Just had a call tonight that a bill for $42 for AT&T was sent to collections on Dec 23rd. CA called the house tonight and wanted to arrange for payment. I do owe the debt and want to pay it. Should I try to pay AT&T direct or is it ok to pay the CA? She said they haven't reported to the CRA's yet and wouldn't if I paid them. What to do?
What I have done in cases like that: 1. Send payment directly to AT & T 2. At the same time, send a dispute/validation letter to CA. "I don't owe $42". Please validate this debt. LOL its the truth now I have never had anything show up on my cr's doing it this way.
My phone company BellSOuth tried to do that to me. I made payment arrangement to pay in full on 12-24, and did check by phone. When I called immediately back to have service restored, I was told it had went to collections. I give her my confirmation number and told her that we had a payment arrangement and that if it appeared on my credit report, or the CA contacted me, it would be a violation of my rights under the FCRA because it was paid before it appeared. She supposedly withdrew it from CA, but we'll see. If they contact me, I'll validate and they can't validate it. If it appears on my CR, I'll dispute and they can't verify either. Shorty
