House Maintenance company sent family member to collections

[Anonymous]

Hi all,

This is a bit out of my area of expertise. A family member had some work done on their house and never received an invoice from the company. Today, they received a letter from a law firm demanding payment + $300 in legal fees. The paralegal that my family member spoke to said they had the wrong phone number on file that they had used to contact my family member, but that they mailed it several times. It was never received. She then said it was my family member's duty to call the company and check on the invoice. 

My family member offered to pay the full invoice minus the $300 in legal fees. 

Is there any recourse here? Take it to claims court and force the company to prove that they mailed the invoices to the right address? 

[RobertEG]

You would need legal advice based on a thorough review of the relevant statutes, regulations, and case law interpretation of those statutes and regs in your jurisdiciton.   The outcome will result in a determation of legal billing obligations.

I would consult an attorney for a legal opinion based on a review of the legalities in your jurisdiction.