Need advice on how to deal with collections

[abbygirl]

Hi all - I'm hoping someone here can give me some quick advice about the best way to approach this. I closed a utility account on July 31, received a bill mid-August, sent a payment late August/early September, and on Friday started getting collections calls because the company never received it but had never notified me it was still outstanding. The utility company has told me I have to work with the collection agency because they're no longer managing the account but the collection agency keeps referring me to the utility company. They claim they have had the account for four days. I am happy to pay this bill but want to make sure it doesn't hit my credit report. However, both companies keep telling me the other one is the one that would be reporting to the credit bureaus and neither will provide something in writing stating the collection activity won't be reported. The utility claims they do not provide agreements, and the collection agency won't provide anything for such a small amount ($15). They also won't sign an agreement that I send to them.

What should I do here? I'm livid that this has gone to collections since I had no follow-up notice from the utility that the bill was outstanding (and for such a small amount), and am incredibly frustrated that my years of building good credit will be trashed by this. The person I spoke to at the collection agency claims that it won't hit my report if I pay it soon since they've only had it for four days, but since it's been handled so well up until now, I'm not inclined to go on his word alone.

[chane]

Where are they telling you to send the payment? I would send it there immediately. You may want to join a credit monitoring service to see if they end up putting it on your credit report.

[JeremyKean]

Have you received the mini-miranda notice in the mail? This is the notice that gives you 30 days to dispute the collection agencies alleged amount owed. They cannot legally report anything to the credit bureaus until you have received this and 30 days has expired

[JeremyKean]

I wouldn't sweat anything until that comes in the mail, but i would look into the credit monitoring