Not paying bills??

[Jessi0609]

So this really doesn't concern me or DF, but my best friend got evicted from her apartment back in May and she has a late bill from electric from then and also one from her internet company from where she didn't go through the proper procedures to cut it off... Her apartment complex, lovely people that they are, never forwarded any of her mail, but let it stack up on their desk (apparently she was supposed to come get it ?) before calling her saying "hey you have a lot of mail here!" Well now she has both those bills that have gone to collections bc their so late. She usually comes to me for advice but I only do simple stuff this was above my head and I'm not sure who to ask or where to find the answers so maybe you big group o' girls can help!!

What should she do in this situation? Does unpaid utility bills go on credit reports? IF their so over due should she still pay them? Would it help her credit report if she did or would it not affect what appears on her credit report at all?? what could happen if she doesn't pay... ever?

I told her to call the companies but they like to hide information so I do want to be able to give her something before she calls them to go off of as far what's going on with the unpaid bills... & also she is in AIT so her calling time i slimited, is there anyway should could give power of attorney to someone to call for her??

[LittleRed]

Yes. If it's already at collections, it may already be on her credit report. Of course she should pay them. Why would she not pay an overdue bill? If she never pays, they could come after her in court for the money, and it will be on her credit report as a default account.

It's not the apartment complex's job to forward mail. She should have put in a mail forwarding slip with the post office and checked back weekly with her old complex to see if she had mail there until she was sure the mail was being forwarded correctly.

If she can find the time to go to legal and get a POA, then sure, she can have someone call for her.

[BubblesofBeer]

Originally Posted by LittleRed Yes. If it's already at collections, it may already be on her credit report. Of course she should pay them. Why would she not pay an overdue bill? If she never pays, they could come after her in court for the money, and it will be on her credit report as a default account. It's not the apartment complex's job to forward mail. She should have put in a mail forwarding slip with the post office and checked back weekly with her old complex to see if she had mail there until she was sure the mail was being forwarded correctly. If she can find the time to go to legal and get a POA, then sure, she can have someone call for her.

All of that and if she were to go back to that area and try to get internet or electric services from those same companies she most likely will not be able to get them until her balance is paid in full.

[Jessi0609]

Originally Posted by LittleRed Yes. If it's already at collections, it may already be on her credit report. Of course she should pay them. Why would she not pay an overdue bill? If she never pays, they could come after her in court for the money, and it will be on her credit report as a default account. It's not the apartment complex's job to forward mail. She should have put in a mail forwarding slip with the post office and checked back weekly with her old complex to see if she had mail there until she was sure the mail was being forwarded correctly. If she can find the time to go to legal and get a POA, then sure, she can have someone call for her.

I knew that already to the bolded- I just had to take a bash at her apartment complex b/c well... they really did blow & I already told her the same thing. She's sort of one of those people who was never prepared for life before being pushed out the door on her own... & idk why I asked if she should just not pay, I think I was looking more for the repercussions if she didn't which you told me so TY

& about the POA, she is currently trying to get her sister to be POA but one of the companies told her they will only deal directly with account holder, even if they have a POA.. they would't deal with the POA. Is that legal? Can they do that??

[LittleRed]

Originally Posted by Jessi0609 I knew that already to the bolded- I just had to take a bash at her apartment complex b/c well... they really did blow & I already told her the same thing. She's sort of one of those people who was never prepared for life before being pushed out the door on her own... & idk why I asked if she should just not pay, I think I was looking more for the repercussions if she didn't which you told me so TY & about the POA, she is currently trying to get her sister to be POA but one of the companies told her they will only deal directly with account holder, even if they have a POA.. they would't deal with the POA. Is that legal? Can they do that??

I'm not sure if they can or not. I wouldn't think so. But to get around that, you can call the company yourself. Say "I need a form that will authorize the release of account information to another party." They should be able to provide that. The downside is that you would have to wait to have it mailed to you, then mail it to her, and wait for her to mail it back to them.

That's what I had to do with our electric, because they don't have the option of putting two people on the account, and I don't have POA.

[carolinagirll]

O yes they will be on her credit report and interest will accrue. They may even file a law suite against her.


*She needs to forward her mail

She needs a POA and a written statement saying her sister can take care of the accounts for her. Each CC may be different you friend needs to call each one and ask what they need to have a second party depute debt for her. This needs to happen ASAP

[NDNatlGuardGF]

If the companies give you any hassle ask them if you can fax your copy of the POA to them. I had to do that with many different companies so that they had proof that I indeed had a POA. After that it was never a big deal getting info from those accounts or dealing with issues.