FWIW: I made an agreement with an energy company 1 month after moving out of state to pay final bill in two payments (moving expenses, new deposits, etc being what they were). Energy company agreed to payments and no derog. I paid the 1st installment as agreed to the energy company. I set up auto-pay for the 2nd one, a month later. In the middle, I got a collection notice from collection agency for full amount. I figured it was a "crossing in the mail" sort of thing and ignored it.
However, on October 6, I received a score watch notification that the collection for the full amount had hit. I let the 2nd and final payment to the energy company go and sent a letter to agency to remove.
They simply updated the record to say paid in full. I sent a final letter to remove. They basically said... you know eff off. I sent a letter to the state AG office, and a copy of that to the FTC. This agency has been sued in multiple states for erroneous remarks and collection activities. I received a letter from AG's office stating they were investigating.
That $139 amount tanked my score over 80 points. That amount took me from going into 700+ range, less than 3 years post-bk, to almost unworthy of loans (and yes, I was cheering a non-rebuilder card, or so I thought).
In addition, I've filed a BBB report (waste of time but I'm making sure I've documented this everywhere).
My next step is an ITS letter and if it is not removed, to sue in federal court.
I tell you all that because:
1) not getting a PFD in writing from everyone SUCKS because GW with some unscrupulous agencies is waste of time
2) you can see what a pain in the buttafuco it is to try and rectify instead of proactively manage these collection agency dirtbags
Good luck - I hope a GW works. But if not... you can follow what I did.
