collection activity. So, if they obey the law, the bureaus will not get a response and will have to remove it.
If you are trying to remove a bankruptcy, don't go after it first. The first steps in that is to dispute and remove the tradelines that are negative that have any association with the bankruptcy. They are not going to remove a bk when there are tradelines stating that it was included in a bk.
Remember also, collectors that report do not have the entire file regarding any account. They buy in bulk and get whatever the creditor forwards to them. They do not have first hand knowledge. They are not a party to the original contract, so they are a voluntary payee and just paid off your account for you at a settled amount. You don't owe them a dime! They took a gamble, stand firm and make them eat their losses!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
