how to handle this

[robert124]

Had a good credit score 795 till last week and never had any late payments or collections in the past.

Little bit of background: I own a primary home in NJ and last year bought an investment property in OH. My property manger wanted the utilies turned on for cleaning & showing. Turned on water/gas/electric by giving my primary address for billing. A month later the property was rented and the tenant changed all the connections to their name. I recieved the bill for water and gas and paid on time. Did not receive the bill for electric($75) and it was not paid. I should have cross checked all outstanding connections, big mistake from my part.

All of a sudden last week there was an entry for collections $75 in my credit report(monitoring regularly), did not know what it was. Called the collections and found out the utility company gave my bill to the collections. I called the utility company and asked why i did not receive the bill. They told me there was NO billing address on file and the bill was not sent.   They never sent the bill and for non payment they sold the bill to collections. Collections never contacted us(they do not have the address), but reported this to all the three agencies.

This is my bill and i need to pay and i will pay.  If I pay to the collections, they will happily take it and collections report will stay in my credit history with a closed status. My credit score will stay messed up for another 7 years.

Is there anyway to remove this entry from my credit files. How do i approach this? Any input is greatly appreciated. I will happily pay double or triple the bill to remove this from my history.

Thanks

Rob

[BigBS]

Sounds as though there is grounds for legal action.  If you called and had the utilities turned on the utility company should have taken some contact information for you - standard procedure for any place that I have been.  When the tenant had the utilities converted to their name the utility company should have cleared their records with you or your management company to send a final bill.  If they didn't send you a final bill how did collection know who to file against with the CRAs?  Too many mistakes on their end.  It may cost you some money, but you should be able to have that removed.  Sorry to hear it happened.

[robert124]

BigBS, thanks for the input. Could you please kindly expain the approach to take. Should i go through an attorney? Should i pay and then try to remove the negative report? Or withhold the payment and contest. Any additional details, will be greatly appreciated.

thanks 

Rob

[BigBS]

First, I am not a legal entity in any way so my opinion is just that.  Having said that, I would go back to the Utility company and talk with a supervisor to get a better explanation of what happened.  Tell them that you are willing to pay for the delinquency, but want it removed from collections and from all 3 CRAs.  Once done, I would either ask for a letter stating the same or send them a certified letter for their signature.  I would follow up with the Collection agency with the same approach.  You may find that you can clear it up without obtaining an attorney, but at the end of each conversation (or series of conversations) tell them you will be getting an attorney and filing a claim against them.  Once you have the documentation take to a legal consultant and explain your case (initial consult is normally free).  Just my $02, but I don't seeing things like this happen.  Let us know what happens.

[polno1234]

i dont see anything that constitutes being illegal. any judge is just going to look at you and ask why you did not call when you recieved no bill. if a collection company has permisable purpose to pull your report to collect a debt then they have your address as well as long as the one listed on your report is current and correct. looks like they are setting you up for bonafide mistake. sweet talking them looks to be your only option at this point. it has been done and it is your mistake. pfd and gw away.

[youdontkillmoney]

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@polno1234 wrote:

i dont see anything that constitutes being illegal. any judge is just going to look at you and ask why you did not call when you recieved no bill. if a collection company has permisable purpose to pull your report to collect a debt then they have your address as well as long as the one listed on your report is current and correct. looks like they are setting you up for bonafide mistake. sweet talking them looks to be your only option at this point. it has been done and it is your mistake. pfd and gw away.

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^^^^^

BigBS is right. First pay off the collections company. Then, with proof of payment, what I would do is WRITE the utility company so there is a written record and sign it and photocopy it and mail it to them explaining the situation and the Action required on their part: because you were never notified ask them to remove the delinquency from the credit report since if the utlity company is the one reporting it, they too have the power to correct it. Explain you were never sent the bill so was unaware of it.Then the utility company will write back and go from there. Good luck. That's what I would do.

[robert124]

Thanks for the suggestions.  i will post for any further updates. Thanks again.