Collections Agency -- Settlement Offer Agreement Through Email?

[otis]

Hello. I was just wondering if can get help with regards to my situation. I have a couple of questions:

1.For the past month or so, I have been talking with a person with a collections agency. The collection agency's name is "Qualia Collection Services," which is I think related to "Optio Solutions." Now, we have reached an agreement. However, I need to complete this transaction as soon as possible.

So what I had the person do was to email our terms and agreements to me. It states everything we spoke about, and the exact amount I need to pay that we agreed to before they release the transcripts that I need, which they are holding until I pay off my debt. In the email, it states: "Any existing transcripts for courses already completed by (My Name) will be release by (school name). to (My Name) upon verification that the entire (Amount agreed to) has been paid in full to Qualia Collection Services." The email he sent also contained all of his information, including his contact information and the information of the debt company he works for. It also contained this information:

"Notice of Confidentiality: This e-mail, and any attachments thereto, is intended only for use by the addressee(s) named herein and may contain legally privileged and/or confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient of this e-mail, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this e-mail, and any attachments thereto, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error, please immediately notify me by e-mail (by replying to this message) or telephone (noted above) and permanently delete the original and any copy of any e-mail and any printout thereof. Thank you for your cooperation with respect to this matter. We are required under state law to notify consumers of the following rights.

This list does not contain a complete list of rights consumers have under state and federal law."

Is this a good compromise for a legal agreement through email? Or is it not proper enough to be a legal agreement?



2. Also, another question is, is it safe to wire them the payment from my bank (through a bank teller) to the Wells Fargo bank account that the debt collector has given me? Or is that not safe?



3. And also, we agreed to a post dated check as a payment since we cannot pay the full amount in full right now, and now they're asking for a check number. Would it be safe to give them a check number instead of an actual check, since I need this transaction to be completed as soon as possible for my transcripts? Should I just open a new bank account and give them that information instead?

Thank you for in advance for anyone who helps.

[thacher]

- Never give a collection agency your bank account numbers under any circumstances.
- You should never send a postdated check to anyone. If you mail it they'll just try to cash it right away and the check will bounce.
If you can't afford to pay these people right now, then you should hold off until you have the funds. When you do, mail them a USPS money order.

[reid]

Do not send a post-dated check and do not give them a check number. Giving the check info is actually worse than sending a check. They can use the info to take whatever amount they want. Don't give collector's direct access to your bank account. Send them a money order or cashier's check.

Also, I'm not so sure that a collection agency can make agreements to release your transcripts. Only the school can do that and that part of your agreement may turn out to be worthless since the collection agency has no say over those transcripts.