Disputing charges not yet paid for

[trjonescp]

What is the name of your state? California

I am disputing charges made by Public Storage Inc. that were made after I had left my storage space and terminated service. The manager is being completely unreasonable so I plan to have the dispute resolved in Small Claims Court. My question is how to handle this properly -- Should I pay the disputed charge and then sue in small claims court for the money back? If not, how should I file the lawsuit? Can I just take a dispute to court which says I demand all charges on my account at Public Storage Inc. to be dropped? Thanks for your help!What is the name of your state?

 

[tranquility]

That's one way. Another way is to ignore them and let them take you to court. Each has its risks and rewards.

 

[trjonescp]

They have already reported the balance to a collections agency. I'm trying to avoid the next step when the collections agency reports this to a national credit bureau and hurts my credit report.

 

[Zigner]

I'm sure much more knowledgeable people than I will chime in...
but I think if you WIN in small claims, then the item wouldn't stay on your report...
Please correct me if I'm wrong

 

[longneck]

unless you signed a credit application with public storage, then the collection agency can't touch your credit report. if they do, you can dispute it and they will need to produce a copy of the judgment against you. when they fail to do that, you can request that the entry be dropped from your credit report.

 

[trjonescp]

Thanks for the advice, longneck. So are you saying that I can safely just ignore the collections agency? I don't know if I feel comfortable doing that.

If I do file a lawsuit not, I'm still not clear how much money to put down on the small claims forms. I don't want Public Storage to pay me money, I want them to erase my outstanding balance.

 

[racer72]

Thanks for the advice, longneck. So are you saying that I can safely just ignore the collections agency? I don't know if I feel comfortable doing that.

If I do file a lawsuit not, I'm still not clear how much money to put down on the small claims forms. I don't want Public Storage to pay me money, I want them to erase my outstanding balance.

If you have not paid the disputed amount, you have no cause to sue. Small claims court allows suit only for actual monetary damages, if you haven't paid anything, you have no damages.

Also, wrongneck is wrong about the credit application being required before negative information can be applied to your credit report. Failure to comply with leases and month to month rental agreements are also legitimate reasons to place negative information on a credit report. In almost all cases, all that is required for a member to report negative info is a legitimate debt. Till the debt is paid or proven not valid by a court, the debt can be legally placed on your credit report.

 

[trjonescp]

Till the debt is paid or proven not valid by a court, the debt can be legally placed on your credit report.

So how to I get a court to prove a debt to be not valid? It sounds like we all agree that small claims court is only for lawsuits.

 

[racer72]

So how to I get a court to prove a debt to be not valid? It sounds like we all agree that small claims court is only for lawsuits.

You would have to sue for breach of contract in a higher court.