I work in DC as an emergency technician for hospitals. I work with a team of people where we have tons of parts in our vehicles. Sometimes we take each others cars because we are on call 24/7 living in hotels. When I am sleeping after 30 hour shift I will toss the keys of my vehicle to another tech instead of going outside and digging for the parts he or she needs. Someone got a parking ticket without telling me. I only found out three years later when I pulled my credit report. As a former bill collector I can tell you the best thing to do is dispute it with the credit bureaus. The damage has already been done to your credit score, this is the only way to undo it, or in the least let your potential lenders know you did not pay this because you were not responsible for it. Paying it will suggest you are guilty. Any payments made will reset the seven years it takes to remove the damages already caused. If they are hounding you in anyway, you are protected under the FDCPA and can write a letter demanding them to stop collection efforts to specific phone numbers and addresses. If they slip up and try to collect from these addresses and phone numbers you have specified, you can file a lawsuit to have this debt cleared and your credit restored. Do not pay, it will not help anything except remove the debt on your report. It will not restore your points, and it will take seven more years to restore your points from the day of payment. In my case I have disputed it with the bureaus and since this is the only negative ever on my report, I don't believe this will keep me from purchasing a home at a higher interest rate. i bought a new nissan Z last week with a 3.25% interest rate. So they can waste their time trying to collect, I called and discussed this with them over the phone. I told them I would pay in full only after receiving a written statement that all of my points will be restored. They did not agree, so they will not get paid.
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