[Maxim S]

I thought I'd ask about this here, since being a Porsche forum it'd stand to reason we've got some people around who know law!

Anyway... my girlfriend and I moved out of our old apartment complex in July. We paid all our bills when we moved out. About two or three months ago, we got a "final warning" letter from a collection agency saying that a bill hadn't been paid and that they'd report us if we didn't take care of it. We contacted the old rental company, spent several days corresponding with them while figuring out exactly what they wanted and what it was for, and, even though the charge was somewhat dubious, we paid them the couple hundred bucks they wanted just to get them to leave us alone and not damage our credit. We have ample proof that we paid this charge, and emails from their rep saying they contacted the collection agency and dropped the charge.

Well, today each of us got a certified letter saying that we hadn't paid them and that we've been reported to all the credit agencies. Both of us have very solid credit and this could be catastrophic to it.

I'm kind of at a loss for how to deal with this. I know procedure is to contact the company, get a letter admitting error, and then send it to all the credit agencies with a request to reverse the charge. I also know that it's totally possible that that won't work, and that it can take ages to get anything reversed. I also hear that your credit is never completely clear again. We're moving this month, and will be looking for an apartment soon, and this could make it impossible for us to rent anywhere that isn't meth lab-adjacent.

Any advice?