I am trying to repair my credit, and doing a good job so far. However, I have one thing troubling me. Last year, I received a ridiculously high telephone bill, and fought for months with Verizon about it. Finally, they turned it over to collections, who contacted me. I admitted liability for $265.00 of the $700.00 bill, and sent a check to them for $265.00. They contacted me a few weeks later, and advised me that they would be sending it back to the phone company for them to take whatever action they deem appropriate. It has now been at least five months since I heard anything from either the collection agency or the phone company. Is there a chance that this can appear on my credit report sometime in the future? I just checked my report today, and there is no mention of it on there. Has anyone experienced anything similar? Thanks! JPF
One of the problems with cell phones is that they are not regulated under the law at all. I would recommend not sending money to them unless you get them to sign a settlement letter. As far as whether they will report on your credit reports, I believe they can. The question is will they?
Oh I am sorry. When you said Verizon I assumed it was Verizon wireless. If it was your home phone then they defiantly are regulated. I believe telephone companies are regulated by the Federal Communication Commission. (FCC)
Does that mean that they can or can't report it to my file? Sorry for being so naive about all of this stuff. Also, could you answer one more question? I have three 30 day lates on my report from Shell credit card. Is it possible to contact them, and ask them to remove the 30 day lates from my report, even if they were probably late? Thanks,
Not a problem. A utility company can put a negative notation on you credit report whether they are regulated or not. But because they are regulated you have more options. You could call them up and offer to pay. You could have them verify the debt. Have you checked all three credit reports? Back about 8 years ago I got a second phone line. One day I decided I did not need it anymore and stooped paying the bill. About 8 weeks later I got a bill from a collection company for $72 and I paid it. I did not think about it at all. Several years later I checked my credit report a found a collection account/public record showing on my Equifax report. It just drooped off last year.
Yes, I've checked all three credit reports, and there is nothing on regarding my phone bill. After it went back to the phone company, I never heard anything from anyone about it. What if I contacted the phone company and asked them for the status of it?
If you have got the money to pay and want to pay, that sounds good. If you get a pay off figure from them I can post a settlement letter.
Well, the situation is, I dont' want to pay it. I never made the phone calls that they say I made. I totally dispute their bill. So, no matter what they do, I'm not gonna pay it. The fact that I haven't heard from them in so long is what's bothering me. I sent a letter to the collection agency telling them that I was disputing the bill, and haven't heard anything since then. J
Well in that case I would not call the phone company. Let sleeping dogs lie. Telco's these days are fighting for their very survival and laying of people by the thousands. Its possible they misplaced your account information or just don't have the resources to go after you. It is also possible they know they ripped you off and don't want to risk you suing them. There is a Statute of Limitations (SOL) on how long a company has before they can no longer sue you and get a judgment. My guess is that for $425 they would not spend the money to go to court. http://www.cardreport.com/laws/statute-of-limitations.html Good luck.
A friend of mine works for Verizon and she said Verizon themself do not report the debts, the CA's do, so if Verizon owns it, I PERSONALLY wouldn't worry about it. When Verizon was Bell Atlantic (in 1997) I had a phone bill for $700, it was someone else making collect calls having it billed to my number (I used to get TONS of CA calls for some Ahmed Barumb or something). ANyway, I disputed, they kept trying to collect it, I said never will I pay it. It never got reported, and once ever year or so, some guy calls and says are you gonna pay your phone bill (usually calls around tax return time).
Thank you so much for your assistance. I hate to be a pest, but it was something that is really troubling me at a time when I'm trying to do the right thing. Thanks again.
