ARO did not purchase this debt from the original creditor. They are acting only as an agent on behalf of the original creditor. It appears that this debt was previously placed with another collection agency and they were unsuccessful in collecting part or all of the debt. That is why the original creditor has replaced this debt with ARO in the hope that they may have some success in collecting on this debt.

I would suggest that you contact ARO and tell them that you are reviewing your financial situation and that you will be in contact with them later. Do not make any acknowledgment of this debt either verbally or in writing and do not discuss any financial arrangements at this time. Do not contact ARO again until after you receive your consumer disclosure report from Trans Union. I assume that you have a consumer disclosure report from Equifax. If not, get one ASAP. Once you have both reports, study them carefully. Upon thoroughly reviewing these reports, you can contact ARO and make them a 50% offer. If you have further questions before you contact ARO, feel free to post your questions on this site under the above SUBJECT or PM ( Personal Message ) me. I will be happy to assist you.

So I got the letter from ARO today.

To the effect of this.

This letter is to inform you that we are acting under contract with ******** for the collection of debts owing to them. Your account referenced above has been assigned to our agency for immediate collection. We would like to take this opportunity to explain our procedures. Your account is payable in full at all times. We have been instructed to request that you make an attempt to arrange a payment in full of the amount noted above.

Payment must be made at our office within five days of receipt of this letter or contact our office at the toll free number to discuss this account.

So I'm wondering if they own the debt now.... and thus I can hit them with the 50% offer?

If this debt is already showing as a collection item, it will stay on your credit file for 6 years from the date of last activity, NOT from the date of payment. Since this debt was owing in 2006 and is now 4 years old, I would offer ARO 50% of the original amount. ARO and the other collection agencies don't take monthly payments so your offer will have to be all cash. As I previously mentioned, if you can settle this debt, even at a reduced amount, ARO will normally not report it as a collection item.

In the "tradelines" section of your credit report, debts that are paid on time are shown as "Paid as Agreed". However, debts that are collected either by the collection department of the original creditor or by a collection agency will simply show as "Paid", whether the debt is paid in full or at a reduced amount. If this debt is currently showing as a collection item and you pay the debt either in full or at a reduced amount, it will show as "Paid" but will still remain as a collection item for the balance of the 6 year period.

Good Luck

Thanks for the reply!

I'm about to pull a transunion report, I have the equifax report but didn't think the agency only one:(

If I pay the debt will it update and then it's 6
Yrs from when I paid it or when it was originally reported.

Should I try and get a lower payment ? Or would I risk them reporting?

They so far are very professional in this communication I've received.

Thank you again!!!! Your a life saver footloose!

Wait until you receive this info packet from ARO collections. It will probably be a letter informing you that they are acting on behalf of creditor X to collect a debt owed of Y dollars. They will usually ask you to get in touch with them within 7-10 days to resolve this matter. If you are prepared to pay this debt, then I would suggest that upon receipt of the letter, that you contact them and make your financial arrangements. If this is done, ARO will not report this debt as a collection item to the bureaus. They usually only report it as a collection item when the debtor refuses to pay or is playing "hardball" with the collection agency. This is why the monitoring service does not show any activity on your credit file. It is absolutely imperative that you keep all collection activity from your credit report, otherwise it will seriously damage your credit score and will create problems for you in the future when you attempt to obtain a credit card, bank loan, car loan or even a mortgage. You may still get the credit card, loan or mortgage but at what price? Your interest rate will surely be in the double-digits and your credit card APR could well exceed 20%.

P.S. When was the last time you pulled a credit report from both Equifax and Trans Union? Your credit monitoring service only works with one bureau, not both. Therefore, if this debt was incurred in 2006, it's possible that it has already been reported as a collection item by the previous collection agency. If that is the case, it will remain on your credit file for 6 years from the date of last activity even if you pay this debt in full. I suggest that you get your credit reports from both Equifax and Trans Union ASAP. If you don't want to download them and pay a fee

( about $16 ), you can order a consumer disclosure statement for free by mailing in a request. You can download this request form from their websites. It will take 3-4 weeks to receive it in the mail.

Hey Guys

Hopefully you can help me out with this one.

I recently was contacted by ARO collections..... basically they informed me that they had recently taken over from another collection company in the matter of collecting a debt of 400.00 from 2006 (it was a bank account or something).

They called... and said I was to receive a info packet being mailed to me.

My questions are?

I have a credit monitoring service and supposedly nothing has been noted to the credit bu's .... do I risk this happening if I acknowledge the debt... or even pay the debt off?

Basically... I don't mind paying this debt off but I want to come out with the least damage to my credit rating as possible... what do you guys recommend?

THANK YOU!