Expert: Ray A Miller - 10/27/2010

Question
Hello,

 I was past due on annual maintenance fees for 1 of 2 timeshares in FL.  The company had a collection agency contact me about the overdue bill, and I was finally able to pay I agreed to a lessor amount (by about $250) than the original bill.  At the same time, the maintenance fee for the second timeshare arrived.  I was able to immediately pay it, and did so online.  In their accounting process the payment for the 2nd bill arrived before the reduced payment for the 1st bill.  The company applied all of the payment for bill #2 to the overdue bill #1 and then applied the reduced payment amount (agreed to by the collection agency) to bill #2...  Now the company is asking me to pay the remainder of bill #2 which is outstanding.  Shouldn't they stick by the agreement of the collection agency (as their representative) for the reduced amount, regardless of their accounting methods?

Thanks,
Steven  

Answer
Yes the should stick to the agreement made by the collection agency.  Will they?  It depends. Do you have or can you get a statement from the collection agency outlining your agreement?  Do you have something in writing showing the agreement such as a receipt?

If you have none of the above, it will be hard for you to prove your stance.

I know this is not what you what to hear but it is the best I have to offer.  I hope it helps.