Why Can't You Just Pay It?
When I met Husband, his credit wasn't the greatest. He had a few credit cards in the past; when he went through the divorce, he was late on a few payments. He and The Ex had bought a car through J.D. Byrider (Horrible, horrible idea. Never buy from them, even if your life depends on it.) and even though they returned the car, Husband was still liable for the balance because the loan had been in his name. We got that account cleared up and Husband was slowly but surely rebuilding his credit.
One day, Husband bought an ATV and went to get a loan to help strengthen his credit more (You know, proving he makes payments on time) The woman at the credit union told him that his credit looked good with the exception of one account that was in collections (Husband and I were both confused; we had been together for 3 years now and as far as we knew, the J.D. Byrider loan was the only negative thing affecting his credit; we had paid that off, so his credit should be clean.) We asked her which account it was; she said it was a heating bill. We said that was impossible; our heating bill was from a completely different provider and the bill was in my name.
We contacted the heating company who sent us a copy of the bill. What do you know? It was The Ex's bill when she lived in Hometown. The Ex never took Husband's name off the bill and when she moved out of her apartment, she didn't pay the final bill. Since Husband's name was listed first, they went after him for the bill.
We faxed copies of the divorce agreement and also Husband's checking statements from the time that the bill had been incurred to the heating company; when we heard nothing back, we called the local branch. Pam was ridiculously unhelpful, saying that Husband was liable for the bill because he had not called to stop service in the middle of the divorce. I told them that Husband was not going to call them and shut off the heat to the apartment that his children were living in in the middle of winter; Pam told us we had to wait another 4-6 weeks to hear anything (We had already waited eight weeks; nothing had been done) I asked for the name and number of Pam's supervisor.
I contacted Pam's supervisor and left him a message. Later, Pam called and offered a settlement which was literally only good for 20 minutes; she said if we did not accept the settlement, Husband would be liable for the full amount. Pam's supervisor was initially not of much help, saying Husband was liable for the bill.
In the middle of this, I called The Ex and asked her to please call me back. Surprisingly, she did. I told her what was going on; she had not taken Husband's name off the bill, she had not paid the bill and now it was in collections on Husband's report so it needed to be paid. The Ex replied, "Well, it's one bill. I don't understand why [Husband] can't just pay it." (She was serious.) I told The Ex that Husband should not have to pay the bill; it wasn't his. The Ex said, "Well, I had $750 in medical bills for the kids that was on my credit report and [Husband] never paid for any of that!" (This amount always changed. Initially it was $600, then it was $700, now it was $750) I told The Ex that we never received any copies of the bills. (She was lying anyway; Husband had always been the primary insurance provider for the kids. Any and all bills went into Husband's name. In 2010, Husband got a collections letter for a bill from the ER; The Ex had taken Daughter in 2004 when they were split up, never mentioned it to Husband, and the bill went into Husband's name. After the divorce, Husband was still the primary insurance provider since his birthday comes before The Ex's) After a minute or two on the phone, it became apparent that I was not going to be able to convince The Ex to be a moral, responsible human being and take care of her financial obligations. The argument was going to have to be made with the heating company.
A few days later, Pam's supervisor sent an email saying he had looked into it further, determined that this was not Husband's bill, they would remove Husband's name from the bill, would remove the bill and the negative review from Husband's credit and would pursue The Ex for the bill. I'm sure she was more than willing to pay it then.
One day, Husband bought an ATV and went to get a loan to help strengthen his credit more (You know, proving he makes payments on time) The woman at the credit union told him that his credit looked good with the exception of one account that was in collections (Husband and I were both confused; we had been together for 3 years now and as far as we knew, the J.D. Byrider loan was the only negative thing affecting his credit; we had paid that off, so his credit should be clean.) We asked her which account it was; she said it was a heating bill. We said that was impossible; our heating bill was from a completely different provider and the bill was in my name.
We contacted the heating company who sent us a copy of the bill. What do you know? It was The Ex's bill when she lived in Hometown. The Ex never took Husband's name off the bill and when she moved out of her apartment, she didn't pay the final bill. Since Husband's name was listed first, they went after him for the bill.
We faxed copies of the divorce agreement and also Husband's checking statements from the time that the bill had been incurred to the heating company; when we heard nothing back, we called the local branch. Pam was ridiculously unhelpful, saying that Husband was liable for the bill because he had not called to stop service in the middle of the divorce. I told them that Husband was not going to call them and shut off the heat to the apartment that his children were living in in the middle of winter; Pam told us we had to wait another 4-6 weeks to hear anything (We had already waited eight weeks; nothing had been done) I asked for the name and number of Pam's supervisor.
I contacted Pam's supervisor and left him a message. Later, Pam called and offered a settlement which was literally only good for 20 minutes; she said if we did not accept the settlement, Husband would be liable for the full amount. Pam's supervisor was initially not of much help, saying Husband was liable for the bill.
In the middle of this, I called The Ex and asked her to please call me back. Surprisingly, she did. I told her what was going on; she had not taken Husband's name off the bill, she had not paid the bill and now it was in collections on Husband's report so it needed to be paid. The Ex replied, "Well, it's one bill. I don't understand why [Husband] can't just pay it." (She was serious.) I told The Ex that Husband should not have to pay the bill; it wasn't his. The Ex said, "Well, I had $750 in medical bills for the kids that was on my credit report and [Husband] never paid for any of that!" (This amount always changed. Initially it was $600, then it was $700, now it was $750) I told The Ex that we never received any copies of the bills. (She was lying anyway; Husband had always been the primary insurance provider for the kids. Any and all bills went into Husband's name. In 2010, Husband got a collections letter for a bill from the ER; The Ex had taken Daughter in 2004 when they were split up, never mentioned it to Husband, and the bill went into Husband's name. After the divorce, Husband was still the primary insurance provider since his birthday comes before The Ex's) After a minute or two on the phone, it became apparent that I was not going to be able to convince The Ex to be a moral, responsible human being and take care of her financial obligations. The argument was going to have to be made with the heating company.
A few days later, Pam's supervisor sent an email saying he had looked into it further, determined that this was not Husband's bill, they would remove Husband's name from the bill, would remove the bill and the negative review from Husband's credit and would pursue The Ex for the bill. I'm sure she was more than willing to pay it then.
Comments
Post a Comment