G
genoj
Guest
What is the name of your state? Texas.
I really don't know what to make of this or what to do.
My father rents houses out independently in our hometown. In early July of 2001, he offered the house to a close friend of mine at a cheap rate. My friend agreed to rent the house out with another friend of his.
At my father's suggestion, we put the phone bill in my name so I could establish some credit. The rent and all the bills were faithfully paid on time.
In August of 2002, my close friend moved out of the house, leaving HIS friend there on his own. There was no issue with this since the rent continued to be paid on time.
In July of 2003, my father had asked me to contact this tenant about the rent being slightly past due. I called the phone number to find that it had been disconnected due to non-payment. I immediately called the phone company to find out what was going on.
I found out that the phone bill had not been paid in almost two months. It was also brought to my attention that the phone service had been interrupted several times within the past couple of months. The representative I spoke with notified me that this past due account was close to being sent to collections.
This upset me, and I quickly paid off the account and closed it to avoid it being sent to a collection agency. I received a confirmation number from the agent and was assured that the account balance was at $0. I even placed a password on the closed account, stating that anyone who wished to re-open it had to verify that password.
One month later, I decided to open up another phone line at my new place of residence. I did so with no problems and kept that bill current.
It's now February of 2004. Last month I relocated to Michigan in search of more career opportunities. Just before switching my Texas cellphone number over to a Michgian number, I received a phone call from a collection agency stating that I had a past due balance with the phone company totalling almost $1,100. I was shocked. I asked how this could have happend and I was told that in Oct and Nov of 2002, numerous international calls to Mexico were placed on the phone located in our tenant's house. I informed the agent that I closed that account in July of 2003, paying the balance off in full and placing a password on it. I also informed the agent that I was told that the balance at the time of closing was $0 and in fact I was allowed to open up another account with the same phone company almost a month later. The agent could not explain how this "mix-up" happened, but insisted that the debt was mine and I owed it.
I called the phone company directly to try and find out some more information. I was told by an agent that the debt did in fact occur in Nov of 2002. I was told then that the international long distance bill was piling up so high that SBC froze the long distance account and opened up another account (different account #) that was only allowed to make local calls.
I don't know what to make of this. I'm in Michigan now so everything is taking twice as long. If my tenant did make these international calls, is that considered identity theft? Or... why did SBC allow other accounts to be created if this huge debt was never paid off? I just don't understand.
I need to be steered in some sort of direction. Please help.
I really don't know what to make of this or what to do.
My father rents houses out independently in our hometown. In early July of 2001, he offered the house to a close friend of mine at a cheap rate. My friend agreed to rent the house out with another friend of his.
At my father's suggestion, we put the phone bill in my name so I could establish some credit. The rent and all the bills were faithfully paid on time.
In August of 2002, my close friend moved out of the house, leaving HIS friend there on his own. There was no issue with this since the rent continued to be paid on time.
In July of 2003, my father had asked me to contact this tenant about the rent being slightly past due. I called the phone number to find that it had been disconnected due to non-payment. I immediately called the phone company to find out what was going on.
I found out that the phone bill had not been paid in almost two months. It was also brought to my attention that the phone service had been interrupted several times within the past couple of months. The representative I spoke with notified me that this past due account was close to being sent to collections.
This upset me, and I quickly paid off the account and closed it to avoid it being sent to a collection agency. I received a confirmation number from the agent and was assured that the account balance was at $0. I even placed a password on the closed account, stating that anyone who wished to re-open it had to verify that password.
One month later, I decided to open up another phone line at my new place of residence. I did so with no problems and kept that bill current.
It's now February of 2004. Last month I relocated to Michigan in search of more career opportunities. Just before switching my Texas cellphone number over to a Michgian number, I received a phone call from a collection agency stating that I had a past due balance with the phone company totalling almost $1,100. I was shocked. I asked how this could have happend and I was told that in Oct and Nov of 2002, numerous international calls to Mexico were placed on the phone located in our tenant's house. I informed the agent that I closed that account in July of 2003, paying the balance off in full and placing a password on it. I also informed the agent that I was told that the balance at the time of closing was $0 and in fact I was allowed to open up another account with the same phone company almost a month later. The agent could not explain how this "mix-up" happened, but insisted that the debt was mine and I owed it.
I called the phone company directly to try and find out some more information. I was told by an agent that the debt did in fact occur in Nov of 2002. I was told then that the international long distance bill was piling up so high that SBC froze the long distance account and opened up another account (different account #) that was only allowed to make local calls.
I don't know what to make of this. I'm in Michigan now so everything is taking twice as long. If my tenant did make these international calls, is that considered identity theft? Or... why did SBC allow other accounts to be created if this huge debt was never paid off? I just don't understand.
I need to be steered in some sort of direction. Please help.