I would not pay them at all. Don't even admit to the creditor that you owe the money. Any response saying that you owe the debt to the creditor/collection agency can re-age the account meaning you risk a chance of being sued over the debt or worse it comes back on your Credit Report for another 7 years. Check out this website about different collection agencies and how to deal with them
http://www.budhibbs.com/index.html
.
To be honest, I know it sounds kinda crappy, don't even worry about paying them at this point. If the account goes back to the original creditor than offer to make a settlement with them as long as they don't re-age the account or put it back on your report. These collection agencies are just trying to trick you in paying them on accounts they paid for pennies on the dollar (and they do try to trick you, I even had one call me on the phone and said if I didn't pay them they were going to have me arrested at work. "I just couldn't control myself that I started hysterically laughing on the phone and it pissed her off more and eventually she hung up when I told her what a moron she is. Needless to say, she never called back lol).
The major point is here, your credit already took the hit from the cards charging off (and you will not get any additional points for paying a charge off). Don't let them trick you into paying it so it stays for another seven years. Check out this website to find out what your States SOL is for collection accounts
http://www.fair-debt-collection.com/statue-limitations-explained.html
. If you've passed the # of years for your State, just wait for it to eventually fall off your CR and never look back after that.
Trust me, I have spent several hours in courtrooms off of collection agency goons that were trying to get a judgement against so they could garnish my wages for a 400 CC balance. If you need too, get a good attorney and you will be good (generally if you win the case in your favor, the plaintiff has to pay your court costs).
