Palisades Collections WELL, THEY GOT ME! Bethlehem Pennsylvania

I would start with the following:

Send them a letter via Certified Mail + Return Receipt stating:

Per the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, I am requesting written validation of the charges and interest above the initial $2,500 that you have received payment for this account.

You firm has accepted payments of over $8,000....over $5,500 beyond the $2,500 amount your firm put on my credit report a few months ago as the official amount that I owe.

Per the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, please give a detailed statement/summary of the interest/charges accrued on this account that would account for the additional $5,500 amount in such a short amount of time.
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You should contact an attorney to help you with the rest...

"Gamma",

First, your loan officer/mortgage broker was laying down on the job. I was in the mortgage business and in most cases I could get a "lender exception" on most OLD bad debts. There is no firm requirement to pay off all negatives prior to getting a mortgage.

Second, paying off an old collection account DOES NOT "get it off" your credit report. In reality, you hurt your credit score more by paying it than just letting it go.

Third, NEVER call or speak to any third party debt collector on the phone! NEVER do this!! It will never produce positive results for you, and will usually make things worse as you have found out.

You should have just disputed it, and during the dispute the item would have been removed from your report. Then you get your mortgage during this time!

Did you ever consider that the debt may not have been legally collectable anyway?
It was most likely past the statute of limitations.

And, it is not likely that a $2500 debt could become $4190. They cannot legally add any collections fees. The only thing they can collect is the original amount, and interest mandated by federal law, which at last i checked was capped at 6 or 8% on post charge off interest.

Knowledge is power. Never let lowlife bottomfeeders shake you up. Stay off the phone, do everything in writing by certified mail, RRR. NEVER pay any third party debt collector. Always make them sue you, as most won't.

Just a few minutes of research on the web would have indicated that Palisades Collections is a sleazy bottom feeder collection agency with the ethics of a barrel full of snakes....

It would have been wise to proceed accordingly rather than giving them ammunition by telling them that you are buying a home and you need this off your credit file. Only ONE debt collector can handle your account at any one point in time....your bank was totally in error in stating that both collection agencies needed to be paid. If Palisades Collections bought the account...they are entitled to any payment, not the previous debt collector.

Take them to small claims court for the amount of the double payment....you should get this back.