 TITLE: Should I Dispute a Collection? CONTENT: What Is a Collection Account?\n-----------------------------\nWhen you take out a loan, credit card or any other form of credit, typically you must agree to make timely payments on your account.\nIf you don't make your payments on time, your account may eventually become past due and—if you miss enough payments—fall into default. If you default on a credit account, an apartment lease or another type of service, the creditor may assign your debt to a third-party debt collector, or collection agency. These companies attempt to collect debts from consumers whose accounts are in default with their original creditors. Collection agencies are allowed to report your collection accounts to the three national credit reporting companies, Experian, Equifax and TransUnion.\nThe debt collector will likely contact you via phone call or letter asking that you make payments to them to satisfy the debt, which is perfectly legal. When you make payments to the debt collector, they will keep a portion of the amount as their fee and return the rest to the original creditor. Once your collection has been paid off, your credit reports will be updated to show the account has been paid and reflect the new zero balance.\nCollection accounts, like most negative credit report entries, can remain on your credit reports for up to seven years from the date your account first became delinquent with the original creditor. Collections can cause your credit scores to suffer, although newer versions of credit scoring models published by FICO and VantageScore® ignore collections that have been paid off. END