I'm a college graduate, home owner, and I have a decent credit score. I just received a letter from a collection agency claiming I owe upwards of $700 on a delinquent debt from an apartment I lived in my last year of college (2.5 years ago).
There were three of us in the apartment. We were signed in with a joint lease (I know now how evil they are). One of my roomates decided to quit paying rent after the first semester. I paid all of my rent (even ended up paying around $500 more than my share) at the end of it all.
The apartment owners took the total balance at the end of the lease and divided it by three. The roomate that owed all of that balance paid 1/3rd of the remaining balance and the owners said he was off the hook. So now, 2.5 years later, me and the other roomate are being forced to pay the other 2/3rds of the rent + %40 for collection services. $1400 / 2 each.
So, the question is do I pay the collection agency (I have 5 days to do it) or just let them report it to the credit bureau?
I've talked to the delinquent roomate and he is willing to take responsibility for the debt but the apartment owners don't care. They want their money in 5 days.
tldr; joint lease, paid more than 1/3 of all charges during the lease, reported to collections for another roomates debt while said roomate is off the hook for paying 1/3 of the end balance.