Get More Time to Pay a Bill With No Consequences

This one is for all of you out there that have anything in collections, or possibly going to collections.

Did you know that in order to keep a bill from hitting your credit report, if it is placed at a collection agency, it needs to be paid within 30 days? Here's an explanation of why and how to beat it.

A collection agency has the legal right to report something to the credit report as soon as they send out their collection notice, but they don't and here's why. When you receive your collection notice it should clearly state that you have 30 days to dispute the validity of the debt.

This 30-days is called the validation period and is required by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). Now since you have 30 days to dispute this you are going to want to wait until about day 25 or so and then register mail them a dispute letter. The letter needs to state that you dispute the validity of this debt and refuse to pay it until it has been verified.

Depending on what type of debt you have in collections, and how busy the agency is at that time of year, is going to determine how long it is going to take to get your debt verified. Since the FDCPA states that a collection agency has to attempt to get verification from another source they have to take the time to get back with the original creditor and get them to get the proof. This usually isn't their top priority, and it can take up to a month or more, but usually around 20-25 days or so and they will get it validated. After they validate it they will send it back to you. Keep in mind that it will also take time for the letter to get to you.

The reason this is a trick is that the FCRA won't let a collection agency report something that is disputed in writing to your credit within the 30 day validation period. Most collection agencies report to the credit bureaus only once a month. The chances are in the average 20 plus extra days you got from the dispute, you probably missed another credit reporting, giving you usually an entire month extra than you originally had to get something paid in full and keeps it off your credit report.

Completely legal trick and will work absolutely every time.

Note: When your bill is at your original creditor. 98 times out of 100 they will usually work with you on a payment plan and never send you to collections. As long as you keep the payment plan. That being said, if you want a bill to stay out of collections offer your original creditor a monthly amount that you know you will always be able to pay and set that as your arrangement with them. Not what you think you CAN be able to pay them. What you WILL be able to pay them. You need to be the one calling them to set up that plan not the other way around. If you wait for them to call you they might just not call and send you to collections. (Like I said earlier if you want to keep a bill off your credit report, it has to be PAID IN FULL before they report to your credit, not just on a payment plan.) Keep that in mind because a debt collector is definitely not going to tell you that when your about to pay a bill.

-Don-