Collection for the Paid Bill - Updated - Sugestions Please

[srn]

After i moved from my apartment, i recieved a final bill from them. I have paid the full due amount to them on time over the phone with my bank debit card. I can see the tracsaction in my bank statement too. After more than two months (last week) i recieved a mail from Collection agency (Hunter Warfield) for the same amount.

Can you sugest me what i need to do?

Thank you.

[Anonymous]

Send them a debt validation letter. They can be found all over the internet. After you write that up and pop it in the mail call the apartment building (or whomever it was that you paid this money to) and confirm with them that they recieved your payment.

Get together your stuff from the bank as they might just say "we never got it" and you'll have to prove your innocence.

But sending that DV letter sooner than later will mean they can't put anything on your report if they haven't already as that would be seen as collection activity.

[novabama]

+1

DV them and get back to us

[Shogun]

Definitely DV them.  It will be timely and carry the most weight if you do so now.  If they come back and verify, then you will come back with your proof that it is paid.  Meanwhile the DV will bar any further collection activity while they verify.

[RobertEG]

Is the debt collector an assignee of the OC, or do they allege ownership of the "debt?"

If you paid the OC, I see no way they could have sold a non-existent debt.  They owned it, you paid it, ergo no collection.

If they dont assert to be the creditor, as they would have had to state in their dunning notice, I would start by contacting the OC and inquire as to how they can have an active collection assignment on the account when there is no debt. 

I would, in addition to any DV to the debt collector, also request the OC to contact the debt collector, and advise them of the inappropriateness of their collection and its reporting.

The OC might like to know if someone is dirtying their reputation.

[srn]

Do i need to write in the DV letter that i have already paid the amount?

Here is what i wrote in my letter, Let me know if i need to add anything to it:

Dear Debt Collector:

I am writing in response to a letter received from you on date 09/22/2012. Pursuant to my rights under federal debt collection laws, I am disputing this debt and I am requesting that you provide validation of this debt. Note this is not a refusal to pay, but a request that your offices provide me with evidence that I have a legal obligation to pay you.

Sincerely,

[srn]

Below is the info from the mail i recieved:

CREDITOR: XXXX Apartment

Please be advised that your delinquency in the amount of $xxx.xx which is owed to our client, the above creditor, is outstanding. The debt has been referred to us for collection. Accordingly, demand is hereby made for full payment of your past due account.

This  debt has been reported or is scheduled to be reported to one or all of the following three national credit reporting buereaus: Equifax, Tran union, Experian.

Hunter Warfield

I have been calling the apartment office since this morning. I was able to talk to the manager once this morning. She told me that she will investigate and call me back. (This was in the morning today). So far she did not call me back. I called her again now, i could not get her. I talked to other leasing representative who took my number and informed me that the Manager is on the other line and will call me back. I have also emailed to the manager and the Asst. manager of the apartment this morning with the bank trasaction details.

[srn]

After i informed the manager at the apartments, she  said that they will look into the account and let me know. After a day they contacted me and told me that they will contact the collection agency and ask them to cancel my account.

After that i have send a DV letter to the CA. Two days ago i have received the signed green receipt (certified mail) from the CA.

This evening i received a call from the CA, he said that he was calling to collect the debt which i owed to the apartment. When i told him about the DV letter, he acknowledged that they received the letter and he says that they have already send me the letter (first mail which i received from them). After 2 minutes of conversation, he was so rude, i disconnected the phone.

Now i have send an email to the Apartment office to look into this issue immediately. I wrote that - "If i receive any calls again from the CA, i will be reporting to the BBB and the AG's office".

Please suggest me what else i need to do now. I am so frustrated, 2 years of hard work to rebuild my credit is on the verge of destruction.

[Shogun]

Hopefully the apartment manager has contacted them to pull the account.  Sometimes the CAs are overzealous and like to harass.  Have the apartment manager send you something that states you don't owe the bill and never owe the bill.  This will give you some leverage with the CA if they don't delete the account.

[rckstrscott]

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@srn wrote:

After i informed the manager at the apartments, she  said that they will look into the account and let me know. After a day they contacted me and told me that they will contact the collection agency and ask them to cancel my account.

After that i have send a DV letter to the CA. Two days ago i have received the signed green receipt (certified mail) from the CA.

This evening i received a call from the CA, he said that he was calling to collect the debt which i owed to the apartment. When i told him about the DV letter, he acknowledged that they received the letter and he says that they have already send me the letter (first mail which i received from them). After 2 minutes of conversation, he was so rude, i disconnected the phone.

Now i have send an email to the Apartment office to look into this issue immediately. I wrote that - "If i receive any calls again from the CA, i will be reporting to the BBB and the AG's office".

Please suggest me what else i need to do now. I am so frustrated, 2 years of hard work to rebuild my credit is on the verge of destruction.

---

Couple points:

The apartment complex is probably to fault here. What you didn't explain in the first post was what was the time lapse from the final bill to when you paid it. Did you delay payment? Did you wait several months and they assigned this debt to HW? Hunter Warfield deals almost exclusively in assigned debt; I doubt they received this account by mistake, and if it was a mistake; it was on the complex.

IF you waited a while, and the debt was assigned for collections, regardless of paying the OC, the CA can report the collection. Now, they cannot collect on a debt that has been paid, but once again, this seems like a OC issue because they haven't reported to HW the payment.

Hunter Warfield has no care for the BBB and the AG route. They are an F rated business, and don't even respond, so you could try that but good luck. The apartment complex itself might respond to a complaint, but once again, they don't have control over a CA.

This really will have to come down to making the complex admit their mistake and have them wield whatever sway they can over Hunter Warfield; or if the account wasn't a mistake (meaning you waited awhile to pay them) you will have to entertain GW.

-scott