Hello all! Let me start by explaining my issue. About four years ago, when I was in college, I lost two expensive textbooks and could not afford to pay the textbook costs to the textbook rental company. Eventually, the company sent the unpaid fees to a collection agency in March 2017. I contacted the collection agency and paid 20 dollars towards the money I owed in April 2017. That was the last time I ever made contact with the collection agency and the last(and only) time I made a payment. Needless to say, it showed up in my credit score as a derogatory mark that same year.
A year ago, I did some research about collection agencies in the state of TX where I live. I learned that you cannot be held liable in a court for the money owed four years after you last made contact with the agency. I was waiting for April of this year for those four years to pass, knowing that it would still remain in my credit score for a few more years.
However, a couple of weeks ago, I checked CreditKarma and saw that that derogatory mark had disappeared out of the blue. Two weeks ago, I received a letter from a new collection agency asking for payment. I saw online that this is common with collection agencies, and that the derogatory mark will reappear in my report soon. My question is- if I were to pay it now, would it reappear in my credit score again? I have not made contact with them for fear of adding four more years to the timeline. If I do not pay it and it reappears, will I have to wait four more years for me to not be held liable for that amount? I'm at a point in my life where I can afford to pay the agency, but I fear that I will pay it and it will reappear in my credit report once again. Does anyone have any advice for this situation?
Thank you in advance!
Submitted March 20, 2021 at 08:32PM by cricketycrick00 https://ift.tt/3vO8nmC
