Question about my credit report???

Question

I owed a college about 2,800 dollars in 2002 and when I checked my report it had the college on there, the amount that I owed, but said the due amount was 0 as of 2006 and under account history it says " collection as of march 2006" . How is that possible? I never paid them. Does that mean I owe them nothing? And I also had some hospital bills I had owed of minor amounts and none of them were even on there?

Answer 1

Your college sold your account to a collection agency, and the collection agency may not be reporting it to the bureau from whom you received the report.

I'd guess it is on one of the other two reports.

You still owe them. They just are no longer carrying the debt.

Ditto for the hospital bills. Check your other reports and I'll bet they show up there.

You can check your free reports at annualcreditreport.com, if you haven't already done so this year.

on edit:

The college may still report the account after they turn it over for collection. They just have to zero out the amount owed. The collection agency can still come after you and report the debt showing a balance.

Answer 2

The college may have transferred or sold the account to a collection agency. The agency should be contacting you but it may take a while to get the account. I would advise you to still save up and pay this in the event it will come back to the account because it will then update that account showing you were recently late and affect your score. Same thing for the hospital bills.

Answer 3

Good answers on here - I'd also suggest you check the statute of limitations for the state you live in.

There is a limit of how long a debt remains valid & reportable.  If the time has expired  -  or is near to expiring you can make your determination from there.

Regardless you do owe it.  Repaying it is the right thing to do.

Bear in mind too the time involved in the statute of limitations begins again if you pay even once.

Answer 4

That means the college has charged off the debt and sent it to a collections agency.  You'll be hearing from them.