Hello,
I am looking for some advice in dealing with a collections letter I received on 6-9-17. It is from a company called Receivables Performance Management LLC. It is saying I owe them $386.94 for an old Verizon Wireless bill I never paid. I have quite a few questions about the situation, so I am listing them below:
1) I did have a cell phone wtih Verizon, stopped paying the bill, and they eventually permanently cut off my service. In addition to a few months of service I owed them, they also assessed an "Early Termination Fee" of 135.90. This brought my total owed up to $327.92. This was back in Feb '16. Can they do this - assess an early termination fee? I really only owed them a couple of hundred dollars at the most.
2) I then got a collection letter from a Valentie & Kebartis company, trying to collect the $327.92 in Feb of 2016. To me it does look like an official debt verification letter, as it states the original debtor (Verizon), the correct amount ($327.92), and the statement about me needing to dispute within 30 days. I didn't take any action on this, and have not received any further letters from this company.
3) Since then I have received letters from three more (all different) collection agencies attempting to collect the debt. One letter was received April 2016, one June 2016, and the last one was sent in June of this year (2017). None of the companies have sent more than one letter. I am wondering why they are all contacting me on the same debt from Verizon? Is this legal? None of them contain official debt verification letters stating for me to contact them within 30 days to dispute. They do all say that they are colleting a Verizon debt and list the same account number Verizon used when I was with them. What should I do about this?
4) When I checked my credit report in April of this year (2017) it does show that I have a closed account with Verizon and a past due balance of $327.00. The payment status section says " Seriously past due, assigned to collection agency". I understand that part, but under the collections section of my report, it shows no collections accounts.
How do I best resolve this situation in order to do the least amount of damage to my credit report, and also make sure I am paying the correct collection company? Why haven't the other companies sent an official debt verificaiton letter? I am planning on only offering a small amount in order to be done with this, but will that show up as negative "settled" on my credit report instead of "paid in full?"
Any assistance anyone can offer me is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
