Question:
Here's the situation:
1. I received a $10 traffic ticket in the Seattle/Kirkland area in
Sep 1999. (I was visiting the area and do not live there.)
2. I sent in a $10 check in December of 1999 to the Kirkland
Municipal Court in Dec 1999 with the words PAYMENT IN FULL in the memo
field. They cashed the check.
3. In Feb-Mar 2000, I received a collection notice for late fees from
a collection agency.
4. I immediately contacted the collection agency via phone and
explained the situation and the agent (I wrote down his name) agreed
to have the matter put to bed.
5. For 2 years, I did not hear from the collection agency at all.
But in early 2002, out of nowhere I received a new collection notice
from them with more late fees and "interest" added.
6. I again contacted them via phone and disputed this. They told me
to get a copy of the check, front and back, and send it to them.
7. I did this and found out that in Dec 1999, someone at the Kirkland
Municipal Court who cashed the check crossed out the PAYMENT IN FULL
line and initialized it UNILATERALLY.
8. I sent in the cancelled check and a detailed letter via certified
mail to the collection agency, informing me of my position.
9. In the meantime, I found out that they had appended a collection
account to my profile with a credit bureau.
10. They continued to call me after receiving the certified letter,
trying to collect. Our phone conversations went nowhere, and we are
at a standstill.
11. The amount I owe them is less than $50 - but I am PISSED over the
principle of this matter AND am even more pissed that my credit score
- which was above 800, has been brought down into the 750 range
because of this.
12. I contacted the credit bureau and they took a statement from me
and have added it to my profile - explaning my position. However, my
credit score is still suffering.
13. I did contact the FTC, but other than filing a complaint against
the collection agency - there is not much more that they can do.
WHAT SHOULD I DO?
Answer:
Tendering a "payment in full" check may not be good enough.
Washington does treat "payment in full" checks as an accord and
satisfaction (see RCW 62A.3-311), but only if the amount of the claim
is unliquidated or the subject of a bona fide dispute (see (a)(ii) of
that section). I don't know whether this applies to debts owed to a
government agency, either.
If you knew that a penalty for late payment would be due and did what
you did anyway, I would have a hard time believing that you had a bona
fide dispute over the amount due.
The way I see it, unless a statute of limitations has come into play,
you owe them the money. You should discuss this with a lawyer to make
sure that it's done right and you aren't taken advantage of by the
collection agency.
