Scranton Tax Payers May 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 think the issue might be the way the bills were folded into the envelopes. The bill comes with a perforated line above a bar code that identifies the customer, but because of a crease made by the folding of the envelope, a second line under the bar code was formed, which caused 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 straight into a lock box. The stubs are then 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 debt collection company plans to look into each claim from people who claimed they had paid the bill and still received the notice. Those that they think have paid will be relieved from their debt and will no longer get collections notices and will not be pursued by the collection company.