Scranton Tax Payers Might Have Received A Collection Letter They May Not Have Deserved

More than 200 Scranton taxpayers might have been mailed a letter from a collection agency they didn’t deserve. The notices are for unpaid garbage fines that might have actually been paid. According to officials, the garbage bill itself for 2009 could be to blame for more than 200 collection notices that were sent to city taxpayers in error last week.

They believe the issue may have been the way that the bills were folded into the envelopes. The bill is mailed along with a perforated line above a bar code that identifies the customer, but because a crease created by the folding of the envelope, a second line under the bar code was formed, causing people to pull the bill off without the bar code.

Bills without a bar code would cause a bank not to register the payment. The mailing house that Scranton hired to stuff the envelopes was blamed. If the bill was mailed to the bank, it would be the pay stub in their payment that goes directly into a lock box. Then the stubs are scanned and the bar code is read. After that the bank sends the town a list of those who had come through based on the bar code readings.

Representatives from the collections company who sent out the letters say that they are taking every dispute from people who may have paid very seriously. Company protocol permits consumers to dispute a notice within 30 days of getting a collections letter. Additionally, representatives claimed that no bill will be collected while they are still sorting out the issue.

The company look into each claim from people who said they had paid the bill and received the notice. Those that they think have paid will be absolved from their debt and will no longer get collections notices and will not be pursued by the collection company.

Mallory Megan is employed by a collections agency that works with a debt collection lawyer. Also, she writes stories on business, finance, the credit industry and collections agencies.