<prompt> Human: Long story short: my brother attended Dutchess Community College in Poughkeepsie, NY, and had an outstanding bill due for his time studying there.At the time, he was unable to pay it, and the bill was sent into collections. He attended DCC 3-4 years ago not sure exactly when, but can find out if that is relevant.He recently received a notice in the mail from Reliant Capital Solutions. The paperwork he received indicated that on top of the principal of about 1800 dollars, Reliant would be adding its own fee of about 900 bucks, bringing the total owed to approximately 2800.He asked me for advice on what to do, and I told him his first order of business should be to try and settle the debt directly with the college perhaps asking for a pay-for-delete. My thinking was that perhaps DCC would just accept the principal owed, and he would be able to get around paying Reliants service fee.This is where things get interesting: my brother contacted DCCs financial aid office. He was told that DCC would be willing to accept 80 percent of the total owed--but the total including Reliants fee, not the principal so about 2400. In addition to that, the woman he spoke with told him that this offer had a 30 day time limit, although my brother neglected to ask what would happen after the 30 days. He was simply told that this offer would only be good for one month.I then told him that if he was going to do anything, he should start a paper trail, and that he needed to get DCC to send him the balance they were asking for in writing. When he called back, he was told that they would not issue a bill with the balance--he just needed to send a check for the amount they were asking for.Does any of this sound...odd? Why would Dutchess Community College be unwilling to send my brother some paperwork indicating how much they were asking him to pay??Why are they asking for part of Reliant Capitals fee? Shouldnt they just be asking for my brothers principal plus whatever interest has accrued??I am not sure how to advise him from here. Should we try and settle it through Reliant capital? Should I have him call back and press the financial aid office further to send the bill in writing?Just trying to figure out what direction we should go in. Thank you!  <response>: If it was sent to collections - the collection company bought it. They are now the holders of the debt. Talking to DCC now probably wont get you very far. Id do the same tactic you are suggesting but rather with Reliant. If Im wrong here Im sure someone more versed will tell you and I. 