A different approach that has worked on several occassions for me:
- Contact the utility company
- Escalate to supervisor
- Explain the situation, including: Bad contact info on account, Landlord withheld deposit, etc...
- Explain you would prefer to work directly with the utility in good faith, rather than with a debt collection agency
In my experience, the original creditor is frequently willing to instruct the collection agency to cease and decist (including instructing the agency to clear any collection notices from CRA's).
End result is, you get your good name back and utility gets a bigger cut of the settlement from you than they would from the collection agency.
This of course, doesn't work if you're truly looking to fight both the collections notice and the monetary obligation.
