Here is my story, I was recently doing my routinely checkup on my credit report, after I received a letter from a CC company saying they had cut my credit limit in half, due to something in my credit report. Come to find out I had a collection from Penn Credit for $122, and I have since called them and found out it was a water utility bill from feb 2006 that went to collections. I also tried tell them that i would gladly pay the amount if they could guarantee it would fall off the credit report, they then said that they could not do that, that it would just show Paid in Full on the CR. I need to know what are the recommended steps in order to get this taken off. The bill was for an old address that sold in feb 2006, and I never got any letter from the collection agency, most likely since i moved out of my residence since I have been leasing the property, but I never got a letter or else I would have acted at that point. I called the Water Utility company and they confirmed the charge and gave me the account number and address, I can mail them a check and pay that in full, or i can pay it to the collections company. I did not know if i should pay the water utility then dispute the posting, or if the dates will kill my efforts. Any tips gladly welcome Manolodf
Are you saying that the address belonged to you and that it was sold by you? Typically when that happens the title company is supposed to take care of things like utility pro-ration and payoff. You may want to check into what they did and how they did it and whether they need to take care of you. At this point though just be adamant that you will not pay without a delete. You can usually get it at some point provided that you never release your only leverage (the cash) from your hand until you are assured in writing of it.
I certainly have not released that cash, i mean its only $122 so i have no problem paying it, but the main point is that I did not get a warning about it, or else I would have paid it right away. That invoice is feb 06, which I think is right before I sold the house, meaning maybe that was the pro-rated amount that I was due. I have called the water utility company and I asked they why i would not have received that bill though I still had an account with them for another property. I do not think the title company was supposed to take care of it though. Should I send any letters to either the CA or the CRO? Should I send Payment to the Water Utility Co directly and then dispute the reporting? I guess I will hold off on paying until I get some sort of promise that it will be removed but meanwhile I would like to know what letters to send, or what strategy to take.
One thing i just came up with is that the property deed was transfered on Feb 02, 2006 when they say the water bill was feb 06 2006, is there anything I should do about that. I also called Penn Credit again today, and they said that the City Water Utilities was the one that put it on my credit report, i dont know if they are just talking out their arse or if thats true and I must take it up with the city water utilities instead of with the collection agency. I just want to pay it, but i need to make sure it comes off, whether I pay it and then dispute it, or have to send out some letters. Any letters recommended for this situation?
