Should I pay or not? (Credit report question)?

Question

Last December, at the end of the month I got a call from a collection agency telling me that I owed money for not cleaning up the apartment I had moved out of in May of 06. They said I had a few days left to pay or they would leave a bad report on my credit as of Jan 1. Well, this was the first I had head about it, so I was upset. Then they told me my apartments had sent me a few warning letters to my new address, and that I should have known, but I never even got those letters. So I called the apartment complex and they insisted there was nothing they could do, it was in the hands of the collection agency. I pointed out that I did clean my apartment before moving out and that they made a mistake, but they didn’t care.

On Dec. 29 I decided to go ahead and called the collection agency to pay over the phone. But when I called to pay over the phone I could not get a live person on the phone, I was stuck on their menu each time I called and had to leave messages, but nobody ever called me back. That was my last day to pay because they were going to close at 5:00 and not re-open until Jan 2. By the time they called me back it was 2 weeks into Jan and I told them forget it, I’m not paying because they already mad a bad report on my credit so the damage was already done; why pay? It was the fact that I had excellent credit and now it had a mark on it that made me mad!
Now that agency calls me every week or so wanting their money. So can anyone tell me should I pay this or not and reasons and if so why? Morally I don’t feel bad because I know in my heart I cleaned the apartment and if I had gotten the notices from my apartment I would have handled it.

Answer 1

By law, the collection agency had 5 days to send you a notice in writing after they had made first contact with you by phone.

Before paying them, send them a debt validation letter. Send it certified mail return receipt.

If they are reporting on your reports and reporting inaccurately, you have a legal right to dispute the inaccurate information. After you get the green card back from the cert mail, file a dispute with the CRA's for any inaccurate information.

I don't know if you did a walk through in the apartment with the apartment manager when you were moving out, what papers the apt. management had given you, at move out, as far what your liabilities were, etc.

You should read your states landlord/tenant statutes. Find out what your rights are.

You should also read the FDCPA and the FCRA, learn what constitutes violations with both the collection agency themselves and in how they report.
You can find links to those sites on my profile.

Answer 2

First, do you have pics of the cleaned apartment? if so you are golden..if not you might still be fine...
You might be able to get the thing off you credit report...if you can prove via phone records and any written correspondence you made efforts to pay the bill.

Also, If you write a letter to the 3 credit reporting agencies asking for that item to be removed because it is a wrong thing the accuser has I believe 30 days to either prove to the credit agencies that they are right or remove it...many companies don't respond within 30 days..if they don't the credit agencies will remove it..

You may also wish to start documenting stuff if you haven't...they need to prove that they mailed those notices...even if it was the apartment manager...the collection agency will need to prove they were mailed and you recieved them.
You might want to check out a tenants rights advocacy group in your area there are usual some in all areas of the country and they can many times give you some free advice..

Otherwise you might want to look at some credit advocacy groups or check out dave ramsey's website: see below.
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From the Dave Ramsey Website: www.daveramsey.com

There is a federal act that outlines the consumer rights as well as the restrictions of creditor calls. The Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act can be viewed at this site: www.ftc.gov/os/statues/fdcpa/fdcpact.htm.

In the meantime, here are a few regulations that are addressed in that particular act:

1. No harassing calls can be made.
2. Calls must be between 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m.
3. Repeated calling and name-calling are prohibited.
4. If a collector is harassing you, put them on notice that you are taping the calls to ensure that he is within the realm of the Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
5. Unwanted calls at the workplace can be stopped by sending a certified letter (return receipt requested to prove receipt) to the collector in question requesting that they no longer call you at your workplace and they must stop.
6. You are even allowed to send a cease-and-desist letter requesting that they no longer contact you in any way except to inform you of legal proceedings. Use this only in extreme circumstances.
7. No collector may garnishee wages or attach bank accounts without first suing in court and winning. (The only exception is student loans that are in default.)

And know this: ninety-five percent of the unreasonable conversations you will have with bill collectors are bluffs and are based on ignorance.

Answer 3

Well it is probably on your credit report by now. I would start with letting the credit agencies know the situation. File a dispute with the collections agency and let them know that you never knew you owed the money and could not pay it when you tried to. Once you do this you should get a response from both the credit agencies and the collections agency letting you know what they want you to do. As far as if you should pay it, that depends. If you don't want it to hurt your credit you probably should. If you don't think that it is going to hurt you that much, then I would go with your heart.

Answer 4

Do not let the collection agency intimidate you.

Intimidation is their tactic, however, unless they are gouvernement related, credit card or bank related, also Bell or some major - MAJOR corporation, they cannot ruin your credit name. They will tell you that they can because they most likely work on commission and every penny they collect is also money in their pocket.

What I suggest you do is get hold of your credit file, see if anything is on record. If yes, then you can still refuse to pay and take them to a small claims court. Not neceserraly for the money, but to clear your name. Make sure you have your facts straight.

If nothing is on youre credit record, then tell them to screw them selves as they will never see a penny.

Good luck

Answer 5

Only pay if they agree in writing to remove the negative entry from your credit report. Do not budge from this offer.

The damage has been done and if you pay with out making the agreement above, it will not help your credit.

If the negotiation above fails, send them a letter informing them that they are not to contact you about this issue again. If they contact you after you tell them not to they are in violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and you can sue.

Always deal with the collection agencies in writing (certified return receipt only) and never offer to pay by phone. They will keep charging your bank account or credit card over and over again.

Answer 6

Had you left the apartment filthy, you would not have gotten your security deposit back.

Call your bank and get a copy of that deposit. In the memo section, it would show that they deducted money for cleaning (which they didn't).

Send a certified letter and a copy of front and back of the deposit check to the collection agency and tell them that you do not owe any money for this.

Answer 7

If it is not too much for you, and they will agree to delete the negative trade lines from your report, then you should pay.