Who should I negotiate with?

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: Several years ago, I encountered a short stay in the hospital which I was not able to pay for at the time. As a result, the hospital turned my account over to a collection agency. The collection agency in turn left their mark on my credit report. : I am now interested in negotiating to get this negative information off my report. Everything I have read so far has suggested that I should negotiate ONLY with the original creditor. In my case, that would be the hospital. : I have tried in the past to work with the hospital on this matter. It always turns out to be a big run around when I try to deal with them. They tell me that I must deal with the collection agency. Sometimes they say the debt has been "assigned" and other times they suggest that the debt has been "sold". It is still unclear to me what the truth of the matter is. : It does appear that the negative remarks on my report were reported by the collection agency not the hospital. : If the debt has been sold, how can I tell? Can the hospital still negotiate with me if they actually sold the debt? : If the debt has NOT been sold, will the hospital have the ability to remove remarks that were reported by the collection agency? : Would it be a terrible mistake to try and negotiate this with the collection agency rather than the hospital? It seems logical that the collection agency should be able to remove their own negative remarks. : Any help would be appreciated! : Thanks

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