Can A Debt Collector Put Something On My Credit Report?
I get asked this question quite often. The reason this question comes up is because the Debt Collectors threaten people by saying: "If you don't pay in 30 days, we are going to put it on your credit" or "We are going to put a charge off on your credit."
People get scared when they hear this because it goes right to the heart of their fears. I'm about to get psychological on you. I believe that people want to pay their debts, and when they cannot pay the bills as they come due, it weighs very heavily on their minds and crushes their self-image. So, here comes the debt collectors with their "piling on" mentality, just throwing out more insults and threats to scare the already beaten down individual.
The simple answer is that the blemish on the credit report usually comes from the original creditor, not the debt collectors. Think about it for a minute. If you had a Visa Card from Chase and you missed 6 months worth of payments, you have to know that your credit report is going to be dinged a little bit (probably a hundred points or so).
By the time a debt collector gets it account and begins to collect, they are going to use every means available to them to try and collect this debt (legal or illegal) and that includes threatening you with credit reports.
You cannot stop a creditor from putting correct information on your credit report. So, rather than worry about it, start making plans to recover from it.
I hope this helps.
This post was submitted by Carmen Dellutri, Esq., founder of The Dellutri Law Group, P.A. Currently, the firm has offices in Port Charlotte, Fort Myers, Naples and Sarasota. Mr. Dellutri also sits on the Board of American Board of Certification. Mr. Dellutri is also one of the founders of the Bankruptcy Law Network, Debt Law Network, Credit Law Network, and Mortgage Law Network. Mr. Dellutri also writes for the firm's bankruptcy blog, mortgage modification blog, www.faircreditreportingactblog.com and www.fairdebtcollectionpracticesactblog.com.
