 TITLE: How to Deal With Debt Collectors CONTENT: Communicate Effectively\n-----------------------\nThe phone won't stop ringing, and the collector is leaving firm messages. Now what? Decide how you want to handle the bill, then pick up the phone and speak carefully, says Leslie Tayne, financial attorney and debt expert in Melville, New York. \"Stay in control,\" says Tayne. \"If your goal is to resolve the debt, know what you're going to do about it before you start talking.\"\nIf you have the money ready to go, explain when you'll pay, then follow through. It will be to your scoring benefit, since satisfied collection accounts aren't included in the latest versions of the ® Score and VantageScore®. Only promise what you can deliver, though. \"If you tell the collector you'll pay, you may be agreeing to a verbal contract without realizing it,\" says Tayne. \"That will start the statute of limitations all over again.\"\nAvoid being pressured into sending what you can't afford, especially if the debt is nearing the end of the statute. \"If it's that old, you may want to let it die on the vine,\" says Tayne. END