Does a creditor have to tell you they're going to report?

[Charger_Fan19]

I was just wondering if a creditor has to tell you they are going to report. I have a debt with Verizon that I had been slowly chipping away at for the last couple of months for an early termination. I had a balance of an even $100 that I didn't pay on last month and Oct 1 it hit my credit report as a delinquent collection. I never received anything from them stating that if I didn't pay by a certain date that they were going to report. Without sounding too dramatic I'm completely devastated because my last bad thing was due to drop off my report in November of this year and with this reporting my TU score dropped 50 points, and my EQ 40. I'm shaking I thought I was finally out of my hole.

Please help!

[llecs]

No, they don't have to give you a head's up unfortunately. It would be cool if they would.