About Kathleen Eads Expertise Having spent almost a decade with a Commercial Collection agency, Kathleen
can answer questions related to collections~calls, motivating debtors to pay,
skip-tracing. She now works for National Skip Trace Network (NSTN), providing
premier technological Directory Assistance to the collections (www.nstn.net)
industry via the internet.
Experience
Past/Present clients Travelers Insurance, Nationwide Insurance, CNA Insurance, USF & G, Liberty Mutual, ACS, Asst Acceptance, Pinnacle, Penncro, Superior Asset Mgmt, PRM, Collins Financial, CBE Group
Question Hello and thank you for your time. About four years ago I missed a payment at a health club I was a member of and it ended up going to some collection agency. I moved shortly after I stopped going to the health club and so with my change of address, I never received notice of the debt. I found out a when I applied for credit a few times and was told about it. What I need to know is how I can go about finding the collection agency that has my debt so that I may pay it off and not have a smear on my credit. The health club I attended has since closed down. Any help on where I can start? If I do find my debtholder, when I pay them, how long before that reflects on my credit? Thank you.
-thiseas
Answer I would go to one of the bureaus and get a copy of your credit report. This should show who you owed the debt to (it's rarely the actual club, but a financing company handling the contracts for the club). You can usually get a 3-in-1 report from any bureau website (www.transunion.com, www.equifax.com, www.experian.com). FYI, this report can also be purchased at www.walmart.com (under financial services) for a little less than what the bureaus charge....gotta love Wal Mart...they sell everything nowdays!
Once you have your report (either hard copy or online access) it should list your accounts, creditors and creditor contact information. This should help you track down who to contact.
Depending on how it's been reported will determine how long it stays on the report. If you pay it, it may simply change from a collection account to a "PAID COLLECTION" account. Standard rule of thumb is that entries will stay on you report for 7 years.
One other thing to keep in mind is statute of limitations. Technically, a creditor can attempt collections forever; however, they only have legal recourse for so many years, depending on your geographic location and the type of debt (open account/contract etc). If it's been 4 years, you may want to check the site below for more information on statute of limitations on this debt.
