Paid Collection Account Still Reporting after Agreement

[Dezi]

About two months ago I paid off a collection account in full because over the phone they agreed to delete it from my credit report. I recently pulled my credit report and it's still showing. It's showing as paid, but it's still showing. I looked at the receipt they sent me letting me the account has been paid off, but no where on there does it indicate that they were going to delete for me as promised over the phone. Did I screw up, should I have gotten documentation that they were going to delete? Can I dispute this with the credit bureau even though I don't really have proof that they were going to delete it? Or should I contact the debt collectors? Just want to know the best way to approach this. Let me know...

Thanks
-Dezi

[Japhet11]

Hi Dezi,

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you have nothing in writing then it becomes your word against theirs. There is usually no winning that fight. Going forward you need to use a pay for delete letter and make sure that it is signed by the collection agency before you make any payments. Collection agencies are notorious for saying one thing on the phone and doing the exact opposite once you've paid.

You can try contacting them again and letting them know of the agreement that you set up with them, but without documentation, now that they have their money, there's nothing you can do to make them take it off. As for explaining your case to the credit bureaus, again, without anything in writing it will be useless.

If you need some advice on what letters you should be sending to the bureaus or collectors, please visit MyCreditGroup.com. Good luck Dezi, let us know how it goes.