Apartment collection

[destin]

State: NV

I moved out of apartment about 2 months ago, and today I recived a phonecall from collection agency stating that they charged me $180 for utility bills, overstaing and cleanig the apartment. I don't agree with the charges (except utility) and I will go to this place tommorow and talk to them.

I am not sure what would be the best thing to do if I am not able to solve the situation there (ask apartment company to cancel collection process). As far as that collection agency (NCC) I could just pay, as long as they dont send it to credit bureaus, but how will I know that they really won't?

What would be the best thing to do? It looks like they don't care at all. That's just too much. They charged me for something I dont owe and sent it for collection without even telling me about it first! If you know what is the best way of dealing with something like that please let me know. Thanks.

 

[Chien]

OP – I’m going to skip over any disputes about the amount of the charges, because that’s not the question that you posed. Landlords and tenants have a statutory mechanism for resolving those issues.

I don’t expect that going back to the apartment and asking them to cancel collection will help.
1) Many industries – healthcare is a prime example – don’t waste time trying to collect themselves. They go to collections very quickly, regardless of the amount. Once gone, it’s not pulled back.
2) In many states, mine included, once the referral is made, the CA takes an “ownership” interest in the referral. If it starts any work (and it has in your case), it has a right to its fee payment, regardless of whether payment is made to the creditor or the CA. Another reason for “once gone, no going back”.

As to paying the CA if they don’t report:
1) First, you’ll have to ask if they have reported, and the longer you delay, the more likely they will have.
2) If you pay, how can you be sure they won’t anyway? If they haven’t and you pay, they’re not going to report a paid debt and they would be illegally reporting an unpaid debt.
3) It’s if they have reported that you raise an interesting question and that is if payment can get it deleted.
There are two schools of thought. CRA say their contracts prohibit “pay-for-delete”. Others contend that it can and does happen, and a debtor should require it as a condition of payment. I can’t give you certainty.

Best advice:
Contact the CA ASAP and make an arrangement to pay.
Ask if it has been reported. If the answer is “no”, get the payment in. If the answer is “yes”, ask for a pay-to-delete letter and get the payment in.

Personal suggestion:
Get the payment in. Whether or not the CA has reported, whether or not the CA refuses the letter and whether or not the CA lies, the amount is small. If your record is otherwise pretty good, it will fall off in well less than 7 years anyway and is unlikely to affect anything but the most major extensions of credit in the meantime. If you’re buying a house or car, you can discuss it directly with the loan officer, and it’s unlikely to make a difference.

If it’s on, you can file your own dispute with the CRA and it will be part of the record.

 

[destin]

Thanks for your answer. I was at the apartment's office to talk to the manager there, but she did not want to at all. She was just treating me like an "idiot". It is a good company etc, so i decided to go to the corporate office and talk to somebody there.

I really think I was charged for things that I should not be responsible for, and I stated that, however I agreed to pay the full amount as long as they would be able to cancel that collection process.

I bought a money order and I was told to put the name of the collection agency on there, but that did not seem to solve my problem, so I asked them to accept the payment under Apartment Complex name (just like you pay the rent or whatever). I was also told that they will contact the collection agency (they, in fact, were not very willing to do it like this because they have some sort of contract with them etc.) and just close that account there.

I was talking to somebody from collection agency twice yesterday and I will call them on Monday and tell them that the metter is resolved and somebody from that company will contact them. I think that should be good enough and I hope that the collection will not show up on my credit reports (it was not there yesterday).

From my experience, it is fairly easy to solve situations like that as long as you react quickly and just start calling, writing letters etc, etc.