Paid balance in full to utility - CA validated and demanding interest

[head no longer in the sand]

This pisses me off...

 

Discovered an old utility bill for $847 from a state a used to reside in, stemming from walking away from my old home in 2008 (foreclosed).  Discovery was made when I began this credit report rehab project on May 6th or so.  Account was listed by a CA in Oregon, with an amount of $1072.

 

I had/have never received a phone call of piece of mail from them.....ever!!!

 

I had the money, so I called the actual utility company to see if they would take my payment, hoping this would give me leverage to remove the CA and avoid the interest.  They gladly accepted my payment for $847 and mailed me a receipt.

 

I also DV'd the CA, after.  I received a DV response from the CA stating the typical DV response, as well as a line stating that I have 14 days to contact them and make payment arrangements or they will proceed to the collect the amounts owed at the "clients discretion".

 

The second page highlights payment made amount of $847 with a remaining balance for interest charges of $231.19.

 

I sent a goodwill letter to the utility company, CMRR, stating who I spoke with, including that I paid the balance in full according to the people that I spoke with.  They called me yesterday.  They advised me that my balance was zero, but that I would need to contact the CA to make arrangements for the interest, as it is not part of their billing system, they have power to instruct the CA what to do, etc.  I pushed back a bit, but it was going anywhere.

 

Furthermore, and I do realize that they have 30-45 days to report any activity, NO ACTIVITY has been updated or reported on this TL.  Payment was accepted on May 8th.  I already disupted this with the CRAs.

 

My thought is to send a response letter to the CA, but I'm not sure what to write/include, other than I'm pissed off, and I know that strategy won't get me anywhere.  My objective is not to just get this thing reported with a zero balance, but to have it removed entirely.

 

If I send a follow-up dispute to the CRA's, including a copy of the receipt showing payment to the original creditor, I don't know who the CA is, etc.....will that work to have it removed?

 

Thanks for any and all guidance.

[Wins the Battle]

Send a dispute to the CRAs. 

 

If the utility states that THEY don't charge interest, then how can the CA?

 

Did the utility accept payment in full, or did they just say, "Sure, you can pay us. Thanks!"

 

I do hope that you realize that making all these payments on accounts that are so old that they are about to drop off your CRs is more damaging than just leaving them there and getting new, well taken care of credit, right?

 

You are not doing yourself any favors by bringing old, out of SOL debt back into SOL.

[head no longer in the sand]

Send a dispute to the CRAs. 

 

If the utility states that THEY don't charge interest, then how can the CA?

 

Did the utility accept payment in full, or did they just say, "Sure, you can pay us. Thanks!"

 

I do hope that you realize that making all these payments on accounts that are so old that they are about to drop off your CRs is more damaging than just leaving them there and getting new, well taken care of credit, right?

 

You are not doing yourself any favors by bringing old, out of SOL debt back into SOL.

@Wins.....  I have learned much from your advice.  My naive hope was that paying off OC's where possible would allow me to manipulate either the CRA's as OC's were paid, NOT the CAs....or.....paying off the OC would position the CA to report erroneously, leading to a delete.  I had not thought about the ramifications of updating old debts and making them "new", thus further hurting my scores. 

 

On another note, I sent a follow-up letter to the CA, stating that I do now owe a balance, sent him a receipt of the OC's zero balance statement, and a few other points that let him know I meant business.  The CA sent me back a letter stating that my account would be deleted from all 3 CRA's.  That is really what I wanted with particular account.  Mission Accomplished.