Collection agency to collection agency

[kmhartman]

What is the name of your state? Pennsylvania

My brother-in-law is requesting an answer to this question. He had a CC that went the 180 day write off (original creditor MCCBG) and was then picked up by W&A. They requested a hardship letter from him after months of phone calls back and forth, which he sent in March. Not one word from them since then. He received a letter today from another collection agency stating they bought the acct in July from MCCBG. He sent the harship letter in March to W&A. How did this new agency get the acct. from MCCBG if W&A had it first? If an acct is returned by a CA to the orginal creditor as uncolletible, can that creditor then sell the acct again to another CA for additional monies? I can't help him as I have my own problems but I hope someone here can.

Thank you in advance for all your responses.

[olgethorpe]

That's the way the game is played. Its possible that the orginal creditor still "owns" the account and W&A simply returned it to them. Then, the OC found another CA to try to collect it. It can bounce back and forth several more times...then the OC may decide to sue...or may indeed sell the account to a collector. Even if your brother would settle with the OC or one of the CAs for less than the full amount, the balance might be sent out for collection.

This is why when dealing with CAs, do everything in writing. You need to build a paper trail that you can show in court. None of these guys can be trusted. Your brother might want to do some reading at:

[url]www.creditinfocenter.com[/url] or
[url]www.creditboards.com[/url]

about debt validation. Its possible that he might be able to catch one of the CAs violating the FDCPA enough that they wind up paying the debt for him.