Here is the situation. In July 2002 I had a truck (financed by Auto One) repossessed. The original price on the truck was $12,699, and the amount charged off by Auto One was $6,236 (I am not sure what the payoff on the truck was at the time it was repossessed). I live in Texas, and the account is within the SOL.
I want to buy a house in the next year, and this is the one has really worried me because of the $ amount and the fact that it is still within the SOL. I have been trying to figure out how to deal with this for a couple of months because I am about to come into some money (work bonus) and will be able to pay the repo off.
I decided to post this now because yesterday I found a letter in the mail from a CA named Syncom (I have never heard of them, the return address is in Houston) that says:
QUOTE
Txfight
123 Address St.
Houston, TX 77123
RE: Auto One
Client Account: XXXXXXXXX
Our Account: xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: 08-12-04
Know all men by these presents that the undersigned has hereby agrees to offer you the following settlement on behalf of the above referenced client.
Current Balance: $7,000
Settlement Amount: $2,000
Offer Valid Until: 08-30-04
Terms:
Upon receipt of the settlement, our client will inform the credit reporting agencies that the account has been settled in full with a zero balance.
Should you have any questions regarding this, please call us at (800)580-5168.
Please make check, cashiers check, or money order payable to Syncom.
This is an attempt to collect a debt by a debt collector. Any information obtained will be used for that purpose.
Sincerely,
Lady’s Name
General Manager
123 Address St.
Houston, TX 77123
RE: Auto One
Client Account: XXXXXXXXX
Our Account: xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: 08-12-04
Know all men by these presents that the undersigned has hereby agrees to offer you the following settlement on behalf of the above referenced client.
Current Balance: $7,000
Settlement Amount: $2,000
Offer Valid Until: 08-30-04
Terms:
Upon receipt of the settlement, our client will inform the credit reporting agencies that the account has been settled in full with a zero balance.
Should you have any questions regarding this, please call us at (800)580-5168.
Please make check, cashiers check, or money order payable to Syncom.
This is an attempt to collect a debt by a debt collector. Any information obtained will be used for that purpose.
Sincerely,
Lady’s Name
General Manager
This sounds like a great deal to me. I had planned to call and offer to settle the account for about 50%, so this is even less than I had hoped to pay. My question is should I just pay Syncom, or should I call Auto One to make sure Syncom has the authority to offer this settlement. I realize that the goal is to negotiate a pay for delete, but if just pay it I can always dispute it later.
My worries are:
I do not want to pay $2,000 only to have Auto One sell the remainder of the debt to another CA now that they think I have the money to pay it off. I also do not want to call Auto One if they have pretty much given up on me paying for this (don’t want to wake a sleeping dog) if I can just pay the $2,000 and be done with this.