Collections on credit

[Rill]

What is the name of your state? Kansas

I could really use some advice about the best course of action for my situation.

In May 02 I broke a lease with a housing agency and moved out. The circumstances that led up to that decision are complicated and confusing so I'll keep it short and say that the housing agency agreed that the termination fee (2 months additional rent) would not be charged. I called their 800 # to make sure that the fee would be dropped and they told me it would after I explained the situation again.

In September 02 I got a bill from a collections agency. I wrote a series of letters to the housing and collections agencies and recieved no response from them except more bills for the amount I didn't think I owed. In december they put the collections on my credit and despite my letters (or maybe because of?) they even stopped sending me bills.

I didn't discover that they had put it on my credit until I applied for a credit card in Feb/March and it was denied. I consulted my father and he called the collections agency and spoke with a manager/supervisor there. He was hung up on. We sent them one last letter asking that they remove the collections from my credit, explaining again why and included all my previous letters that I had sent.

Again, no response and I just got a copy of my credit report last month only to find that it was still on there. I've sent a dispute case to each of the credit reporting companys and now I'm waiting for their reply.

I guess my question would be what next? If my dispute claim comes back and they say it's a legitimate debt do I take it to small claims? If so what are the chances I'll win? Would it just be better to pay it, regardless of if it's owed or not and just wait 7 years for it to be off my credit? If I do take it to small claims and lose will that show up as a judgement on my credit or does it just mean that I really really have to pay the amount?


I'm sorry, I know it's a lot of questions but I'm really stuck and confused about this whole thing. I appreciate any advice!

 

[Rill]

Oh and I don't know if this matters but I was originally in Colorado when the lease was broken, then I moved to Montana to be with some family for the summer then to SLC Utah with my parents. I have now lived in Kansas since May 03.

I have some evidence that supports my case too but I'm not sure how helpful that is either.

 

[Ladynred]

Did you get ANYTHING in writing from the housing agency indicating that the additional charges were to be waived ??

If you have nothing in writing to support your claim that you don't owe the fees, you're going to have a difficult time getting anything removed from your reports and also getting rid of the collection agency.

Stop talking on the phone, its pointless. If its not in writing.. it never happened !

 

[Rill]

The only thing I have is a lease termination paper that has no 'Preliminary Balance'. It doesn't say you owe $0 but it also doesn't say I owe $800 either. Under the Preliminary Balance it says that an adminstrative fee and an amount equal to two months rent is included in the preliminary balance. I paid the administrative fee which was required and later paid a cleaning fee that they stated I owed.

I have a paper trail of the letters I've sent too but I don't think that helps much.