Old debt, no contact, now on report

[Terps10]

I recently noticed a debt collection on my credit report from 2005 from an apartment I had in Florida. I guess when I moved out they wanted to charge me for the carpet or something of that nature. When I moved out I gave them a good forwarding address and I have had the same cell number for almost 8 years. So I know no one tried to contact me about it. Anyways, I paid it quickly just because I was having a background investigation done for a clearance I needed. I'm wondering if that was the right thing to do and is there some kind of law stating that they have to at least TRY and contact me before messing up my credit? Will it truly hurt me for 7 years? I had built up my credit to the upper 700's. Is there any way to get this off? It wsa only for about $80 and was paid off a few months after it first appeared on my credit report. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

-Thomas