Please read the following article and then do some independent research and or p

Question

Please read the following article and then do some independent research and or provide some personal experience in this area/summarize.

Can a Debt Collector Sell My Debt If I've Started Repaying It?

By Nick JarmanFebruary 3, 2015 6:30 AM

A Credit.com reader Kierra recently wrote in with a question about a debt she was trying to pay off:

I owed an energy company $580. I settled with their collection agency for $480 as long as I paid $50 down and then $215 a month for two months. I made my down payment and called back a month later to make my second payment and I was that they sold my account to another collector and that my agreement with the previous collector was now void. Can they do that? After I already began to make payments?

To clarify, it is important to distinguish between a debt collector and a debt buyer/seller. Debt collectors do not purchase debt; they only collect on it. It is also important to recognize that not all originating creditors and lenders sell unpaid debt. For those that do, and as it relates to if a debt can be sold if a consumer has started repaying it, the answer is yes. An unpaid debt can technically be sold at any time, regardless of whether the consumer is in the process of repaying. Although it is much less likely that an account that a consumer is repaying would be sold, it could happen.

Unfortunately from a consumer's standpoint, there is nothing definitively that can be done to ensure a debt is not resold. The reality is that the longer a debt goes unpaid, the more likely the debt will be resold. So whether the debt is with the original creditor or new debt purchaser, it is critical for the consumer to establish contact with them and work out a repayment plan on their unpaid debt. As indicated, if there is one way to help prevent a debt from being resold to another entity, it is to be in the process of repaying it.

The most difficult part in the debt purchasing and selling process is for consumers to know whom they owe. Oftentimes debts may be sold and resold, thus leaving consumers confused as to whom to contact when they are ready to repay their unpaid debt. The best way to track down your debts is to pull your credit reports (you can get your credit reports for free once a year). And it may soon be easier for consumers to get clarity about debt ownership. This past year, Florida passed regulations requiring a new owner of a purchased unpaid debt account to notify the consumer in writing of the change of ownership before beginning collection activity.

Explanation / Answer

You can sue them for certain. You will need to sue both them and the collection company they sold it to ( name both parties) . Here is the law. If you have a contract ( agreement ) that you were paying on, and can prove it ( prove how much you paid, and owed in writing with documents to you stated balance) then you can hold them to the agreement. Under the law a debt is a form property ( non tangible). Your contract constitutes a " encumbrance" upon the debt , that goes with it, in transfer of ownership upon sale. They can sell the property but it must come with all liens and encumbrance. The new owner must honer the encumbrance agreement, or the old owner must pay the difference. This is why you must name them both in small claims action and let the court decide who pays who. You are n the winning side in all cases. so, . You are entitled to all the costs of having to take them to court. including filing fees. Any small claims case lawyer should take your case , because he will get paid and you get all your money back. So look for a small claims case lawyer.

The consumer needs to report the collection company because it is probably a scam. For every account they turned back or resell to another collection company is $50 dollars in their pocket which it is probably not credited to the amount owed. So easy income for them which probably don't report to the IRS since is such of a little amount, if they are actually a collection company that owned the debt. Also, people should always ensure that any agreement is in writing with collections companies before making any payment.

Always deal with debt collectors in writing only, when they call the first time tell them not to call and to put it in writing.

The law allows you to verify and validate a debt first before you have to pay them.

9 times out of 10 they will not have any of the correct paperwork to verify and validate the debt. If they do not have it, tell them to FO, you don't have to pay them jack.

Let me break it down for you......say one owes $5000 to a CC company and they send you a letter pay up or we write it off. You ignore it and they write off the $5000, in other words they get a $5000 tax deduction. They bundle up debt in various size packages, as in $500,000 of debt and sell to a debt collector for 10% of the total value of the debt. Bank gets some money back on a debt they just wrote off. Collection company may or may not have all the paperwork for your debt so they cannot legally collect it, so they hope people are stupid and will pay them back with out asking to verify and validate. That is how they make money off the uninformed and stupid. They will not waste their time with most who ask to V&V, plenty of chumps will just pay, why waste time with you, they will turn around and sell what they cant collect to another debt collector say for 2% of the value now. If another debt collector contacts you, do the same thing, V&V, again they wont be able to collect because they cant prove you actually owe it.
After the statute of limitations runs out on collecting the debt, provided you did not say it was a valid debt, they can't do jack to you. Now the statute of limitations can be a long as 7 years or as short as 2 years. If the statute of limitations has passed and they threaten to take you to court go to court, the judge will throw it out because it has exceed the legal date they can collect from you.

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