Posted on August 2, 2008 at 1:04 am When a Collection Agency buys bad debt am I responsible for the original debt amount of the debt or what the collection agency paid for the "bad" debt. They have always tried to get me to settle up for almost 1/2 of what the original debt was, which tells me that they didn't pay for the whole amount.

Posted on April 2, 2009 at 1:28 am Years ago, I settled a credit card debt ($500) for only $27.  No way they paid the full amount for that debt.  I think they got the debt really cheap and still made money off me.

Posted on April 3, 2009 at 1:24 pm You may also want to check the statute of limitations of the debt in question, depending on which state you live in. If you can verify the last time you made a payment on the debt, or the date of last activity, you may not have to pay at all. Most likely they paid up to 10 cents on the dollar to purchase this debt. If you decide to settle with them, make sure you get an agreement in writing that stipulates the debt was paid in full. Otherwise, some of these collection agencies will take your payment and turn around and sell the debt to another collector who will then demand payment from you.You shouldn't  pay them the whole amount even if they were the original creditor. Try and negotiate with them, always in writing.