Unique National Collections

Unique National Collections is by far the most interesting collection agency I've ever encountered. Most people who research this company do so only to find out how to remove Unique National Collections from their credit reports. When disputing your debt with this particular agency, you can't follow the traditional route. It just won't work. Let me give you some basic info first to help you understand why.

Library Collection Agency

Unique National Collections is a library collection agency. The only debts they accept are for old library fines. Reporting library fines to collections is a relatively new policy that has only become mainstream within the past ten years or so.

Unlike credit card debts and medical bills, however, library fines are anything but lucrative. You're looking at $10 here or $40 there rather than thousands of dollars of collectable debt. This can make negotiations extremely difficult due to the simple fact that there isn't much incentive on anyone's end to go through the trouble of modifying your credit report simply to recover a few bucks.

Not returning library books could land you in collections.

But I Didn't Know About the Library Fine!

Welcome to the club. Most people that end up in UNC's database of debtors do so because they moved and didn't get notices from the library asking for the fee or either the library never bothered to send anything. However, the odds are that you never received anything from Unique either. They certainly don't make it a company policy to dial you literally every two minutes until you change your phone number or send you multiple empty lawsuit threats through the mail. I used to refer to this as "guerrilla credit attacks".

No, Unique National Collections will just report that nasty little trade line to the credit bureaus and sit back and do nothing. When you call to settle up, dispute or pay they'll still....well...do nothing.

Unique National Collections Won't Accept Payment

Ok, so you've fallen under the delusion somehow that paying a collection agency is a good idea and you figure, "Hey, its only a few dollars and my credit report will show that the debt was paid" so you call up the collection agency and explain that you'd like to pay off the account. But guess what?

Unique National Collections does not accept payments

 I'm willing to bet that's a real "WTF??" moment for plenty of debtors to try and pay a collection agency only to be refused. But...here is where things get truly sneaky. UNC will direct you to pay the fee to your library. You see, they collect on behalf of the library, but they don't actually "collect." They also seem to think that FDCPA laws don't apply to them. 

UNC Debt Validation 

I've heard reports that attempting to validate a debt from UNC can go one of two ways:

1. They validate and they validate well. 

2. They claim they don't need to validate

I believe both reports, since I've heard them repeatedly from multiple people.

Here's the skinny: In Scenario 1, Unique National Collections will send you everything they've got on the account. Yes, you'll get the standard ridiculous printout that all collection agencies like to send, but you'll also get other information as well. UNC will often go so far as to contact the library you owe the debt to, have them check their records and send you a statement from the library stating that yes, the debt is legitimate and the amount of the debt.

A statement from the original creditor is pretty much a slam dunk debt validation.

In Scenario 2, Unique will send you a letter informing you that they aren't required to validate. Period. Sound nutty? It is, but the rationale behind it is sound and remarkably ingenious. By stating they they aren't required to validate your debt, UNC is hiding behind the fact that it doesn't actually collect debt. Only "collection agencies" are required to abide by the debt validation laws in the FDCPA. Considering that the Federal Trade Commission (which is responsible for upholding these laws)'s legal definition of collection agency is "any entity which regularly collects debts for others" you can clearly see the loophole.

Its as good as saying "Oh, don't mind us, we're not a collection agency. So no, we don't validate."

Can any business legally place a collection on your credit report and yet not be a collection agency? Supposedly not. I think this is wonderful grounds for a fascinating lawsuit examining what actually defines a collection agency. The debtor would win, I think, and Unique National Collections (its even in their name!) knows that too. The kicker here is that the company also knows that nobody is going to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on attorney fees and court costs to sue them for a debt that small!

Sure, you could recover damages, but only "actual" damages plus $1000. Since sustaining actual damages from a collection account so small is almost impossible, UNC gets to freely abide by their own laws – at least for the time being.

Don't count on a debt validation from Unique.

All I can figure is that the way the company responds to debt validation requests hinges on both: the type of letter the debtor sends and how recent the debt is. The easier it is for UNC to get in touch with your library, the better. Granted, they could just pick up the phone, but something tells me libraries purge records after awhile. This is an area I'm not familiar with, so if anyone knows anything about library records and how they work, please comment and let me know. 

Their refusal could also hinge on debt validation's 30 day rule. Since they don't send out notification to individuals that they've even been assigned the debt, there is no way in hell the 30 day time clock starts before the debtor sends his request for validation. 

Removing Unique National Collections From Your Credit Report 

Unique National Collections may claim to some that it doesn't have to validate debts, but it sure as hell validates them to the credit bureaus if you attempt to dispute that nasty little black mark off your credit report. 

As I mentioned previously, removing Unique National Collections from your credit report can be exceptionally difficult (not impossible) because of the size of the debt. You literally have no negotiation power whatsoever. Add this to the fact that UNC requires that you work out the debt with the library (which has NO knowledge or respect for credit law 99% of the time) and you've got a SNAFU of epic proportions. 

Working Library Collections Out With the Library

Your best option is working out the debt directly with the library. Don't just head up to the library and start talking to the desk clerk about your library collections, the collection agency, modifying your credit report, etc. The desk clerk doesn't know anything about anything. She's probably been put there by the state Department of Labor as part of a welfare-to-work program or just finished high school (My apologies to those few educated and knowledgeable library front desk personnel out there. You're awesome, but you're few and far between). You absolutely must call and make an appointment to speak with the head librarian. 

Yes, I know the business office deals with this sort of thing, not the librarian, but you're just going to have to trust me on this. 

Dress nice and get ready to smile and kiss some serious ass. 

Not an ass-kisser? LEARN.

Your job at this point is to make the head librarian simultaneously like you and pity you. Make it very clear that you are more than willing to pay the overdue library fee and deeply regret not knowing about its existence until now. Let the librarian know just why it didn't get paid in the first place. Just a tip, but blaming it on the library is a bad idea. For all you know, the librarian may have sent that notice out personally. Even if you never got one, that doesn't mean one wasn't sent. A move, a careless roommate or a divorce are all good excuses for why you never knew about the debt. 

Gauge What the Librarian Knows About Credit Law

Most people don't have credit law as a hobby. They either do it for a living or they don't do it at all. The odds are in your favor that the head librarian doesn't know jack squat about credit reporting other than the basics. He/she isn't required to know. Plus, most people who show up with a library fine in collections wanting the library to remove Unique National Collections from their credit reports make the mistake of taking the subject up with the desk clerk. They don't ever reach the head librarian. 

Ask the head librarian when the collection account will disappear from your credit report and analyze the response. She (I'm just going to make this librarian a woman for simplicity's sake. I hate doing the he/she thing) will likely tell you that she doesn't know and to take it up with the collection agency. This is where things get crucial. You use several methods to get this done:

Method One: 

Inform the librarian that the collection agency claims to have no control over the credit report as long as it owns the debt. Ask her to pull the debt out of collections and remove it from your credit report. If she claims that she is unable to do that, ask her if the account will reflect as "paid" once you pay off the debt. She'll say yes. Tell her that credit removal works the same way. Rather than communicating to Unique National Collections that the debt has been paid, however, the library must communicate that no debt exists and remove UNC from your credit report. Say whatever the hell you have to to get the librarian to agree to this. 

Tip: It's particularly effective to play the innocent card. Example: "Ms. So and So, our current credit system was designed to inform creditors and lenders of a given applicant's credit risk. Unfortunately, that doesn't take into account people like me, who pay their debts on time yet fall through the cracks when we're up against a debt we don't know about. This paints a very inaccurate picture of me and I need the library's help to get this straightened out." 

Method Two

Sometimes, you'll be up against library personnel who are old hands at this game. In this case, they know that removing accurate credit information is *technically* a FCRA violation (even though the FTC does not enforce this at all. Ever.) and just basically don't care about you and your credit one way or the other. In this case, here is your game plan:

NOTE: This hinges on you moving fast. Lightening speed caliber fast. With any luck, the account will take 30 days or longer to update as "paid" on your credit report. The goal is to have the account gone by the time an update would have occurred. 

Step One:

Go to the desk clerk and ask if you have any library fines on record. Pay the library fines. If you're really lucky, the library may not have a record of your unpaid debt. Regardless of whether you pay the fine or the library knows nothing about it, ask for a written statement from the library demonstrating that you do not owe a library fee and do not have an account in collections. 

Step Two:

Immediately go and get copies made of the letter. As in, don't stop and get lunch on the way home, go straight to Kinko's. Hell, if you think you can get away with it, sneak away to the copier in the library and make yourself about five copies of the letter. 

Step Three:

Fire off a debt validation letter to Unique National Collections. Include a copy of the library's letter stating that you don't owe any fees and don't have an account in collections. Its a good idea to have the debt validation letter already written and waiting. That way all you need to do is put a copy of the library's letter in the envelope and send it. 

Step Four:

Dispute the collection account on your credit report from Unique National Collections with the credit bureaus. Do this via mail and not online or by phone. Send a copy of the library's letter stating that you aren't in collections and don't owe any fees. As with the debt validation request, have the letter already written and waiting to expedite the process. 

Step Five:

Wait for the credit bureaus to investigate. What will happen is the credit bureaus will contact Unique National Collections by phone or fax and ask it to verify the accuracy of the account. Unique can't validate with the credit bureaus until it validates with you, that's against the FDCPA. 

But wait! It can't validate the accuracy of the account because the account is no longer accurate! As long as the "paid" update hasn't come through yet, the trade line is wrong. With a little bit of luck, Unique National Collections will decide to actually validate and contact the library. When it does, it will be told that the account has either been paid off or doesn't exist. 

Collection agencies are familiar with the one-two punch. When Unique gets a debt validation request from you and a debt verification request from the credit bureaus at the same time, it will know you mean business. If it can't verify, it won't. Unique isn't a major baddie like NCO and they usually play by the rules. 

You paid, but does the collection agency know that?

Unique National Collections Removes Paid Accounts Early

Before you break your back and cause yourself extreme stress over this, you should be aware of the fact that, unlike most collection agencies which allow debts to linger on your credit report for seven years (or longer if, like NCO, they like to reage debts), Unique National Collections removes debts from your credit report automatically one year after you pay off the debt. 

Policies change, so I highly recommend that if you plan on just paying off your library fee and waiting it out that you call someone at the collection agency and get something in writing to this effect. Normally I would never, ever advocate calling a collection agency, but UNC doesn't give a rat's ass what your phone number is and they aren't going to start calling and harassing you. 

Is All This Really Necessary?

Not if the amount you owe is under $100. As of January 2009, FICO no longer takes collection accounts under $100 into consideration when calculating credit scores. If your debt with Unique is less than $100 (and it very likely is) then there is little purpose in going to great lengths to remove it.

Yes, if you apply for a mortgage or other loan your lender may ask you what it is. If he tells you to pay it before you can get a loan, laugh at him and tell him that you aren't paying that piddly little debt out of pure principal – then find a new lender. I know from experience that, provided the rest of your credit is stellar, your lender will either not bring it up or not push your refusal to pay.