Atty Letter for Old Utility Bill

H

HatDaddy

1,000+ Posts
I rec'd a letter from an attorney on behalf of the City of Flower Mound for a utility bill, probably water, after I left a rent house I was living in.
-The bill is nearlly four years old. I notified water and electric that I was leaving on 6-28-2005 and the utilities should go back to the owner of the house.
-The dates of service for this bill shows 7-25-05 to 10-31-05.
I talked with the atty office and they stated I probably didn't notify the city properly. This was 4 years ago and I know I notified the city because the owner was pissed he had to have the water turned back on.
Any suggestions?
I doubt they have records 4 years old to show that I called in, but then again they can't prove otherwise.
 
I can only say that there are some law firms (check that, one person working out of his home) that send out letters claiming someone forgot to pay this or that.

Let me guess ... you're supposed to send a check to the "law firm" right? Just make the check out to them and you will avoid further prosecution, right?

Tell them to send you the utility bills with your name on it from the proper city utility and you will consider the matter further. They will say they don't have the official bills, only an authorization to collect it.

See where I'm going with this?
 
No. Don't make contact with them. You already made that mistake once. They would have left you alone of they hadn't found a "live one." Don't by any means act like you care or are scared. Ignore them. They know they have 4 years to go after you so they threw a worm in the water to see if the fish were biting.
 
get his address and sent a box of dog **** in lieu of cash.
 
It's been a long time since I've disagreed with Nick on something, but check your credit reports to see if they reported the arrears to any of the credit agencies because there's a halfway decent chance that a collection agency (not just the city's law firm) will eventually get hold of it.

I sent a cancellation letter and follow up to a utility and they made a "mistake" and left my account open for several months afterwards. After one phone call to give them the cancellation number, I just ignored it on their word they would take care of it.

Unfortunately, I am still fighting about it and have taken them (and two collection agencies) to court over it. Looks like 50/50 on whether I'll end up in court a third time (I've won both times, but the collection agencies have ended up repackaging and selling/assigning the "debt" each time). It's been a mess. If I'd spent a little more time in the beginning following up, there's a pretty good chance I wouldn't be in this mess (going on 4 years since I canceled, BTW).
 
When you get an attorney letter, do not respond to the attorney.

Depending on the amount, either see legal counsel or deal directly with the City. If they can't find you or you ignore them, it'll show up on your credit report when you try to buy a car or house or some other large ticket item with credit.
 
That **** will **** your credit report. Seriously. I was in the same situation as you but I didn't take it seriously. Hell, I pay ALL my bills on time. Then I went to buy my first house and other houses since then. My credit was hurt ~100points for that ****. My credit rating is nearly 100pts lower than it should be because of that ******* utility bill. I've now paid the bill 2-3 times to the point that Washington State has money for me in the form of unclaimed property matching that bill. I've pleaded with Seattle City Light to correct the credit rating but they changed systems and are all ****** up. The collection keeps getting sold to a new creditor every couple of years renewing the hit to my credit report. I now have a letter from utility company showing what I've paid that I give to each mortgage company I apply for. Seriously, I should have a credit rating in the ~800 area but that ******* bill has hurt the rate I should be receiving on more than 1 loan.

Don't ******* ignore it but deal directly with the utility company.
 
gotta pay it. I talked with the city and the dates of service they have are for days I was still in the house. The atty ltr was wrong.
Payment was made directly to the city, not the atty.
thanks for the info.
 
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