Hi, Here is my situation: My credit report shows that I have an unpaid utility bill that has been in collection since Oct 2000. The charges are for a period of time that I was not resident at that address, I moved out of the country and I had roomates living there paying the bill (or supposed to pay ). I called the utility company this morning and explained to them that I did not incur the charges since I was not there, but I would be willing to settle the account for full amount if they delete all derogatory info. The rep told me that they can mark it paid on my report as soon as payment is received and that they cannot delete info. Of course this is a load of BS. She seemed like she didn't care...so I told here I would think about it. My question is how should I proceed from here? I can call them back up and ask to speak with a manager? Do I have a valid argument saying that I was not at that residence during that period. I can produce evidence if necessary, but would like to avoid that. Thanks for your help, Trex
I had the same problem. One was my old tenants bill and the other was after we lost our house and moved out. I sent a letter of validation to the CA via fax. The day after I knew they received the fax I disputed with the CRAs. One of them was removed via dispute and the other utillity company sent the itemized statement(which would not have counted anyway) 5 days after the 30 days was up so NCO closed off the count. Utilities are so busy they may not have time to react in 30 days.
Should I state in the letter of validation that I was not a resident of that location during the reporting time?
Trex, Not living there is not gonna help you with you fight with the utility company. They are gonna tell you that since the account was in your name, you are responsible. You should not have told them that you lived there before, however, ask for validation of the debt....that is what I did with SCE & G . They deleted the account because they could not validate because the service was tunred on via telephone...there was nothing in writing. Good luck!!
thickman66, Thanks for the advise. I activated that account by phone. Also, the balance is $100. Trex
I hope that works for me too. My hubby has 4 utility collections on his report. I'm sending out validation for 3 of them this week. Hopefully they won't be able to validate, and will delete. the 4th one is the biggie, for almost $600. I'm sure they'll have no problem varifying that one! LOL
People have said that the "BIGGIES" are sometimes easier to dispose of... $53.00~~~NO DEALS~~~7 YEARS~~~PAID COLLECTION~~~
Just a vote of confidence. I got about $800 worth of utilities (thought it was $700) collections deleted just 2 days ago . $800 collection and it dropped off like a rock. And much like George. I have one for $87 that will not go anywhere, no matter how hard I try. Deletions make MrTexas a happy boy.
MrTexas--how did you get them to come off? Just the validation process, or do you have another trick up your sleeve? 3 of these are for $80 or less, so maybe these will be tougher. 2 of them are from Time Warner, and I always have trouble with them, I'm assuming this time will be no different!! I'd love to hear how you did it. These 4 collections are the worst things on his reports!!
