Expert: Christine Janklow - 10/25/2010

Question
Hello Christine,
  I am in desparate need of clarification of the unfortunate situation I am in.  I had a business 4/09 - 9 /10  Rocky Mountain Power was provider of services..I paid every bill on time and in full that was sent.  In the last month of operations  I received an enormously high bill which was suspicious due to extremely small usage of power (we had no clientel except for 5 hrs 1 x a week.. no air was used  minimal lights on..  bill was 3 x the amount of all previous billing periods.  I called and they investigated...which brought the outcome of this : I had supposedly been billed all this time for anothe runits usage an dnot my own... a cross mix up they claimed. They informed me i now owed the difference of $800+ overage not billed properly!  I was devastated at this and it basically was the final straw in a long range of challenges of incompetent vendors and suppliers during the 18 mos of operations.  I now have dissolved the S corp and have a balance of 436.00 due  for final billing fees (includes the overage too)  Am I legally responsible and if so am I legally responsible for their mistake in billing improperly?  I do not wish to have a credit hit as I am a score of 890and have had great credit my entire life.  Thank You for your assistance and your valuable time. I anxiously look forward to hearing your advice

Karen P.
ps  the billing is addressed to corp name and dba name

Answer
Karen:
Thank you for your inquiry. When you say you dissolved the S Corp. I assume you mean you emptied the bank accounts and sold all assets related to the business and "closed" shop. If you also notified your state franchise tax board that you are a non-operational business, than you may no longer have any protection from the S-corp for bills owed. This is for you and your attorney to determine. If you had a disputed bill with a regulated provider, than you may wish to further dispute it or file a complaint through the Department of Regulatory Agencies in your state, if CO it is D.O.R.A. If you prefer to "wait and see" if collections pursues and if they want you personally to pay that would only be necessary if you had a personal guarantee on the original utilities contract. Otherwise, if they try to collect on a business that is closed, well obviously that won't likely yield anything. As for the credit reporting, again if you think there is a personal guarantee, some creditors may elect to report it to you personally, therefore you should check your credit regularly to monitor this. Once the bill is paid or settled, you can have that reporting updated or removed as a disputed item. If the risk is not worth it to save $436 than pay it and get proof of payment. If you believe you are not the guarantor, than notify them the business has closed, and there are no assets to pay. Unfortunately, there are costs to everything including preserving your credit. I hope you found this answer helpful, and if so, please take a moment to provide a positive rating so others may benefit as well.

Respectfully,

Christine Janklow